Tools for Collaboration

I was most struck by chapter eight of this week's readings on classroom discussion forums.  Johnson & Manning make the case that online courses have the potential to provide the same, if not better, quality of instruction as a live class.  As a student who has attended several online courses featuring discussion forums, I feel that I have been able to get a good look at this part of technology in education.  The Johnson & Manning text states that "what defines this form of communication [forums] as a discussion is the back-and-forth discourse, similar to discussion in real time.  However, what sets online discussion apart is classroom cousin is that, in the online environment, every voice has the opportunity to be heard"(62).  I will agree that the quality of the discussion in an online forum is what either makes or breaks a course.  Courses that are rich in dialogue and ideas that bounce back and forth from student to student are more interesting and offer more information for student's to glean.  However, I have also come to notice a big problem in discussion forums.  In a similar manner to what happens in person, students in the classes I have taken tend to comment or facilitate discussion with their  real-life friends, meaning that they do not read and contribute to every poster, which is contrary the suggestion provided by Manning & Johnson.  This means that every poster is not being heard because their posts are being skimmed or skipped over.  What I have found to have worked best for me, personally, was an online course outside of my major where I knew absolutely no one in the class.  That way, I had no prior perceptions about anyone's personality that kept me from reading or contributing to discussion.

I do feel that an online education can be successful, but I think that it requires a lot more than most courses have to offer.  Online conversation requires participation from everyone, including a lot of feedback from the teacher or professor.  Well-designed online courses have to engage students in the weekly material in a much different way than traditional classrooms, and I think this is only just beginning to be mastered.  Online discussion forums are, indeed, a lovely way to facilitate learning, but only if used properly by all users.

Topics in Digital Citizenship

Safety of Personal Information
I chose to explore the safety of personal information on the internet because it affects every person and every student.  Personal information includes anything for your name, address, and phone number to your bank account and social security number.  While this is something that may not typically be discussed in an art classroom, it is pertinent information for every student to learn as a pioneer on the digital sea.  I think that all too often, we (as a society) take the safety of the internet for granted and often send out personal information without hesitating to think about where it may be going.  It is increasingly important that students learn to navigate the tricky path that is giving out their information.  While this may be typically studied in a business class, it would be easy to tie this in to an art-related project.  In my classroom, we do a small unit on technology in which we discuss issues of privacy.  It would be easy to incorporate information safety into a unit like this.

Sexting
Sexting is a particularly fascinating topic to me, and one that sort of goes along with the safety of personal information.  Sexting seems to be increasingly popular among kids due to smartphones.  Picture messaging and snapchat (where your image disappears after a few seconds....unless you take a screenshot) make it effortless to send sexually charged messages to others.  However, the issue that I find with sexting doesn't seem to be with the images themselves, but rather with the trust you have with the person you send the images to.  In high school, it's easy for immaturity to take the lead and trust to go by the wayside, which is when trouble with sexting happens.  Sexting is an interesting and difficult topic to teach to kids, and in all honesty, it is probably something I would not discuss with my students. It may be more applicable in a health or FACS class, where the teacher can lead a discussion on why sending racy images might be dangerous, and how they could end up in the wrong hands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_efkV0jAA0

Both of this week's readings had one theme in common: respect.  Using the internet requires more respect than even some personal relationships because there is so much gray area where what is said can be taken into different contexts.  It seems to be increasingly pertinent to teach kids to respect others, themselves, their rights to free speech, and privacy.  What most kids do not realize when posting on the internet is that their images and words can easily end up in someone else's hands.  I think the big lesson to be learned is that the idea of respect does not apply only to real life, but also to your digital life.  The more information that an individual has on a topic, the more likely they should be to proceed in a cautionary manner.  The real question becomes how to teach students this concept of digital respect in a way that really resonates with them, because I think that students have a tendency to sort of "shut off" when it comes to discussions on how they should behave.  When I was thinking of a solution to this problem, I was drawn back to our week spent on copyright, and thought that talking about those issues with your students might be a good segue into digital respect and responsibility.  Once students realize that what happens digitally has as much weight on life as what happens physically and verbally, they may open up to bigger discussions on internet safety.

Social Media in the Art Room

Hello world and everyone!  My apologies for the late responses that are coming both today and the rest of the week.  I have been very unwell and it has been an arduous task to read and write while being ill--hopefully my discussion still finds itself relevant.  I am, as I have previously expressed, a firm advocate for using technology in the classroom.  Though I hardly consider myself to be a connoisseur or innovator of such technologies, I think I am on a good path to inspire others to branch out to it.  Earlier this year, I started a Twitter account for my classroom.  It has started very slowly (and I still don't have many followers), but I some really amazing things have begun to emerge that would have never occurred had I not gotten an account.  I often tweet out inspirational messages, facts about art/artists, and questions which, when responded to, elicit extra credit opportunities.  Many of my students take part in the discussion of questions I ask, and it always warms my heart when they favorite something I write to them.  However, the great and amazing thing that has happened is that my students have started to tweet artwork and artists to me.  They take such pride in discovering something that goes along with what we are learning, or even something totally new.  I have found that Twitter, as a classroom social media, has gotten my students interested in art outside of my classroom and has reached students that I may not have otherwise.  Social media seems, to me, to be an extremely powerful motivator to get students truly interested and engaged in what they are learning.  As far as I am concerned, there is little risk in my communication with my students.  I don't follow them back on Twitter, so I don't see what they are writing to friends and I never post pictures of the kids without asking permission first.  This way, the risk of getting myself into trouble is miniscule.  The reward of seeing my students excited and happy about making discoveries on their own far outweighs any tiny amount of hesitation I have with using social media.  You can follow me on Twitter @MsEvansArtRoom.

When doing the reading for this week, I was most struck by the importance and weight of customization and social media (which also showed up in an article a few weeks ago).  The Brooks-Young chapter on social media notes that, "Members create a profile by completing a template where they can add information 'about me,'...and select emoticons to depict the member's current mood, and write blog posts"(49).  While that information may seem obvious and a bit outdated to most, I find it to be an intriguing little morsel.  The craving to customize is seen everywhere--in phone cases, in jewelry, in clothes, and it even rings true in the online realm.  The point of social media is to connect with others while sharing parts of yourself and highlighting what might be different or unique.  It's important to be able to showcase your personality within the social media of your choosing.

Multitasking

Funnily enough, as I sit down to write this post tonight, I'm on Facebook chatting with my sister, I'm texting, and I'm listening to music....and writing.  Multitasking is something I'm really used to, especially in the classroom.  I'm answering a question from one student, getting an X-Acto knife for another student, and taking attendance all at the same time.  I have learned to do many things at once, with pretty good accuracy.  Since this is something I know I'm good at, I generally expect it of my students as well.  I normally don't mind if students are listening to music or even texting from time to time.  What surprised me about the Rosen text was the study from Instant messaging affects academic reading time, but not test performance, which suggests that test takers who were interrupted by IMs did just as well as students who working uninterrupted.  I was surprised because I prematurely assumed that multitasking causes students to do a lesser job on tasks, so this study was definitely enlightening.  In the past, I have done projects using phones in the classroom, and I have even done a few polls (polleverywhere.com) in which students can vote on things for me via text, but this chapter has inspired me to take that a bit further.  It might be interesting to have some prompts about art/artists and have a "race" to  see who can find the answer fastest.

Artist Style Reflection

Since the style in which I work is somewhere in between uni-tasking and multitasking, I decided to just pick one extreme and go with it.  I tried a different style of working in which I totally isolated myself--no music, no people, no kitties, and no wine.  I also decided to close the door make sure that I was keeping any noise out.  This experience was definitely different for me.  I've always been a patient person, and I have no problem being on my own, but I was made a bit uncomfortable by how stuffy I felt by being alone in a little room, and I think that was mostly due to the door being shut.  It didn't bother me at all to be working in silence (I think silence is something to be revered), but it did bother me to feel shut in.  It was definitely a neat experience to try to work in a different way, as it is something I have never done.  I did a little extra mini-experiment and tried to make a small project while teaching a class today, and it turned out surprisingly well.  I thought that all of the many distractions a classroom has to offer would make for a messy product, but it didn't.  I seem to work well in many environments, but I definitely gravitate to what is most comfortable for me.

Observe

As I have previously stated, my personal artwork exists somewhere in the middle ground between fiber and painting.  I mostly dye fabrics using natural materials in my kitchen and sew them to paper, which I have either made or bought for painting purposes.  Mixed media might be a better way to define it.  As far as my creative process goes, I can often vary between extremes depending on the day and my mood.  Under normal circumstances, I like to work during the afternoon or evening, but never too early or late, as I get sleepy.  I almost always listen to music--but always from my computer (and never too loud) so I can hear other things that are happening around me, from the whirring of my sewing machine or my kitty sleeping behind me.  I like to be alone in order to minimize my distractions.  I usually don't eat and work, as that can get pretty messy and inconvenient with sewing, but sometimes I'll indulge in a glass of wine (or three) while I work.  My space is almost always neat and organized--a big mess makes me anxious and uncomfortable (plus I can never find anything when it's in a pile).  When I begin a piece of artwork, I almost always start by choosing a color palette that is seeming particularly inspiring to me.  From there I search for fabrics and papers that match my color scheme and go from there.  I have a plan of action before starting, but I never plan down to single details as I feel it really limits my creativity.  I'm interested in the process of moving, from the day I dye my fabrics in the kitchen to the day I sew the final french knot in a piece of paper.  The experience, the tactility of it all is what speaks to me.

App Review: Vine

For this project, I chose an app that I was familiar with as far as function goes, but it is also one that I have not used.  I selected the free app, Vine, which is described by Vine Labs as: "Vine is the best way to see and share life in motion. Create short, beautiful, looping videos in a simple and fun way for your friends and family to see."  Essentially, Vine is an app that allows users to take six second videos that loop when played.  The user is able to stop the video when creating it, so it does not require one long take.  I have seen many Vines before, as a fan of Best Vines on Facebook and an admirer of my partner's humorous videos, but had never created one before.  The app was pretty user friendly for me.  It requires the user to hold a finger on the screen in order to record, and I did find myself pushing the screen and letting go (like taking a picture), which is not the way Vine works, so it took some getting used to at first.  However, one you get past the initial tour of the application, it works well and is easy to interface.  It is similar to most other apps in that you can find and add friends, favorite videos and users, and share your creations to social media.

Vine seems to have countless classroom applications, and I can especially see this being used for stop-motion animation projects in the classroom.  Vine takes away the hassle of having to import still images into computer software because at the lift of a finger, the video stops for you.  The fact that Vine loops would also be great for producing mini stop-motion films.  I could really see kids getting excited about using the app in the classroom.  The only issue I would have with this is that it would require some kind of classroom set of tablets because I don't think it's fair to force students to download an app they may not want on their personal devices.  Overall, Vine is a pretty great tool and there have been some extremely creative and funny products from it.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vine/id592447445?mt=8

https://www.facebook.com/BestOfVines?ref=br_tf

http://mashable.com/2013/06/04/15-twos-company-vines/

EDIT:  I have somehow just realized that I neglected to add on my read and react to this post.  Sorry!  The readings felt a lot like review for me this week, especially the Rosen chapter (however, the Brooks-Young article seemed incredibly outdated).  Both of the textbooks really advocate for seeing the cell phone as a portable computer with infinite possibility as far as the classroom goes.  In all honesty, I feel that I am trying my best to do this in my classroom already, but I know I could do more.  My main concern here is that there seem to be many teachers who have very staunch opinions on cell phone use during class--when what they may not realize is that a student may be looking something up or searching for inspiration.  The question becomes how to motivate teachers with these beliefs to change and start something new.