Since beginning my academic career at Kent State I have had the opportunity to work on curriculum development:
Download Visual Design Literacy Course Packet
Download Course Proposal for Visual Ethics
Intermediate Computer Course Packet
Download Graphic Design II Course Packet
I bring my research into my classrooms. I am exploring new ways to engage design students through technology. I bring technology into the classroom in several ways:
(1) By employing the use of online communities such as Vimeo, Ning and Facebook.
(2) Implementing the use of Lynda.com, an online software catalogue of training videos that act as a constant source of reference
for the students.
3) By requiring students to begin authoring blogs and online digital
portfolios within the first two weeks of class.
Bringing new thechnologies into the classroom can be challenging, as it requires constant monitoring and evaluation. It’s ever changing and poses new hurdles. It also has many advantages, as it keeps me in touch with current online practices, and the dialogue among students remains fresh. By using Ning in the classroom students have a direct source of contact with each other and myself. By using Vimeo, students start to create an online collection of their artifacts. They can easily share and disseminate their student work. Using Lynda.com has given students a reference guide that is consistently updated with new technology tutorials that are accessible anywhere or anytime students have a wifi connection. In my classroom TECHNOLOGY means ACCESS for students, whether that means communication with myself as their instructor, or to their peers in order to collaborate, or access instruction and information.
Download Screenshots of Ning Communities in Use