EDLD 5366- Course-Embedded Assignment Reflection

The first and last time I took any Digital Graphics class was back in the early 90’s, during my sophomore year in high school. Back then I took a Desktop Publishing class and I remember being the first class to use computers, they were the IBM computers- “Oh, Wow!” When I first started this class I was excited to refresh all of the skills I had learned many years ago. And as this class took way, I realized that what I was learning here were the strategies and design principles behind digital graphics, as was explained in The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams. Through this reading I learned about the 4 basic design principles: contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. By understanding these 4 basic design principles I was able to plan and design for each week’s assignments, from understanding how to evaluate a design, self-branding logo, creating an animation, to designing a web site with my group.  When I first learned about digital graphics in high school, I had learned about how to balance and contrast a design, but I was oblivious to the other principles. This course, the videos, the readings, the examples, and the group collaboration have helped me better understand the design principles. I feel that now that I have completed this course, I have refined my skills and broaden my knowledge in digital graphics. It was helpful that throughout our course the readings also served as work examples, for example reading The Art of Self-Branding Part 1,2,3 by L. Alcantra gave me insight on the philosophy of self-branding in addition to examples and strategies to follow (i.e. The Art of Self-Branding Worksheet). In addition to the readings, it was helpful to have visuals to guide me through my learning and planning, as was the purpose of the Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy by A. Churches. Having group collaboration and discussions, helped me be critical of my work and the work of my group members, especially when creating our group website because our grade depended in part on how critical we were to our designs. We would discuss the 4 basic design principles throughout our website design, we agreed and disagreed, made suggestions and compromised on what the design of our web site should be. Overall, our group designed an excellent web site (https://sites.google.com/site/lamartchnologyteachers/home). By completing this course I have developed life-long learning and skills which will help me throughout my professional career. I have refined my old skills and learned about new strategies and principles in digital design that will benefit me, my students, and my colleagues. I will definitely use these 4 basic principles of design when I help with the design of our school yearbook. I look forward into sharing my knowledge and skills with my colleagues during our Teacher Development Days. And for most I look forward into teaching my students about the C.R.A.P (contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity), the 4 basic design principles, which I’m sure they will be interested to learn more about when they hear the acronym. In addition, I will use these principles throughout my class web site, so that my students can see examples of them. Lastly, although it might be a bit challenging, yet possible, I feel that my group members and I (web site design group) have created a rapport through these couple of weeks, and I hope, and look forward in continue our collaborations.        

Work Cited

Alantra, L. (2009). The art of self-branding. Retrieved from http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/the-art-of-self-branding-part-one/

Alantra, L. (2009). The art of self-branding. Retrieved from http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/the-art-of-self-branding-part-two/

Alantra, L. (2009). The art of self-branding. Retrieved from http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/the-art-of-self-branding-part-three/

Churches, A. (2007). Bloom’s digital taxonomy. Retrieved from

http://www.techlearning.com/article/8670

Robin Williams: The Non-Designer’s Deign Book, Third Edition

EDLD 5366: Collaborative Website Design

 

Teaching with Technology

It has been said that in education, we are preparing children for jobs that haven’t even been created yet. In this technology-driven world, our whole lives are now run by computers or such devices. So what can we do to help our students prepare? 

This site contains information for classroom teachers and parents to help their students become more comfortable with and knowledgeable about the available resources.

On the regular education classroom page there are two blogs to follow to keep abreast of current technology to use in the classroom, a helpful video to test the credibility of educational sites, and “keys” to print out and put on a ring to help in planning.

On the special education teacher page you will find a wide range of helpful resources that will offer links to current research, and uses of technology with a focus on Special Education.

We’ve all struggled with helping our students at home. This page provides websites videos, animations, worksheets, games, and more resources to support content areas. By providing parents an avenue to help their student at home, it will help students feel more confident about their learning.

The Animations and Web 2.0 tools page includes a list of tools for student products and teacher tools to get technology into the hands of the students. The subpages give helpful How-tos to create a simple Stykz animation, a Voki, and Dustbin game from ClassTools.net.

Along with all these amazing technologies comes a responsibility of use. Parents as well as students must be aware of their digital footprint. That is, everything that they put out in cyberspace will stay attached to their name for the rest of their lives. They also have a responsibility to respect other’s material. The Cyber Ethics 101 page contains information regarding cyber security and helpful terms that will assist students when surfing the web.

This site was created by Adetokunbo Douglas, Monica Gudiel, Charity Joseph, Martha Martinez, Dawn Walker

August 2012, EDLD 5366 Digital Graphic and Web Design: Week Four

 

EDLD 5366- Week 3 My 1st Animated Movie- "Melting Away at the Gym"