Information Session

You’ve made it to the HyperStudio process workflow pages. This means you are thinking about possibly working with the HyperStudio in the future, or you might just be curious as to how we go about our daily business. In both cases, welcome!

This interactive workflow chart can take you through each step of the HyperStudio project operation cycle. Just click on one of the boxes on the left, and the information about that phase will pop up in this text box.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Start with an Information Session

To inform the broader MIT community about our practices and projects, the HyperStudio organizes information sessions.

During these sessions, HyperStudio team members generally will introduce a number of recent HyperStudio projects, discuss its development cycle and the ways in which it has found its way to the end user, be they students, scholars, or the public at large.

Furthermore, attention is paid to the field of Digital Humanities and its current trends. Questions of pedagogical values and scholarly use of digital technologies are addressed.

Finally, the sessions also are intended for those who wish to propose a project to the HyperStudio for development. Any questions related to the HyperStudio Seed Grant procedures can be discussed during these meetings.

The HyperStudio information sessions are generally organized twice a year. The next HyperStudio information session will take place in September 2008.

Individual Consultation

You’ve heard about the HyperStudio, and its work, you maybe have attended one of the information sessions and are thinking about working with the HyperStudio, you think the HyperStudio seed grant might be a solution for you, or you just want an opinion about a project idea, the HyperStudio team is there for you to consult with.

Just contact one of the HyperStudio staff members, and we’ll try to schedule an appointment as soon as timing permits.

The individual consultation sessions are intended to discuss your envisioned project, and dig deep into the conceptual framework of your project, the research context in which your project places itself and the research questions it tries to answer.

At the same time, these consultation sessions allow us to assess how much resources need to be invested in order to successfully develop and deploy the project, as well as assess possible time constraints. This will influence whether your project will take the HyperStudio Seed Grant track, or whether other funding sources need to be applied for.

And, if after these sessions it becomes clear that the HyperStudio is not really the right place for you, we surely will be able to send you off with some valuable advice.

Seed Grants

The HyperStudio Seed Grant is a grant that ensures the disposal of the HyperStudio team for the development of a fully functional prototype centered around +/- 150 materials.

The HyperStudio seed grant will cover HyperStudio consulting and support for the conceptualization, development, and implementation of a prototype version of the project, and may include some additional production costs (integration in the m:media or repertoire platform, server space, and video streaming) as resources permit. The grants are primarily intended to cover HyperStudio staff time and the costs of production for the project. Faculty release time or travel are note covered.

Projects will ordinarily begin at the start of each semester following notification and run for 1-2 semesters. During or after the project, the HyperStudio team can consult on and/or be involved in grant writing for the further development of the project, beyond the prototype phase.

The HyperStudio Seed Grant Proposal will ask you to state the project description, its context and the envisioned planning. The application form can be found on the website (insert hyperlink). Please note that individual consultations (insert hyperlink) are available to help you prepare your proposal. The HyperStudio will also organize a HyperStudio information session (insert hyperlink) to introduce a number of recent projects and discuss ways of using HyperStudio project in and outside of the classroom.

Grant Writing

In some cases, the HyperStudio will partner with an MIT faculty member to write a grant propsal to gain the necessary funding for the development of the project itself. In the grant-writing phase, the HyperStudio will consult and support the project lead in the construction of the proposal. Parts of the proposal writing can be taken on by the HyperStudio team if so decided during the individual consultations.

Every grant is different of course, though in general one can expect to address the following points in a proposal: statement of the problem, proposed solution (project narrative), staff and rationale for composition of the team, a work plan, budget, budget narrative and appendixes including for example prototype visualizations.

Note that every external grant proposal needs to pass through an internal approval cycle involving the AO’s of the department of the PI, as well as the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP). As soon as the decision to start the grant writing process is made, the appropriate AO should be informed.

Commitment

For projects that have applied for a HyperStudio Seed Grant, the HyperStudio staff will in good faith go through the applications and subsequently award a selection with the HyperStudio Seed Grant.

Please note that the HyperStudio team intends to give elaborate advice during your grant writing procedure. Every Seed Grant Proposal coming into the Studio therefore has a high chance of being acknowledged.

Issues of timing might force the HS team to postpone the grant for some proposals.

When you are awarded a HyperStudio Seed Grant, we will ask you to formally accept, after which a contract can be drawn up. (insert Hyperlink)

For projects for which alternative founding sources were approached, the decision to approve the project is of course not ours to make. In the weeks (or months) this process generally take, the HyperStudio team will sit down with you to draw out the different scenarios one can envision depending on the decision of the funding source.

Contract

Though it sounds very official, the “contract” that is drawn up between the HyperStudio and the project lead is just intended to get and keep all collaboration partners on the same page. It’s great to start a collaboration when all partners know what the goals and demands for all parties are. This is exactly what the “contract” intends to do.

The “contract” will document the goals and objectives of the project, its intended audience, the envisioned platform to use, the development requirements of the project (both in terms of the content as well as potential platform needs), the deliverables, roll-out and project closing plans, risk and issue lists, funding arrangements, and the role divisions.

In writing up the contract, the grant proposal (HyperStudio seed grant or any alternative grant proposal) will be a great start. However, between submission of the grant proposal and the actual start of the project when the proposal has been approved, quite a few elements might change. In addition, the proposal might not be as detailed as desired in terms of specific development requirements. The contract intends to make sure that there is absolute clarity on all levels for all project partners.

As mentioned before, this document is there to help all parties involved.

Initiate and Prepare

With a contract in place, the “Initiate and Prepare” phase will focus on a detailed planning schedule. Drawing up the planning schedule, together with the division of roles cover most of the activities in this phase, though one can imagine final preparations including reserving and preparing online and offline spaces for project materials, meeting HyperStudio staff that will be working on the project if that hasn’t happened before, transferal of necessary applications for development, etc.

Please note that if at this point, it becomes clear that for some reason, the development of your HyperStudio Seed Grant Project needs to be postponed, you are asked to fill out a request for extension of the seed grant timeframe. In that way, you can carry over your HS seed grant to the following semester or academic year.

Ordinarily, the “Initiate and Prepare” phase for all projects leads to the Development phase.

Project Development

As soon as the funding proposal has been approved, the contract is set up and absolute clarity is achieved on the level of activities and role divisions, the project development phase can start.

During this phase, the HyperStudio team, identified in the “contract” will work with you on all development goals as listed in the “contract” and the “grant proposal”

What this phase entails differs of course from project to project. In general activities in the development phase may encompass customized database creation with standardized metadata formats, data-entry workflow design, document digitization, image capturing and optimization, video clip creation, OCR’ing of texts, platform development, upload of materials and metadata into the appropriate platform, re-organization of materials in the platform, and periodic updates to the funding agency.

During the development phase, as during most of the other phases, the HyperStudio team works closely with the faculty involved in the project and possible other project partners. Periodic meetings during development time ensure that everyone stays on the same page and development can take place at a consistent and steady pace.

While the development of a Prototype project (funded through the HyperStudio seed grant) generally takes about 1-2 semesters to develop, larger projects may take longer.

Roll Out

Once the project is developed, the HyperStudio continues to be engaged and involved in the deployment of your project, be it in- or outside of the classroom. The specifics of this engagement again differ from project to project, and are specified in the “contract” and possibly in the “grant proposal”.

For an m:media project, the roll-out phase typically involves an introduction of the m:media platform and the project in the classroom. This introduction involves a customized presentation of the platform with a focus on those functionalities needed for student assignments.

For repertoire projects, the rollout phase typically involves the creation and dissemination of guidelines (written or in screen movies) that explain the functionalities and uses of the platform for the project at hand.

After the introductions, the HyperStudio team continues to support the faculty in answering any questions of the end user (students, scholars, the public) for the remainder of the roll-out phase.

Evaluation

At the HyperStudio we take your opinion seriously. That is why we like to sit down with every collaborator at the end of the project operation cycle to discuss the project’s development and deployment.

How effective was the use of the project in or outside of the classroom, were the success criteria as identified in the “contract” met, did the end-user experience any irritations, are there any suggestions for future uses of the project, are there any functionalities you would envision that could take the project a step further, how satisfied were you with the development cycle of the project, did you receive enough support from the HyperStudio team throughout the different phases of your project, etc… Those are just a few of the questions to which we’re eager to receive an answer every time a project comes to conclusion.

The results of these evaluation meetings allow us to continuously improve our platforms, the workflows and our external communication. In the end, they allow us to improve teaching, learning and research in the Humanities, Social

Maintenance

The HyperStudio commits itself to ensure the availability of your project on the HyperStudio platforms, as well as the preservation of your project content.

Once a HyperStudio project is finished, you will thus be able to use it for the following academic years, in-and outside of the classroom. If your project is an m:media project, we’ll be happy to set up class archives and collections every semester you wish to use the project in the classroom. If your project is a repertoire project, we will do the same though we envision in the future you will be able to take care of this yourself!

Please note though that inclusion of additional materials, be they text, images, video, or anything else, is not part of the maintenance phase.

If you are keen to further expand your project beyond the scope of what has been agreed to in the “contract”, a new project phase can be initiated.