Saturday, February 7, 2009

Adobe Visual Design

http://www.adobe.com/education/instruction/teach/visualdesign.html

While looking over the information on the Visual Design website, it occurred to me that I am generally a fan of all things Adobe. I think many of us use Adobe products, software, and technology on an almost daily basis and they make our lives easier. The Visual Design course also seems to offer ease of use to to both teachers and students.

What I like most about the Visual Design course is that the projects are so carefully and specifically laid out. There are very explicit instructions and methods which will make things easy for beginners. The projects build upon one another nicely so that learners can be broken in slowly yet still gain confidence and independence when working. They can also use and practice their new skills while leraning new things as well. The rubrics are a great way for students and teachers to keep track of things and be consistent.

So far I am very impressed with what I have seen and look forward to learning more about this program.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Internet Literacy

The website www.novemeberlearning.com has some great resources on it for creating smarter internet users. After taking the literacy quiz, I concluded that I am moderately savvy. I might even be considered "on the cusp" between that and downright nerdy. Even still, I was able to learn many new things, which is usually the case with these assignnments.

I didn't realize that a tilde or a percent sign was a clue as to whether or not you were on a personal webpage. Unless it is extremely obvious that is is personal, I always just look for clues on the page to let me know whether or not it might bve. I am glad I have some specific things to look for now. The example that was use about a university professor's page is a great one. When most people see the "edu" at the end of a website address, they assume it is a trusworthy, non-biased one, but that is not always the case.

The Literacy Resources at www.novemberlearning.com tell you how you find out who publishes a website as well as the history of that website. I was absolutely floored by their example of www.martinlutherking.org. My students have asked to take turns teaching their classmates about black history for the first few minutes of each class. I generally let the students take control of the internet and data projector. I have this vision of a student going to this website. The information on it would probably start a complete riot. This will not happen (especially now), but should we ever stumble upon a website that does not seem legit, I will know what tool to use to evaluate these websites.

I am always pleasantly surprised by the information included in articles and websites we are assigned to read. This is no exception. All internet users will do themselves a great service by visiting www.novemberlearning.com.