Digital Media Summer Institute 2014

15 Apr 2014

Short courses with UT Austin faculty in Lisbon and Porto.

Also see:

Digital Media Entrepreneurial Boot Camp
June 5-6, 2014
Lisbon

The eighth annual Summer Institute will offer students and professionals in Lisbon and Porto the opportunity to explore a variety of digital media topics. Renowned instructors from the University of Texas at Austin will teach intensive short courses from two to three weeks in duration in May, June and July. The courses will be taught at the graduate level.

The courses are offered free of charge.

Lisbon courses

Usability and User-Centered Design
Randolph G. Bias
FCSH/UNL
May 19-30
Weekdays
13h30-16h30

The rapid expansion of the Internet and e-commerce has brought software usability engineering into prominence. As more and more information exists in electronic form, the storage and retrieval of information is increasingly a human-computer interface (HCI) design problem. This course will cover four major areas: (1) the perceptual psychological, cognitive psychological, and other scientific underpinnings of usability; (2) the usability engineering methods used in the pursuit of user-centered design; (3) the justification for the application of usability engineering in a software development project; and (4) individual usability engineering projects, to be carried out by each student, with the results to be shared with the class.

Teaching and Learning with the Internet
Joan E. Hughes
FCSH/UNL
May 20-29 (additional dates via Skype: 10-13 June)
Monday to Thursday, Saturdays
9h30-12h30 

Course participants will examine ways the Internet may function within teaching and learning contexts through internet-supported technologies (e.g., web, apps etc.). The course will focus on these technologies' capabilities for instructional use, learning, professional development, and research, and will provide a set of foundational readings to situate students' thinking in this educative space. Students will lead their own experiences with a diverse array of Internet-based instructional and learning tools and will be encouraged to determine the advantages and disadvantages of using particular web-supported or web-based tools. This course focuses on Internet-based technologies within face-to-face or hybrid learning situations and mostly within elementary, middle, and high school realms.

Porto courses

Research Methods
Sharon Strover
University of Porto
June 9-20
3 hour morning sessions

This course will review the fundamental principles of undertaking research. Aspects of design, inferential structures, research approaches and specific methodologies will be reviewed. These will include experimental and survey research approaches, as well as ethnographic and qualitative work. Students' own research ideas will be developed throughout the seminar.

Game Design and Development
Bruce Pennycook
FEUP, Porto
June 25- July 11
Weekdays and Saturday

The world of game design and development has undergone many changes over the past few years. While large and complex console games continue to boost sales for Xbox and PS (Final Fantasy, The Last of Us, GTA), the mobile world has been flooded with fun and catchy casual games (Angry Birds, Candy Crush and countless others). The hard question is: what makes a game good? We will examine some of the key principals of game design using the Schell text "The Art of Game Design" and we will watch and discuss game play clips to see what makes the good ones fun!

How to Apply

To apply to Lisbon Courses

Interested prospective applicants should send an email to carolina.enes@fct.unl.pt with the following information.

• The name of the course to which they are applying on the subject line of the email (one email per course);
• An application letter of up to 350 words and CV (both in English);
• Full name, address, telephone number, age and highest degree achieved. Students must also indicate the course and institution they are attending.

The deadline is April 30 for Lisbon courses. Deadline for Lisbon courses extended to May 7.

To apply to Porto Courses

Research Methods: registration is limited. Contact Prof. José Azevedo of U.Porto for more information.

Game Design and Development: please visit this registration form.

The deadline is June 10 for Porto courses.