Week 12

I had quite the experience developing all the elements for this final project.  I was able to explore and use various advanced technologies to create some really amazing projects.  I plan to even use some these same projects in my curriculum.  This final project experience has truly inspired and wowed me, by guiding my research to discover so mush that I never knew existed or was possible.  It has be questioning where we are going in the world with technology and how long is it really going to take us to get there?

Components of Final project:
Video: Created in WeVideo
Video of Eye & Students: New footage shot in classroom
Parts of the Eye: Grabbed from "The Eye" video on youtube
Parts of the Camera: Made frames in photoshop/Pixlr Editor
How the Camera/Eye sees images: personal photographs
Tinkercad 3D eye: made from scratch in tinkercad
3D printing from 2D: Grabbed from "Touchable Memories" video on youtube

Final Project: The Eye and The Camera

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fezkhoYwJ3oLx2WkghIGEBW0Q8sWgQ_bowP21p2JAes/edit?usp=sharing

To all you educators!

The reality is that no one can really tell you how to be a great teacher.  The truth is it comes with experience.  Like most jobs you are going to learn things that were never mentioned in any textbook.  The key to being successful is knowing how to flourish in challenging situations that occur in every professional environment, especially in a classroom.  With all the advice one can give you to become a more effective or "better" educator, I leave you this.
The three P's that make a teacher great.
Patience. You must be patient, not only with your students, but yourself.  One can not get frustrated with misunderstandings and accommodated needs. There is no such thing as a perfect class.  You have to take time to think, see how you can better your students learning experience, and through the accomplishments of breaking through classroom barriers you will better yourself as an educator.
Passion. You must be passionate about your work and the work you do with or provide for your students.  If you don't love what you teach, that will make your job more difficult than any disruptive student.  Your attitude reflects on your student's actions. Again there is no such thing as a perfect class, but your passions of what you teach will instill in your students, and those that grab onto it will thrive in ways every teacher wants their students to.
Perseverance. There can be no giving up when it comes to teaching and learning. It is crucial to know that no matter the challenge whether it be student or educator based, one must persevere in reaching the goal of understanding the misunderstood, and giving assurance of ability to accomplish the unachieved.  
Take this advice and use it with all you have learned.  But most importantly use your instincts as an educator, and learn from your students.  Knowing who you are teaching, is as important as knowing what your are teaching. 

Final Project Proposal

“Technology is just a tool. People give it a purpose.”

The importance of understanding the tools of technology is crucial to our current and future generations.

For my final project I plan to focus on the relationship between the human eye and the camera. This is a unit designed for an upper level photography class that has multiple components and projects to be explored and completed.  The unit should last six to eight weeks. This unit will have students working individually and collaboratively on a series of diverse projects in areas of digital technologies ranging from editing software to 3D printing.  The primary focus is understanding the importance and power of photography, it's relationship to advanced technologies, and the appreciation of the gift of sight we should all have.

This unit was inspired by “touchable memories”: http://youtu.be/f-4AmztnIYw.

Week 11 Refelections

Teaching can be more of a lifestyle rather than a career.   Ultimately a teacher wants to care for the greater good of their students in terms of their current and future abilities.  It can be the most exhausting but most rewarding calling if done correctly.

The key to raising achievement is to recognize that teaching and learning is a relationship. Students need teachers who connect with them. And above all, they need teachers who believe in them. The best teachers are not only instructors. They are mentors and guides who can raise the confidence of their students, help them find a sense of direction, and empower them to believe in themselves.

Robinson had several strong quotes that back up my view of teaching more creatively achieving balance in the content requirements.

1- To achieve this balance, expert teachers fulfill four main roles: they engage, enable, expect, and empower.

2- Teachers need to engage, inspire, and enthuse students by creating conditions in which those students will want to learn.

knowing how and when to use the appropriate technique is what great teaching is all about. Like all genuine professions, it takes judgment and connoisseurship to know what works best here and now.

3- Good teachers know that however much they have learned in the past, today is a different day and you cannot ride yesterday’s horse.

If teachers convey to students that they expect them to do well, it’s much more likely that they will.

4- The key to raising achievement is to recognize that teaching and learning is a relationship. Students need teachers who connect with them. And above all, they need teachers who believe in them.

Reflecting back on any of these one of the most valuable characteristics of a good/strong teacher is the presence of empathy in your teachings.  If you care your students in turn should care as well.

Week 11 Refelections

This was a challenging but fun project.  I did have some difficulty with the movements.  I was trying to make my android dance but for some reason I could not get the movements to work the way I had envisioned.  With a lot more time I would love to explore the more advanced features of character design.  I like how the sound really flows with the end of the movement.  If this is that basic of basic, I can't imagine the type of work that goes into game design.  I new found respect!



 This game was fun to build. I added a few features to this game.
- You change tracks by clicking the green button in the bottom right.
- Change player characters by clicking the number 1 for player 1 and the number 2 for player 2
- You can move in all directions:
- Player 1 use arrows (up, down, left, right)
- Player 2 use W-up, Z-Down, A-Left, S-Right

I decided to add a sound when the two players touch and a few variations to the tracks.

Week 10 Reflections

Article 1

3d printing and education

10 WAYS 3D PRINTING CAN BE USED IN EDUCATION 

 http://www.teachthought.com/uncategorized/10-ways-3d-printing-can-be-used-in-education/

This article is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, it's a general list of ways that 3-D printing can be used in education, but to takes it a step farther shows somewhat of a mind map to demonstrate how 3-D printing works in a classroom. The quote that stuck out to me the most from the article is as follows. "As far as how this can be used in education, it’s a matter of bringing objects out of the computer screen and into the hands of students for inspection, analysis, and other processes that can get the benefit from physical manipulation." I can't agree more with this statement, and how teachers and students can be immediately turned on to the idea of 3-D design/printing can be used to further and better their educational experiences.

Article 2

Video: 3D Printing Ignites STEM Education

https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/media/manufacturing-processing/video-3d-printing-ignites-stem-education

This video really excited me, not only because of seeing the abilities of 3-D printing in the arts and sciences, but the fact that this was a SUNY New Paltz program which I am an alumni.   I wish they had this facility there when I was a student. It's great to see how the school has grown with their technology department and that it is being utilized in various academics. This is making me want to get a 3-D printer for my classroom.  How close is photography and 3-D printing related?

Article 3

Importance of 3-D printing in education

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/03/importance-of-3d-printing-in-education.html

This one absolutely wowed me! Basically the reason that 3-D printing is important to understand is that it is going to change the world. It technology is like something out of a movie it's almost hard to believe it exists. You'll understand after watching the video that's attached to this page. Enjoy!

As an art educator it's hard not to get past the creative possibilities of 3-D printing, but considering how one can create prototypes to bring into automotive classes or biomedical classes you still have to incorporate the understanding of the machine or organ that you're going to be 3-D printing.  The educational value of 3-D printing is in the further understanding of the working functions of tools, machines, and even body parts.  It seems that the sky is the limit when it comes to 3-D printing possibilities.

Week 9 Reflection

This week we explored different ways of creating a podcast.  After watching some of the tutorials, I became concerned with the quality of the sound that I was limited to with just using my laptop or desktop computer.  I decided to ask my buddy who is a musician to help me out with mic equipment. After a crash course on setup and refining, I began my podcast.
I decided to focus around the theme of photography and the topic of photographers vs snappers.  In the podcast I discussed my own personal opinions on the topic, along with conducting three different interviews to attempt to get the most diverse range of opinions.
After all recordings were made, the editing process began.  This was a lot different from editing a slideshow or even a streaming movie.  Sound can be so funky depending on were the recording was made, how good the equipment you are recording with, and the volume of the voices being recorded. It took several hours to get everything in lined up and sounding right.  I played with adding some music to add a fun mood to the show.
Overall I really enjoyed this project.  Even with the frustration of the extensive amount of editing, it I'm glad it was so involved because it allowed me to work with WeVideo even more, getting me to a higher level of understanding of the program.