By Donna Cameron, 2009 ITP Thesis Candidate in computer and web technology, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

Abstract: The virtual vacation club, \”Club Dream Vacation\”, is an education project which supports using Google Maps, Google Earth and Google Docs to create an imaginary dream vacation in the public school classroom/ computer lab. Club Dream Vacation uses the free Google web ware to promote a better understanding of the Earth and it\’s geography, of the ancient art of maps and mapmaking, of the Earth and its diversity of communities, of the Earth and a shared experience in the community of the participants. I hope that, through this, the importance of technical literacy will become a priority in our schools. Club Dream Vacation is a new project designed to improve geography and social science skills of children in the classroom, K-5. The project is run in a school computer lab, possibly as a geography lesson or a social studies lesson. The Project Director is Donna Cameron, faculty, NYU TSOA Special Programs. The project advocates teaching children in this context about the web, the earth’s geography, geagraphy itself as the study of humanity to the earth and life on earth, their own dreams as earthlings, their future and present selves. It asks participants to plan a virtual vacation in several well-defined sessions of 1 hour each, and is designed to be tailored to meet the needs of the particular school in which it is run. Unlike many computer lab projects, it advocates making a product- a vacation scrapbook in this case- and downloading it from Google Docs upon completion. This gives a student the potential to share at home, with mom and dad, and amongst themselves in the classroom or the lab. In this way, it promotes technology literacy and inter and intra generation communication with new technology and consumer web browser tools.

Enabling Communication takes a critical look at ways we are modifying how we communicate by using interactive garments and accessories. Multiple projects are proposed for exhibition in several themes: normalizing, enhancing and controlling. The thesis experience will culminate in the proposal of Enabling Communication to museums internationally, and ideally the exhibition\’s eventual realization.

A Million Magnets is an attempt to present a user with an infinite refrigerator door organized with the metaphors of space, scraps and magnets. Using a pass-through scanner and a touchscreen mounted to a refrigerator door, along with a web-based infrastructure, a user scans and files a scrap in a virtual space. Scraps are categorized, searched and presented in a variety of ways. A Million Magnets removes the limitations of space, first by allowing users to store virtually any number of scraps, but also allowing disparate users access to shared scraps through the touchscreen. In this context, the refrigerator door becomes a hole poked in space, allowing users to explore things others have posted.

A refrigerator holds important reminders and funny drawings, so A Million Magnets attempts to be a practical solution, as well as a way of returning serendipity to a connected world, where everything is easy to find. I hope A Million Magnets causes people to think about the relationship between the physical world and the virtual world. I intend for people to find things they didn\’t know they were looking for.