The GDR

The Graphic Design Resources group located in AI Connections (GDR) is a work in progress, meaning we are always adding course folders and looking for support content. If you don't see a course folder you are looking for, or need some tutorials or course support in a particular area, contact the group administrators Jeff Prentice or Nancy Wood. Each course folder should have week 1 - 6 folders, along with a general discussion thread for non-assignment specific posts. Each weekly folder should have an assignment thread for each assignment. Tutorials and tips can be posted under these assignment threads by faculty - and that means you! All faculty and students are welcome to browse the group and use the materials. Please note that the usual copyright limitations apply. Feedback is always appreciated.

Teaching tips


For the first two weeks:

Look over the course checklist and make sure you have each part of your course set up. Announcements should include: contact information, basic information on any specific requests/guidelines, plagiarism policy, and a note pointing your students to the Week 1 readings and assignments and disability information.

Activate your Week 1 threads by posting the first response for all Week 1 Assignments, Problems and Solution, Student Lounge, Questions for the Professor, and Please Read and Respond sections.

Be sure you follow up with students that are M.I.A. Phone them if they have not replied back to an email(s) promptly.

Remind students regarding project deadlines and participation policies.

Keep in constant contact. Be sure to check your email, Questions for Professor and Problems and Solutions sections each time you get into the classes. Questions should be answered within 24 hours.

Remember the policy for instructor/facilitator participation – You must be in the classroom 5 out of 7 days per week. No two days can be missed consecutively.

Be sure to post workshop and learning center materials promptly, in the announcements, so students can take advantage of these resources. Submitted by Marnie Michels GD Faculty mmichels@aii.edu

 

MORE TEACHING TIPS: Make sure you archive student work for your PPARs and for resources for future courses (and of course for posting in the GDR) To do so you will need to request a release form from the student who created the work.

I have the following in a stickie note on my desktop that I copy and paste into an email to a student as soon as I see work I want to archive. That way I don't type the same thing over and over and over. Here it is:

Hi - I'd like to share your work with other students in the student gallery - Can you fill in the fields in this form - name, address, work title, etc, esign (type your name) in the signature area on the release form (attached) and email back?
Your name will be on the work/link on my website and AIO would be able to use your work as exemplary examples of course work as well. Thanks! (:

The release form (.doc) can be downloaded here if you don't already have it EDMC Release Form

On another note: Marnie brings up good points about making sure the course is set up correctly by the due date. How many of us have received an email notifying us of something missing? Here is a link to an online checklist in beta form that you can use to make sure you don't get any more of those warning emails! Checklist

Submitted by Jeff Prentice GD Faculty jprentice@aii.edu

Featured Faculty

This issue we profile two of the new fulltime faculty

Sharon Edwards-Russell

I have a Master of Fine Arts from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art. I have also taken additional course work in digital arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art starting in 2000.

During my career of over twenty years as a full time tenured faculty member at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, MD, I taught the following foundation level and advanced courses: Two Dimensional Design (includes Color Theory), Three Dimensional Design, Drawing 1 and 2, Ceramics 1, 2, and 3, Sculpture 1 and 2, and Computer Art Forms. I am an experienced teacher in the traditional classroom and in the virtual classroom using WebCt and Blackboard. In response to a school wide initiative I developed Fundamentals of Design and Color Theory as online offerings.

I was initially hired as the “three-dimensional” faculty member in the Art Department at Anne Arundel Community College in 1985 teaching ceramics, sculpture and 3-D Design.
My experience in college level teaching extends to the graduate Modern Studies Program at Loyola College in Baltimore, MD where I taught from 2000 to 2005.

You probably can tell that I have some years on me. I am a mother of one and a grandmother of two. I also have two English Setters, one senior citizen, Brian, like myself and one puppy, Roger the Terrorist.

The direction of my personal art work has changed over time. I have developed a strong interest in digital art. I have been fortunate to be able to apply newly acquired skills to the classroom.
I work in many media. I make sculpture, functional ceramic ware for bonsai and Kusamono display, design web sites, make and exhibit digital art; two of my prints have been exhibited by the New Orleans Museum of Art and are now in their permanent collection. I am a practicing and exhibiting professional artist. Examples of my personal work and web site portfolio can be viewed at the following URL: http://www.fullcircle-portfolio.com/. My most recent exhibition opens today (Thursday, July 12, 2007) at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.

Since retiring from Anne Arundel Community College in the spring of 2005, I have been teaching part-time for AiO. I am now teaching full time for AiO. So far I have taught Color Theory most often, Fundamentals of Design, and Digital Image Manipulation. I have also moved from Maryland to Central PA. My husband Ron and I have built a wood-firing kiln and are working in the studio of our dreams producing and displaying our ceramic work. sedwards-russell@aii.edu

 

Jeff Davis

A little bit about myself...
 
My name is Jeff Davis, and I currently live in Chandler, AZ (part of the Phoenix metro area). I'm 35 years old and I have been married to my wonderful wife Kelly for 11 of those years.  Our first son Robert is 6 1/2 and our second son Ryan is 3.
 
For the last seven years, I have worked full-time as an instructor for the Art Institute Online. I primarily teach courses in Fundamentals of Design and Color Theory, but I have also taught Concept Development, Digital Illustration, Design and Technology, and Perspective during my tenure with AiO. As an artist, I have been privileged to show my work throughout the U.S. Some highlights include the 2001 Arizona Biennial at the Tucson Museum of Art, the Los Angeles Printmaking Society National Exhibition in 2003, the 2004 Minnesota National Print Biennial at the University of Minnesota, and the 2005 National Juried Exhibition at Viridian Artists in New York. I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and Studio Art from Lawrence University, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
 
If you are interested in seeing what it is that I do, point your browser to:
 
http://www.jeffgdavis.com

You'll find samples of my artwork there, along with an online version of a text I wrote titled Organizing Color.  Other than making art, I like fishing, hiking, collecting records, and hanging out with good friends.

Faculty Development Workshops

These workshops are very helpful, cover a wide range of topics, and are required for your PPAR. Here are some dates - but keep your eyes peeled for emails listing topics, presenters, and new dates. All times are Eastern Standard Time.

Aug 3 3:00 Jonathan Dapra: Portfolio Development

Aug 4 1:00 Nancy Wood: Second Life as a Learning Environment

Aug 10 4:00 Jeff Prentice: Time efficient methods (120 seconds or less per drawing) for marking up and reposting student work for feedback

Aug 16 6:30 and Aug 17 2:00 Marie and Nan: Best Practices: Online Classroom Procedures

Aug 21 time TBA Marnie Michels: Linking Criteria with Assessment

August 22 11:00 AM Elena Martignon : Online Teaching Technologies

Aug 28 1:00p Jeff Davis: Topic= Promoting Learner-centered Education

Sept 4 10:00 am David Lyons: Repeat Topic: Video in the classroom

Sept 5 3:00pm Tammy Lockett: Initial Course Setup for a New Course

Sept 12 10:00am Elizabeth: Engaging the Student in the Virtual Classroom

Sept 17 2:00 pm Catherine: Things Every Online Student Ought to Know

for more information on workshops contact Lori Trujillo-Cole

The Learning Center

As many of you already know the Illustrator and Photoshop Learning Centers have been in operation since Fall of 2006. Our main goal is to assist you and your students in gaining a greater understanding of these very exciting software applications.

Quite often the Learning Centers provide that much needed life line to those who are expected to use the software but have NEVER taken a course on the application, have very limited experience with it, or do have experience with it but from time-to-time need a refresher on a particular process.

The Learning Centers have been set up to provide easy-to-understand, concise tutorials that give a brief overview of the function of specific tools, palettes and/or menus. Also, the tutors are there six out of seven days a week to answer student questions within 24 hours. We also provide a Weekly Flyer that showcases new and different Hot Topics for each week of the session.

Literally there are hundreds of tutorials available in the Photoshop and Illustrator Learning Centers of various types and degrees of complexity. Some include the following:

• Links to sites that have free-access to both video and graphic illustration tutorials on the latest versions of the applications
• Screen shot or graphic illustration tutorials
• Flash video tutorials

As the Learning Center coordinator, I want to insure that we are meeting the needs of your students by providing them and you with the most comprehensive supplemental materials and services as we can. So, we encourage you all to do the following:

• Visit the Learning Centers to gain a greater awareness of what is being offered so that you can better direct your students to specific areas and/or tutorials that will assist them
• Promote the Learning Centers in a very tangible way by posting in your Announcements area the information being sent to you by way of the introductory letters to the students explaining what the Learning Centers are and Weekly Flyers
• Become a member of the AiConnections LEARNING CENTER Faculty Feedback group to learn more about the Learning Centers and provide vital feedback, offer suggestions or request new topics. All you have to do is set up your account on AiConnections and provide me with your AiConnection name.
• Constantly encourage your students to go to the Learning Centers for assistance.

All the tutors and I welcome each of you and are proud to offer you this exiting and beneficial resource.

Enjoy!

Nan Pendarvis, Full-time Faculty and Learning Center Coordinator nendarvis@aii.edu

If you have reviews, links, information or other content you'd like to share in an upcoming newsletter, if you have found a particular tutorial helpful, want to have us list an exhibition you are in, post department-related information, comment on a group resource or have questions or comments regarding this newsletter contact Jeff Prentice at jprentice@aii.edu

Previous newsletters: Spring 2007