richardsebastian.com

The Richmond SPCA’s Robin Starr sent out another update about the cat colony living behind WRLH-Fox Richmond and the ongoing disgraceful actions of that shiny, sugary, and apparantly predatory bauble of a local broadcast station, whose news division has been voted “The mid-South’s Most Sycophantic News Team” two years running, by the way. The email from Robin Starr is below. If you care about these cats, and appreciate the work of the local humane groups, consider donating your time and some bejamins to these groups.

After we made our supporters aware of the horrifying steps taken by WRLH Fox Richmond to destroy a colony of feral cats living behind their television station last week, we were overwhelmed with the heartfelt support expressed to us in so many ways.Your swift and powerful backing of our defense of these innocent animals has made a great difference in their prospects for the future.I now want to provide you with an update on their situation.

History
The feral cat colony in question has lived behind the businesses in the 1900 block of Westmoreland Street for at least 30 years and has been well cared for by at least two caregivers.Many had already been trapped, brought to the Richmond SPCA’s spay/neuter clinic for surgeries and given appropriate inoculations.While most of the adults are feral and run from direct human contact, some of the adult cats are sociable and were probably strays that somehow wandered into the colony over the years.

What Happened to Them
We have had confirmation that Critter Control, the pest control company that was hired by Fox, trapped and killed three adult cats before we were ever aware of Fox’s efforts to destroy the colony.Critter Control wisely decided to cease its trapping activities.That was when Fox undertook to bulldoze the habitat in which the cats have lived for decades.When I heard from the station manager that the bulldozing was underway, we asked local media to come to the scene.They filmed the destruction in process and, I assume due to the discomfort of conducting this brutality in front of television cameras, Fox decided to stop after having destroyed about half of the cats’ home.

What is Happening Now
Since that time, Fox has continued to tell the story that they are working with local humane groups to trap and remove the cats but they have never contacted the Richmond SPCA nor any other humane organization of which I am aware for such assistance.Henrico County has said that they are investigating the matter and whether criminal charges will be brought.We are working in a strong partnership with SOS, Somebuddies and other humane organizations and volunteers to care for and manage the colony in the proper way through a trap-neuter-return program.

Kind volunteers are trapping the cats, taking them either to Prevent-A-Litter or to the Richmond SPCA for spaying and neutering and for basic veterinary care and inoculations.The cats that are not truly feral but exhibit sociable behavior will be adopted to responsible and loving homes and the same will be true of the kittens that are small enough to socialize.The feral adults will be returned to the colony to live there and be managed under our ongoing partnership trap-neuter-return program.That is, unless Fox takes further steps to remove or kill them.

Our Approach
Relocating a feral colony is a difficult proposition that is usually not in the best interests of the cats.The cats are usually very frightened and disoriented and will not stay in the new location unless they are provided with a large condo unit to keep them there until they recognize it as home.This often takes a long time. If they are not kept in such a unit, they will run away and find themselves in a location where they do not know how to take care of themselves.The well recognized best practice is to allow the colony to remain in place and be managed in a TNR program. Since there are a number of other feral colonies in the area, relocation is likely to be totally unproductive since the other cats will probably just move into the vacated territory.

We have released a joint statement with our partner organizations working on this matter explaining our approach to the public. Click here to read the statement >>

What Happens Next
We do not know what Fox plans to do next. If any further steps are taken to hurt the cats or destroy their habitat, you may be assured that we will be there to do all in our power to protect the animals.And, we will ask for your help. If you are interested in adopting one of the kittens or sociable adult cats from the colony, please contact SOS or visit their website for pictures and adoption information (http://www.saveourshelters.com/ or http://www.sos-penpals.com/).

Your compassionate response to this situation through your massive numbers of outraged calls to the media and to WRLH, signing of online petitions, blog postings, and expressions of your heartfelt support to us has been incredibly powerful.I have received copies of numerous messages from local businesses saying that they will be pulling their advertising from WRLH because of their treatment of these innocent creatures.Because of your support for the Richmond SPCA and your deep caring concern for the companion animals that share our world, we are a force for animals.

Gratefully,

Robin Robertson Starr
Chief Executive Officer
Richmond SPCA

Peter Griffin, Homer Simpson, Judge Judy, and Charlie Sheen: I couldn’t think of more appropriate company to place the caricatures called the Fox news team. It isn’t enough that Sinclair Broadcasting-owned Fox Richmond violates our community nightly, along with our other local *news* outlets, with superficial and utterly useless broadcasts of weather warnings, traffic alerts, and crime-porn. Now they are inflicting violence and ineptitude on the kittehs, moving to exterminate a colony of feral cats living on their property despite offers of assistance from local animal groups. Here’s the real kicker–after howls of protest from the community, lead by the Richmond SPCA–they lied, and continue to lie, about partnering with local groups to humanely relocate the remaining colony (the ones they didn’t kill).

Go to the Richmond SPCA site for more info. Most of all you can STOP WATCHING.

I should say props to WRIC news for actually covering, and continuing to cover, this local story.

From the Washington Post:

If Romney’s was the most visible campaign, Paul’s was the loudest. A Paul parade snaked through the grounds at noon, chanting the congressman’s name. In front of one RV, emblazoned with the slogan “Say Yes to Dr. No,” a Paul supporter was feeding a monkey in a diaper.

No snark needed.

Richmond Free Wireless (RFW) is a new community-based project with a goal of bringing free wireless Internet access to the Richmond area and, eventually, the state. That’s right: free access. The project encourages volunteers (aka heroes) to share a gateway connection from their home or business using a fairly inexpensive and easy to set-up piece of technology called a Meraki repeater. RFW was recently given some virtual ink on Richmond.com:

Explaining how to create a city-wide network can become mind-boggling, but here’s the gist. First, get a few people living on the same city block interested in sharing an common Internet connection. Each person then goes online and purchases a “Meraki repeater node” – a piece of technology that lets the Internet signal “bounce” between other nodes on the community network.

Each person then goes to their home or office, plugs in their node, and registers the node’s unique ID number and their street address on [the] RFW website, richmondfreewifi.org.

With enough participants, the nodes overlap and provide the city with more or less blanket wifi coverage.
It is good to see this exciting project getting some attention, especially this early on in the project. Getting the word out the the larger Richmond community will be an important part of making this project a success. While the wifi acees will be a free public commodity–part of the Richmond commons–it does require a handful of citizens to step up and be willing to support their little piece of the network by buying a repeater and sharing some broadband bandwidth.

The educational implications of this project are especially exciting. Free wireless, especially in and around poorer communities, is yet another way to provide lower-income students with much needed access the Internet.

If you are interested in hosting a repeater, fill out the contact form on the RFW site.

Say what you will about Mayor Doug Wilder, he is not a lazy man. Not busy enough single-handedly busting up the rusted guts of Richmond city government, he is now taking on Web 2.0 by explaining (as patiently as he can, understand) the exciting new world of online collaboration. This week he clarifies once and for all what the term RSS really stands for: Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Syndication (guess what–it’s neither).
Go to Richmond.com to submit a question to the Mayor about podcasting, social bookmarking, or tagging, or to post a comment to the mayor’s blog.

Education

PhD. in Instructional Technology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (2008)
My research interests include the educational applications of digital, mobile and pervasive games, and the potential use of virtual learning environments for beginning readers.

BA in English, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA (1991)
Minor in Religious Studies. Graduated magna cum laude

Employment History

Instructional Technology Specialist (2005-present)
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center

• Project Manager for the PlugGED In initiative, a proposed contextualized GED/technology curriculum to transition high school drop outs into technology sector jobs.Spearheaded statewide project, in coordination with the Office of the Secretary of Technology of Virginia and local cable companies, to provide powerful GED-related broadcast content to digital cable subscribers across the state of Virginia.
• Manage budgetary, personnel, instructional, and administrative aspects of eLearn Virginia, a statewide distance education program that provides web-based GED and workplace instruction to adult Virginians.
• Research, identify and recommend emergent technologies to use to expand and improve educational services to eLEARN Va students.
• Provide technology leadership and guidance to professional staff and faculty of the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center and to the adult education field at large.
• Initiated partnerships with statewide Virginia Employment Commission offices and social service agencies to offer on-site computer-based assessments and education to Food Stamp Employment and Training (FSET) clients.
• Directed partnership with Institute for Connecting Science Research to the Classroom (ICSRC) and NASA Center for Distance Learning (CDL) to develop online curriculum for low-level adult readers.

Educational Technology Office Graduate Assistant, 2003-2005
Educational Technology Office, Ruffner Hall, Curry School of Education, Charlottesville, VA

• Trained School of Education faculty and students in various software and hardware applications.
• Assisted with migration of Curry Admissions Office to electronic application system.
• Identified effective ways for faculty to incorporate instructional technologies into existing curricula.
• Built and maintained faculty web sites and database applications.
• Researched new technologies to determine their applicability to faculty and staff projects.

Instructor, 2001-2003
Henrico County Jail East Educational Services, Barhamsville, VA

• Instructed Pre-GED, literacy and ESOL classes to inmates
• Administered and evaluated the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE)
• Designed and implemented an improved curriculum in response to students educational needs
• Oversaw implementation of technology into ABE and GED curriculum

Instructor, 2002-2003
Henrico County Adult Education Center, Highland Springs, VA

• Taught evening Accelerated GED classes to adults
• Instructed semester-long computer classes in Excel, Word, FrontPage and other software applications
• Coordinated with the Department of Social Services to instruct the Learning, Employment & Training (LEAP), an employment and education class for low-income mothers on public assistance
• Responsible for gathering and inputting class and student data for federal NRS funding report

Workplace Instructor, 1998-2002
Philip Morris Employee Development Center (EDC), Richmond, VA

• Created, updated and revised training manuals and course curricula
• Taught Math & Measurement training courses for hourly employees in Fixer program
• Trained new staff members and students on educational software and supervised a small staff of professional teachers
• Coordinated teacher schedules and quarterly class offerings
• Maintained computer lab, updated lab software and set-up presentation equipment for workshops and classroom demonstrations

Teaching Experienc

EDLF 345: Teaching with Technology-Special Education
Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

This course provides an introduction of effective, standards-based ways of integrating technology into classrooms, focusing the Special Education content area. Students learn how to evaluate and use basic hardware and software applications, identify best practices, and effectively apply these tools into lesson plans. Students also develop an electronic portfolio of their class work.

EDLF 546: Software Applications
http://richardsebastian.com/546
Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Software Applications in Education (EDLF 546) is a graduate-level course that introduces students to various software applications and their educational uses; fosters discussion on best uses and practices of technology in education; and allows students to produce an electronic portfolio demonstrating his/her technical competencies to current or future employers.

EDLF 707: Digital Media Development
http://richardsebastian.com/707
Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

This class provides undergraduate and graduate students a hands-on introduction to current methods of producing various forms of digital multimedia, including digital photo editing, digital video production, podcasting, and web design. Each class includes introductory lectures, hands-on assignments, reading discussions and, time permitting, supervised lab time.

EDLF 703: Educational Game Design (co-instructor )
http://richardsebastian.com/703
Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Building on instructional design, video production, and computer-based development skills, this course explores various aspects of educational game design, including fundamentals of game design and game evaluation, as well as the opportunity for students to use these concepts to design their own educational game.

Presentations, Workshops, & Awards

*peer reviewed

Presentations

• *Sebastian, R. (2007). eLEARN Virginia: A new e-learning program for adult Virginians in need of GED and Workplace Education. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Ed-Media 2007 World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, & Telecommunications, Vancouver, British Columbia.
• *Sebastian, Richard (2006). Development of Social Problem-solving Networks in the Interactive Web-based Game The Beast. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Proceedings, E-Learn 2006 World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education, Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Sebastian, Richard (2005). Development of Social Problem-solving Networks in the Interactive Web-based Game The Beast (Proposed Research). Fifth Educational Multimedia Congress, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Workshops

• Sebastian, Richard (2007). Distance Learning in Adult Education. Regional Commission of Adult Basic Education, Williamsburg, VA.
• Sebastian, Richard and Jason Guard (2007). Blogs, Wikis, & Podcasts. 2007 Literacy Fair, Southside Virginia Community College, Keysville, Virginia.
• Sebastian, R. (2004). Digital Storytelling in the Classroom. International Leadership for Educational Technology (ILET) Visiting Scholor Program. Grupo de Investigación Enseñanza y Aprendizaje Multimedia (GREAM), Universidad de Barcelona.
• Fanning, E., Sebastian, R., & Warren, K. (2003). Digital Storytelling Workshop. Center for Multicultural & Human Services (CMHS), Falls Church, VA.

Awards

• Visiting Scholar (2004). International Leadership for Educational Technology (ILET), Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
• Finalist (2004), Adrenaline Film Project, Virginia Film Festival, Charlottesville, VA.
• Film selection (2004), Vinegar Hill Film Festival, Charlottesville, VA

Publications

*peer reviewed

• *Sebastian, R. (2007). eLEARN Virginia: A new e-learning program for adult Virginians in need of GED and Workplace Education. Proceedings. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Ed-Media 2007 World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, & Telecommunications, Vancouver, British Columbia.
• *Sebastian, R. & Kinzie, M. (2006). Development of Social Problem-solving Networks in the Interactive Web-based Game The Beast. Proceedings. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). E-Learn 2006 World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education, Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Sebastian, R., video for “The Airplane” by One Ring Zero (2005). Addendum DVD. B&W, 16 mm film & digital video. 2 min.
• Hammond, T. & Sebastian, R. (2005). Digital Image and Video Editing Software. Teaching with digital images: Acquire, analyze, create, communicate. Editors: Bull, G.L., & Bell, L. Published by the International Society for Technology in Education

Technology Skills

Learning/content management system experience

• Blackboard support and use
• Moodle
• Joomla & Drupal

Web design (including HTML hand coding and CSS)

• Macromedia DreamWeaver
• HomeSite, FTP, SSH
• experience withh CSS & JavaScript

Graphic design

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign
• Macromedia Fireworks
• Macromedia Flash

Digital video production and editing

• Super 8, 16mm film, VHS, digital video
• FinalDraft
• FinalCut Pro
• iMovie
• Adobe Premiere

Digital audio production and editing

• digital recording
• Amadeus
• Audacity
• podcasting

Video streaming compression and delivery

• QuickTime real streaming server experience
• MakeRefMovie
• QuickTime Pro

Programming & database

• Flash/Action Script familiarity
• PHP/MySQL web database experience
• Access/SQL

I had heard awhile back the former Virginia governor Mark Warner was going to hold a press conference in the virtual world Second Life, but unfortunately I was unable to participate. Today he was interviewed by Brook Gladstone on the NPR show On the Media about the experience. Warner clearly sees the potential new media is having not only on the political process, but on all aspects of modern life, and when he does begin his presidential campaign in earnest, look for him to employ a lot of web-based social communication tools (like Second Life) to get his message out.

It seems like tools like YouTube, Flickr, del.icio.us and MySpace are truly harnessing the inhernet connective power of the Web, transforming the way think, interact and, hopefully, vote along the way. It almost seems as if two divergent cultures are forming, online and offline, with most of the advantages belonging to online culture. Warner said he believes that rather than red vs. blue and left vs. right, he sees the real division as old vs. new. Is old vs. new essentially the same as online vs. offline?