BP1_Google Reader

Learning about Google Reader this week has really forced me to be much more aware of my organizational skills and how much time can be saved by having just 1 place to check ALL of my sites—thank goodness! The links and posts are piling up, so without this tool I would be completely overwhelmed.  Here are some other ways I’ve found to keep me just as focused and up-to-date as an instructor.

http://www.educause.edu/

This site is so important for my purposes as an instructor and member of my department! I feel like every moment of the day I’m either teaching, grading, in meetings, etc that I don’t get a chance to read as much about what I “could & should” be doing to better the environment for students and the department.  I joined Educause because it has such an array of information from conferences to technology to professional development, etc all in one site.  They’re non-profit, which makes me want to support their efforts even more and they also offer a member blog that can be searched by keyword. As I pursue this masters in hopes of being hired full time, it’s especially important that I’m as connected as I can be with others in higher education and up to speed on the latest information.

http://www.artistaday.com/

Though I normally only teach traditional and digital photography at SUNY Orange, I had the opportunity this past summer to teach an Introduction to Art class at one of our branch campuses.  Art and art history were some of my favorite classes as a student whether I was in K-12 or as an undergraduate student at Penn State.  I was fascinated as I listened to the stories behind the work about how the artist perceived the scene and what they were experiencing in their own lives at the time they made their masterpiece. It was like solving a puzzle to me.  So I used that idea and introduced a similar style in this class.  After a discussion about several of the more recent artist movements (cubism, fauvism, dada) I had a student raise her hand and ask, “So what movement are we in now?” Besides my obvious answer of a “Digital” movement, I wasn’t sure how to answer her question and so began my journey to find more recent art to display to my class, in addition to discussing the established pieces in our art history books.  This site shows a new work each day and keeps me fresh on more current artists that students seem to resonate with a bit more than the classic artists.  I can search by category and location, which is a wonderful way to introduce students to local artists they can follow.

http://www.photoshopsociety.org/blog/

One of the scariest things about being involved in our industry is the pace at which it changes. My department just updated our digital photography labs with Adobe CS4 and now CS5 has already been released by Apple.  So it’s been a year and we’re already behind!! I am the sole photography instructor at my college so I HAVE to know what is happening in various fields of photography at all times. What this site offers are the latest tools and techniques being used in Photoshop. It’s so important that I not only see how a technique is being applied but in what circumstances it would be utilized if I want to teach it properly. What I also like about this site is that I can join (for a small fee) in order to receive their publications filled with tools and techniques in addition to the blog site. As an instructor, I find it very helpful to also have something tangible in my hand as a resource as well as the links. It makes for a quick reference when I’m not at my computer.

http://digital-photography-school.com/

This guy is fantastic!! He combines awesome, real world tips for beginners as well as experienced photographers and makes them incredibly easy to understand. The design of his site is very user friendly and he uses such great examples in his explanations. I reference him quite often when I’m preparing my lessons and he often has a viewpoint that I hadn’t thought of or an example that seems to explain his point so effectively.  This is the site that I reference the most often because he also discusses equipment and software surrounding digital photography as well as the business side of being a photographer.  This is a great resource for anyone looking to learn more about how their camera works and/or how to understand a photographer’s eye a bit more.  He also makes me laugh so I’m having fun while I’m learning better ways to teach!!

http://teachingteachers.com/

The last site is one that I will be referencing A LOT regarding my AR project. I’m focusing on using digital storytelling as a lesson plan to demonstrate photoshop/compositional techniques important to my class objectives.  The site not only introduces the key parts to the digital story but also includes information on how to set up a digital story along with articles/blogs from those who’ve pursued it in their own classes.  What an incredible reference for me to begin understanding through practice how to effectively assemble digital stories and how much meaning they can hold.  I also want my students to begin developing their own stories as a more media rich tool for learning, compared to doing a simpler photo essay.  This site will be holding my hand as I begin to put this idea into practice!  I’m anxious to go through more of the articles written by other instructors as they used digital storytelling as part of their curriculum.