Category Archives: Technical Skills

Saying goodbye to some friends…

As this year wraps up, the course I’ve spent the lion’s share of my time working with, Digital Imaging & Communication, is being retired.

It’s a mixed bag: it’s time for this guy to go. The workshops have screenshots of old versions of GIMP, and it’s full of little issues. I’m really excited for the shiny new content that will be taking its place!

On the other hand, though, the older and clunkier a course is, the more help we need to give it as online instructors: meaning I have a TON of extra content created for this course that I don’t get to use anymore!

That being said, I think that these resources are still useful: they will just need a bit of a makeover.

Writing Constructive Feedback

Google Doc Link

This was a set of guidelines I set up when I introduced a Critique-style discussion board in the course. I was a little worried–after all, in a face to face environment a critique is easier to moderate. It happens in real time, and students know each other. Online, I was afraid that there could be issues with respect.

I created this document with suggestions about how to phrase things, and the expectations of any students participating in the discussion board. I never had any issues with student comments: I don’t know if this had anything to do with that, but I still think it’s a useful resource for any introduction to an art critique environment!

GIMP Program-specific Tutorials

The course was taught in GIMP, and was filled with workshops that used screen captures of an older version of the software: some of the icons and setup of the program had changed, which led to confusion for students who were still trying to learn their way around.

For the earlier assignments, I created some detailed step-by-steps for navigating the program.

I’m sure it won’t be long before these are also outdated, but for anyone working in GIMP 2 (specifically 2.8) these will be current.

Working with Layers Google Doc

Tracing an Object Walkthrough 

–> this is specific to a project from the course (the “Beautiful Building” assignment) but contains instructions for taking a photograph, creating a separate layer on top of the original photo, and tracing it. It includes the straight line shortcut.

Color Picker Chrome Add-on

Google Doc Link

This was a cool tool I came across in the chrome store and created a tutorial for: it allows you to pluck a color’s HTML code right off of anything you’re viewing in chrome, so you can use that exact color in GIMP or any other imaging software.

The Final Portfolio

This was a very student-led part of the course–it’s applicable to any Digital Art course. The course I taught was very broad in scope: graphic design, photo editing, and illustration were all covered, so the portfolio was open to any kind of digital work students were interested in creating.

With any assignment that broad, students needed some direction when it came to choosing the path they’d take for their portfolio work, and the course didn’t offer any. I created some extra resources, like this infographic to explain what was being asked of them, and a portfolio full of resources designed to inspire them and get the creative juices flowing.

Infographic Link

Slideshow Link

If any of this is useful, let me know! I’d love to see how it finds a second life in another classroom.

Having a Lot of Fun with Gifs: Subtitled, Creating Engaging Google Slides

I enjoy lots of things about the online teaching environment. I love talking to my students, I love seeing their skills grow and watching as they make creative things I would never have even thought of. I like reading their papers (most of the time) and seeing what cool meanings they pull out of the movies in Film Studies.

But my hands-down favorite is making google slides. It’s like a collage, but my fingers don’t get sticky!

I have a lot of fun making my announcement and resource slides. When it comes time to make one, maybe on Thursday for the upcoming weekly announcement, or when I see a problem cropping up and want to give some extra instruction and resources, I get excited. I like to settle into my cushy desk chair with a cup of tea and some Nature Box Vanilla Bean Wafers (my actual kryptonite) and get to work.

(Note: The black widescreen bars are created by the embed tool here on edublogs, the actual dimensions of these slides are the backgrounds. This doesn’t happen in blackboard.)

I’ve had some questions in the past about how I build my announcements, and I’m going to break it down.

First of all, an Ode to Google Slides:

I like to use google slides for a few different reasons: they are always editable, unlike a static image file, meaning that I can go into slides and change something with deleting and re-uploading files in blackboard; they can host links, like the resubmission policy one above; you can embed videos and other content right into them easily; and they’re super customizable.

I know the allure of programs like Canva and Piktochart: I love, love, love that they include galleries of graphics that match. I love that so much! If I want to use an arrow in one part of a graphic and an envelope in another, I won’t end up with one cartoony orange thing and one stark black one, which is a problem that I will spend a full hour on google images trying to find a solution to. I just can’t abide it.

When I do use Canva, though, I still pop it into a google slide and embed that in blackboard. That way, when I notice a dumb typo or mistake, I don’t have to delete and re-upload on BB. I just swap out the file in Slides.

And now, since I have another packet of Vanilla Bean Wafers, a comprehensive how to Google Slide on building the slide, finding and implementing transparent gifs, and some fun resources! (So meta.)

Open in Slides/Add to Drive

I recommend full screen!

Digital Citizenship and Online Engagement

Something that’s been important to me as a teacher, both in the physical classroom and the virtual one, has been harnessing social media as a way to share artistic and educational experiences as well as to build relationships and rapport with (and between!) students.

In the face-to-face context, where I was most recently in a middle school classroom, there was a big emphasis on keeping it safe and private. I was using a closed-community social media called “Seesaw” that had a lot of the functions of twitter and instagram, but created a private network for students, teachers and parents.

It was awesome, and I enjoyed it immensely, but it wasn’t without limitations. There was no ability for students to explore outside the realm of what I was doing in the classroom: it was so cool to see students sharing their work with their peers, but it ended there, which was disappointing. At the end of the day, I felt like the app was for parents rather than students: it provided a window into the classroom, but not a window out.

Coming out of that experience and moving into the high school online context, I knew that I wanted to utilize social media, but I wasn’t sure how. I heard some great ideas from colleagues at Collaboration of the Minds, but I hadn’t quite made the connections yet for how I could use that in my own practice. However, I’ve had those Why- and How-based questions simmering in the back of my mind, and I’ve begun to come to some conclusions.

What do I want out of Social Media?

  • I want students to have a platform on which to share their successes and their breakthroughs
  • I want students to build relationships with one another and be able to communicate and work together in an online context
  • I want students to be able to step outside of what I’m sharing with them, and explore on their own
  • I want to teach the necessary skills of digital citizenship and have the scope of my classroom to reflect what students will experience in their own world
  • Knowing that most students are on social media anyways, I want to sprinkle in some art. I want them to be consistently exposed to it. (Is that the kind of logic used by advertisers to brainwash me into buying a specific brand of toothbrush? Maybe. I’m just trying to foster a little creativity.)

This list is far from perfect, and far from exhaustive. But I think it’s a good starting point.

Now that we’re at this transition point in our semesters, I’m looking ahead to my new classes, and thinking about ways to use Social Media more effectively. Some shower-principle ideas that have been floating around in my mind and on sticky notes on my desk:

Weekly instagram challenges: This idea I like because it could be applied to all of my courses. From Film Studies to Digital Imaging, and even Careers, I can think of ways to connect to the content. Potential drawback: what if no one participates? (See past failure: padlet that 1/150 students posted on. Even after I made an anonymous post pretending to be a student, hoping it was just the fear of being first. A truly rock-bottom moment.)

Twitter Hashtag: This one’s still steeping. I can have a challenge, similar to the instagram one but with a wider media scope: maybe everyone tweets a fact about one of the movies in Film Studies that they’ve found, or a link to a resource site for a paper. Maybe they all find an artist’s account and submit it so that we can share who we’ve been inspired by. Definite drawback: I have very little first hand experience with twitter. (Until last year, my only twitter account was called soup reviews, and that’s what it was.)

The Class Playlist: This one I’ve actually already put into practice. I added to the requirements for my Introduction Discussion Board posts that students should share one “chill/relaxing” song from youtube (school-appropriate) that I could add to a “Class Playlist.” As I’m checking their submissions, I’m adding them to the playlist and building up a mix that I can keep under Announcements for students to listen to while they work. Knowing that kids (and all people ever) like to share a favorite song, I was hoping this would encourage some more engagement on the discussion board. Fingers crossed!

Here’s our Playlist so far.

Updates to come on some of these new initiatives! I’m excited to expand the ways I’m using social media in the classroom.

Inspiration

Last week’s webinar topic (Instructor Showcase) was such a great learning opportunity: I loved seeing what my colleagues are doing in their courses and sharing tools and resources.

I love that through these tools, we can teach the same subjects and the same courses, but remain unique and provide our own version of an awesome experience for students by creating a genuine connection that grows from who we are. Each instructor’s persona was so unique and accurate to how I’ve been growing to know them–it was wonderful to see that reflected in the way they design their classrooms.

It’s so vital that we find ways to show students that we’re not a computer program that spits out grades–just like in a face to face context, building relationships with students is an important (and rewarding) part of the education process. By sharing some of ourselves, we encourage students to share some of themselves in return, and we’re able to forge connections and relationships.

What’s more, I’ve seen through my focus on engagement that students seem to be paying more attention to my announcements–which is a relief, because I do actually have some vital information in them. I get a little sigh of relief from each student that acknowledges the things I share in the announcements.

While there are areas that I’ve grown so much in this semester when it comes to announcements, I’m still very new at this, and being able to see what my colleagues are doing gave me so many ideas for how to improve my own classroom.

For example, some of the instructors who shared have been so successful in padlet: I used my first one just last week, and didn’t get a single post. It was a little disheartening.

It got me thinking about the importance of a classroom routine, and establishing it from the get-go. I had to swallow that failure, but it’s had me thinking about how to incorporate sharing of that nature in all my classes from day one at the new semester. While I’ve been successful in getting my Art Appreciation and Digital Imaging kids to share, I think the discussions would be a lot more robust if it were a familiar process from day one.

I also loved seeing how other instructors are using digital tools to help teach their content. Animoto, for example, is one tool I’ve never used, but I can imagine it being very useful to explain certain art and compositional concepts. Many of the things my colleagues shared left me feeling inspired and energized.

I left the instructor showcase webinar with a lot of ideas and a new to do list–I’m excited to plan and create my courses for the next semester, and to find ways to continue to grow in my classroom.

 

 

Learning Curve

One of the hardest things about this first semester has been learning what will trip students up. Where the instructions will lead to confusion, which projects students will struggle with, what processes are going to be the most challenging. It’s a little heartening to know that the work I’ve put in this semester to put those fires out will be preventative in future sections, but those supplementary materials I’ve been able to design this semester have all been a little depressing as they arrive after the issues are over for the bulk of students.

On a more positive note, though, seeing all the different ways students have misunderstood or struggled with something has been stewing in my mind like a delicious meal, and I’m excited to make some really polished materials to help students through those road blocks.

My first project is to clear up the confusion on some of my Digital Imaging assignments. In an assignment where students design their own original magazine mock-cover, I’ve been surprised by how many students submit images that are weird shapes, or even landscape in orientation. However, the more I thought about it, I realized this was the first project where students are asked to create an image that represents a physical object from scratch.

There’s a breakdown in the thought process as students transfer the image from 2D to 3D–which is an ironic issue, since a large part of art education is teaching students to transform the 3D to 2D (like in drawing a still life.)

I had been vaguely planning to create a video for this project–the magazines I have crammed into my mail “organizer” were going to be featured, while I talked about compositional elements on their covers. (I was sending a mental thank-you to whatever clerical error has been sending me Martha Stewart Living for the last 4 years despite my having never subscribed or paid for it.)

However, after learning about H5P, I had a different idea. Why not create an interactive image, that draws attention to some of the parts of a magazine cover that I want students to concentrate on?

So I created this.

It was so easy to use, and it was a great first experience with H5P. I feel like I was able to quickly create something very useful for my students–creating a video would’ve taken about three times as long.

This is only my first experiment with H5P: but as I learn more about where students need support through assignments and what I can do to extend their learning, I’m looking forward to creating more interactive content for my courses!