Artistic Thinking: Week 10 - Creativity Book 1

Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity
by Hugh MacLeod

Teacher Resource:

Artistic Thinking: Week 9 - Tech Topic 3

What are the possibilities and limitations of using games, immersive social networking, and virtual worlds in the classroom?

Games in the classroom (I like the way that sounds already!): I can understand why teachers tend to lean toward minigames that are short and to the point. Sometimes there just doesn’t feel like enough time for everything! I’m currently working on finding the right amount of balance to the projects in my courses and it’s difficult, as student needs change from semester to semester. Add in an element of technology, everything that can go wrong with it, huge gaps in student ability, and finding that right balance is even more difficult! As Brooks-Young points out, few teachers receive training in using technology beyond the basics and automation (Common objections section, para. 9), much less in playing online games. The process of education also moves slowly, meaning that the “cool” game of today quickly becomes an “old” game, often before we even get a chance to think of an educational use! In my own classroom I find that developing an open line of communication with students is vital. For example, E-Week (Engineering Week at MU) was last week and we were setting up the IT Program open lab exhibit as part of the K-12 recruitment activities. We were exhibiting our “Classroom of the Future” and needed a good, multi-touch, and recognizable game for the HD Smart board. We (the Instructors) couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t from the 80s, so we asked a few students and “Angry Birds” went on display. I find that when I need to know what’s popular (and how to play it), all I have to do is ask! As for the possibilities of games, they open up the ability for students to get “hands-on” experience with creating projects that were not physically possible before (experiences like those in SimCity) and instant feedback about those projects.

Immersive social networking in the classroom: Rosen (2010) describes social networking as “multifaceted, multisensory environments where communication and content are the two key ingredients” (MySpace, Facebook, and education section, para. 1). While the Internet opens the door to massive amounts of information, social networking takes information and connects it with real, accessible people. The major limitation to utilizing a social network is administrative approval due to bad publicity in the media. Yet, social networking is widely available and involves little technical training to use, freeing up more time to discuss important matters like ethical online behavior. With social networking, students can collaborate by sharing additional links and ideas with each other. In this class, even though they are assignments, I find our network of blogs to be an excellent source of trusted links to ideas and sites.

Virtual worlds in the classroom: The article by Liao (2008) quotes Lev Manovich’s description of computer technology as no longer interfacing with a machine, but with culture in a digital form (88). Virtual worlds allow students to explore digital recreations of real world places, as in the Sistine Chapel Second Life site described by Rosen (2010). They also allow for explorations regarding identity, role-play, and human stereotypes and the visual culture of avatar creation should be analyzed for its western-based view of aesthetics (Liao 2008). In creating my own avatar using Voki, I found myself wanting to make it aesthetically less “perfect.” I wanted to make it more like me, define its nose to be larger and make one eye higher/lower, etc. Although I don’t feel like I “bonded” with my Voki avatar, I felt more relieved when I was able to adjust its face shape and shoulder width to be more like me. Yet I didn’t feel a need to be as true to life with the other avatars I was exploring –SouthPark and Hero– perhaps because they are geared more towards role-play and fantasy. In the classroom it would be interesting to have the students attempt to create both representational and fantasy avatars for comparison and identity explorations.

References:

Brooks-Young, S. (2010). Teaching with the tools kids really use. (Kindle Edition). Available from http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Tools-Kids-Really-ebook/dp/B00486THRE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1296870495&sr=8-2

Liao, C. L. (2008). Avatars, Second Life, and New Media Art: The challenge for contemporary art education. Art Education 61(2), 87-91.

Rosen, L. D. (2010). Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the way they learn. (Kindle Edition). Available from http://www.amazon.com/Rewired-Understanding-iGenerationLearnebook/dp/B003QP3NAK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digitaltext&qid= 1295657170&sr=1-1

Audio/Video @ MU: Student Mid Term Work

Audio/Video @ MU: AV2 MidTerm Project - Student Favorites: "For their Mid Term Projects, AV2 students created independent works that explored an A/V topic of interest. A requirement of this project i..."

Avatar Adventures

Had fun exploring the sites for creating your own avatar!

Voki Avatar:


Southpark Avatar:

Hero Avatar:

Digital Self Portrait

Self-portrait created in Adobe Photoshop exploring the theme: Art Education in the 21st Century.

Artistic Thinking: Read and React Week 8

Read:

Chapter 8: Creating Content - Images by Brooks-Young

            In this chapter, Brooks-Young discusses spatial/visual learners and sharing images. The author also educates readers about the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 that restricts information that can be collected and shared by children under age 13. When describing video creation and sharing by teenagers, the author points out that by posting media, teenagers are able to communicate with friends, start conversations, and receive feedback/validation from their peers –concepts that are of value to the iGeneration. As with other chapters, the author discusses common objections to using online media sites, such as privacy issues, safety, cyber-bulling, copyright infringement, and child pornography.

Chapter 10: Media Sharing by Digital Diet

In this chapter, the authors discuss how to set up and use the photo-sharing site, Flickr. When using Flickr the user can create an account that is public or private, upload photos and small videos, tag images for searching, add descriptions, and leave comments on images. The authors give advice as to how to use Flickr in the classroom by combining its ability to share within a restricted group and use in conjunction with VoiceThread to create multimedia stories. The authors suggest four steps for working with multimedia stories: (1) Define and outline the parameters of the task, (2) Design and preplan their project through storyboards or mind-mapping, (3) Do and create the multimedia project, and (4) Debrief and reflect on the creation.

React:

            I like the Brooks-Young chart of 4 questions to ask when determining educational fair-use of copyright material. These questions can easily be transformed into questions that students can ask when looking to use materials in their projects. While another Instructor teaches Photoshop in the IT Program, there are a couple ways that students could use Photoshop in my A/V courses. They can create richer, more complex graphics for use in their videos. Currently I show them Premiere Pro’s Titler but it can be a little clunky to use and does not have as many functions. Photoshop can also be used to create vignettes for their videos too. I like Digital Diet’s suggestions for using photography and VoiceThread to tell stories about trips, etc. I could see my students taking “behind-the-scenes” photographs of their video shoots and using VoiceThread to reflect on their projects.

References:

Brooks-Young, S. (2010). Teaching with the tools kids really use. (Kindle Edition). Available from http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Tools-Kids-Really-ebook/dp/B00486THRE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1296870495&sr=8-2

Churches, A., Crockett, L., & Jukes, J. (2010). The Digital Diet: Today’s digital tools in small bytes. Canada: 21^st Century Fluency Project.

Personal Photoshop Brushes - Set of 10

 

Too many to show individually, but I left open my brush pallet.

Photoshop Alternatives – Free & Open-Source

Some people complain about software that is open-source and/or free. While I’ll admit that these programs can be a little “buggy” at times, I am still a fan of free and open-source software as you can try out and have a copy of the full version with no out-of-pocket costs.

Here are a few of my favorites:

GIMP: http://www.gimp.org/

Considered the free, Photoshop alternative.

From the website: “GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc.”

Reviews: There are a number of tutorials for learning the program, depending on your skill level and wants. However, the interface is fairly intuitive with tools commonly found in Photoshop. It works on all platforms and maintains a similar interface across all for better usability. Like Photoshop and other programs, GIMP can be extended (filters, file formats, etc) through plug-ins, which are also free and open source.

InkScape: http://inkscape.org/

Not a raster-based program like Photoshop (which is great for editing photographs), InkScape is a free vector-based digital line drawing and design program. Most people use a combination of both raster and vector programs for most projects. InkScape works on all platforms – PC, Mac, and Linux. There’s also a weblog of tutorials for learning the program, what it’s capable of, and ideas for utilizing its features.

From website: “An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. Inkscape supports many advanced SVG features (markers, clones, alpha blending, etc.) and great care is taken in designing a streamlined interface.”

Reviews: Typical of open-source programs, some people have complained that the program crashes when loading templates, etc. However open-source programs are constantly being updated to improve stability, usability, and functionality, so “bugs” come and go quickly. InkScape has been around for over 5 years, still actively developed, and getting better with age!



Scribus: http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus

An open-source desktop publisher (think InDesign). Available for all platforms: PC, Mac, and Linux. Like most, they also have a help wiki and tutorials of how to use the program and features.

From website: “Underneath a modern and user-friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as color separations, CMYK and Spot Color support, ICC color management or versatile PDF creation.”

Reviews: Some reviewers find Scribus to have more functionality when exporting files than other desktop publishing programs, however, because it is a free program it does not have Pantone color integration (which is copyrighted and must be licensed).

Blender: http://www.blender.org/

Not an image editor, Blender is a free, open source 3D modeling and animation program. Since 3D modeling can be somewhat complex (but amazing once you master it!) there are lots of tutorials to help out new users.

From website: “model - shade - animate - render - composite - interactive 3d” “Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License.”

Reviews: Some people tell me that they found past versions of this program to be “clunky,” “buggy,” and not very intuitive. However I have yet to find a 3D modeling program that is intuitive and easy to use!

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

 
Okay, so it’s not image editing or vector drawing. But it is a free, open-source audio editor. I use it a lot for recording, cutting, and processing audio files like voiceovers. It has a simple interface and is easy to use.

Photoshop Layers Basics Chapter - Collage and Modification

Original Tutorial

Modified Version

Memorable Advertising Icons - CBS Sunday Morning

I was watching the CBS Sunday Morning show, "The Money Issue." This particular show focused mainly on advertising - from advertising geared towards Baby Boomers (who won't buy products that are advertised for "old" people) to advertising icons that are being remade for this generation.

I couldn't find a video of the "Memorable Advertising Icons" segment (probably due to copyright), but they did have a slide show. Recognize any of these Icons from your childhood?

The show also mentioned the Icon Advertising Museum coming soon to KC.

Artistic Thinking: Read and React Week 7

Tech Topic: The iBrains! Technology and the Mind

How has technology impacted our brains?  What are the implications of this for an educational setting?

According to Small & Vorgan (2008), technology is stimulating different parts of our brain, creating new neural pathways and weakening older, lesser-used pathways (p.1).  For older, more hard-wired digital immigrant brains, this means that our brains are selectively rewiring the connections already created through a lifetime of experiences. However for younger, developing and more malleable digital native brains, this means that these brains learn more quickly and are also more susceptible to the adverse effects such as social deprivation. Small & Vorgan (2008) describe research performed by the authors with UCLA to explore changes in the brain when using technology and found that using search engines activates a different part of the brain than traditional activities like reading a book (pp. 14-17). As we are only capable of forming a limited number of connections within our brain the types of stimulation we are exposed to on a daily basis will determine how our brains work. Young minds require a balance of environmental stimulation and human contact. If developing brains are only exposed to environmental stimuli without human contact, social skills and the ability to read facial or gestural cues may not fully develop. In an educational setting, where there is face-to-face contact, the development of social skills is vital for a peaceful classroom environment. As Small & Vorgan (2008) point out, we live in a world where human contact exists and those with social skills will be at an advantage (p. 20). Thus education that promotes the development of social skills will create well-rounded, knowledgeable people. Collaborative projects and group work become vitally important.

In what ways does learning in and through the arts impact our cognition (and vice versa)?

As our brains evolve to become more wired for understanding our digital world we become more socially isolated. However the arts promote human communication, discussion, and empathy through big ideas such as Story. Small & Vorgan (2008) describe a phenomenon of “Techno-Brain Burnout” where technology users are in a state of constant stress and busyness that reshapes the underlying brain structure and is best relieved by occasional breaks and unplugging from technology (pp. 18-19). In comparison, the arts teach how to maintain creativity by stepping back, taking breaks, and solving problems from different approaches. Jensen (2001) points out that Fine Art programs foster commitment to tasks by practices in self-discipline and the development of social skills through teamwork (p. 63). The author also explains that art making is an active process that involves the whole brain, with more than 35 areas for processing visual information (p. 55). Our brain is constantly interpreting what we see by combining prior knowledge with current perception. Jensen (2001), citing others, explains that: “When art is integrated in to the curriculum, the competency scores in other subjects have increased” (p. 59). Although not always promoted in traditional school settings, when learning, we look for connections between ideas across all subject matter. The arts function as a visual method for exploring these connections.

How can we as educators use the brain-based information presented in both texts to impact instruction and/or promote arts advocacy?

For instruction and arts advocacy I remember a comment made by a fellow peer when I first read the Jensen book. Very observant, she reminded us that the importance of art in education and in interdisciplinary approaches should not be limited to graphic organizers alone – which is heavily promoted as practical suggestions by Jensen. While graphic organizers and intertexts are very important for organizing, connecting, and creating ideas, the importance of visual art also lies in its ability to promote social skills. According to Smith & Vorgan (2008), as time spent with human contact decreases, the circuitry controlling our ability to socialize weakens, making social interactions awkward and prone to misunderstandings (p. 2). When analyzing art, students look for nuances in formal elements, implied meanings, and social functions, further developing their mental abilities to interpret interactions and promote discussion and communication skills. Jensen (2001) also promotes art in the curriculum to enhance community building and the inclusion of all students, even those with special needs (p. 64). Although some school administrators and parents may view social skill development as too “soft” for academic institutions, to best prepare students for the world they will be entering educators must look ahead to the future. The technology we use not only rewires our brain but automates many traditional tasks, making creativity, expression, imagination, and other “soft,” “human” skills – respected in arts education – highly prized and valued.

Resources:

Jensen, E. (2001). Arts with the brain in mind. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Small, G. and Vorgan, G. (2008). iBrain. Indiana: Collins Living.

Artistic Thinking: Read and React Week 6

Read:

Chapter 2 & 3: Searching & Social Bookmarking by Digital Diet

Chapter 2

In this chapter, the authors discuss using the very popular search engine Google for finding information and suitable webpages. The authors explain that by using Boolean search operators – AND, OR, or NOT- between keywords can help to refine a search so that the user receives more specific, useful results. Also clarified is the way that Google operates through indexing by analyzing webpages contents and links and creating PageRanks for websites based off the number of sites linking to its content. Through understanding how Google displays search results, students can refine their techniques for finding information and produce more specific search results.

Chapter 3

            This chapter is about using the social bookmarking tool Delicious for navigating the vast number of websites available. By using trusted networks of friends and colleagues, students and teachers can share, access, and save the best websites. The authors discuss tagging websites with searchable keywords for easier access – otherwise the web again becomes to large and confusing. In the classroom the authors recommend social bookmarking tools for collaborative, group research and sharing.

Intertextuality by Duncum

            In this article section, the author shows an image of a “low tech” intertext decorating a classroom wall. Often discussed in Visual Literacy and Visual Culture, the author points out that images draw from a variety of other sources, such as texts, music, and other images. The author describes how intertexts connect images and texts regardless of their perceived social value.

React:

            My TA that enjoys “Stumbling” through the web found an interesting site today: http://www.behold.cc/  It’s an image search engine for Flickr that allows you to search for high quality images that are open for sharing, by specifying what type of use you would like. Also within Flickr, under License, you can identify what rights the photographer has allowed, such as remixing or commercial use. Very useful for starting discussions about copyright and usage the classroom!

References:

Churches, A., Crockett, L., & Jukes, J. (2010). The Digital Diet: Today’s digital tools in small bytes. Canada: 21^st Century Fluency Project.

Duncum, P. (Jan. 2010). Seven Principles for Visual Culture Education. Art Education, 63(1), 6-10.