Day 1

I really enjoyed learning about Jing because I teach a Digital Art course, where I cover both Photoshop and Illustrator skills. This coming school year, I would like to introduce a unit in Flash animation as well. Considering that setup of my classroom computer lab places some students with their backs to the projector screen, this tool will be incredibly useful as I create tutorials for students to use. It would allow for differentiated instruction, as students who need to review a particular skill multiple times may do so on their own, while other students may move on to other skills.

I see Voicethread as an effective tool to set up a forum for students to upload images of their work (paintings, drawings, etc.) in progress and to create a dialogue for critiques. Picasa, too, is a great way for students to keep images of their work organized according to project or technique. Keepvid.com is also another great tool that I can use to convert videos from everything to oil painting demonstrations to using the pen tool in Illustrator.

I can see the validity of Google docs as a way for students to share their information with each other and how it can eliminate the need for school server space, especially when it comes to sharing large files. For myself, however, I think it will take more time for me to adapt to using it for my own personal files. I love using my western digital & lacie 200 GB hard drives for everything I do, whether they're photoshop files, or word documents that carry my rubrics. Thus far, I haven't had any issues with my drives, regardless of the operating systems I'm using. However, I do like the feature that Google docs automatically saves in live time.

As for Friday's presentation, I'm not quite sure yet about the content area I'd like to address. I introduced a new course last year called Creative Crafts which covers everything from paper making and altered books, to weaving and ceramics. It is a curriculum that is new, and that I am continually improving. On the other hand, there is so much content for my Digital Art class, with its Photoshop & Illustrator skill building, that would lend itself well to the screencast videos using Jing. Lastly, there is the content from my Drawing & Painting courses that would easily create dialogue among my students.

It was a great first day and I'm excited to see what's in store for us the remainder of the week!