Engaging students through Photoshop.

In the MOOC, Adobe Training for the Trainer,  week three we are to reflect about "how to encourage educators to engage students through Photoshop.  Many students find Photoshop editing a fun activity and a "neat thing" to learn.  I find that they are always engaged when they are learning.  In fact for World Arts day in the Middle School, I will do a workshop that helps students learn the basics of layers, selecting and simple color matching by placing their faces into famous works of art, this is always a hit.

I think it is a matter of helping teachers design projects or adapt current projects for use in Photoshop. Creating collages and posters, for example, can now become digital.  A former colleague used to do an "About Me" project where students started with a photo of themselves and created a collage to describe how the world sees them, or how they would like to be seen by the world.  I can see that in a Health class or English class as a visual poem.

I have also helped students create their own logos for a social justice project using photoshop (yes illustrator is probably better but they seem to find photoshop less difficult).  Likewise I have helped students build French buildings of their dreams by putting various pictures together.

As I was reading the forums one teacher discussed how they teach students how to create diagrams with overlays on the pictures, arrows, text etc for their reports.  I never even thought of this but I like the idea especially for science and math classes.  They can create many cycles, diagrams from their own pictures to add a bit of creativity.

Civics classes have created election posters through the use of photoshop.  Students can create magazine covers, cover pages, super impose various pictures through out history that are all about the same theme. The possibilities are endless with just basic knowledge, time to explore and some creativity.

The flipped classroom

This is a slightly off topic post.  Yesterday, we had a professional development day.  EdTechTeacher came down to present a series of workshops.  I went to the flipped classroom room and had a great learning experience with others.  Flipping is something I have been reading about for the past four years.  It is basically giving students the time in class to do the most cognitively difficult work.  The idea is to help take out the frustration out of homework.

A few things I took away from the day:

• Start small if you have too.  Flip one lesson a chapter and build. (I feel the same with new technology)
• Record some of the lectures in current class.  On lecture days record them and then the record is there and can be refined.
• Think small bursts of information.  No one wants to watch a 45 minute video about any topic.  This brings me back to idea that I heard long ago about 10 minutes should be max on a lecture before a check in with students is done.  Think short bits that then have them practice the topic, write down questions, journal about the concept...
• Recording yourself is odd, but the more you do it the more comfortable you are with the sound of your own voice.
• ScreenCast-O-Matic is a fun tool to play with.  So is the recording in PowerPoint and QuickTime. ScreenCast-O-Matic allows you to add a video of you which would give students a chance to see you as well.
• VoiceThread is great to have others add video comments to the slides allowing some interactivity in asynchronous class time. Sounds like an oxymoron but it does work.

We got to spend time working on lessons that we have to try to flip them.  Some did examples of problems, review of rubric assessment and what would be a good example, other took some power point slides and recorded voice on them.  It was great to have the time to play and discuss with each other how to incorporate this idea and technology in our classes.  A great day was had (Thanks Rose and Justin).  I can see myself recording some scratch tutorials for the girls and placing them on our class page.