Inspiration!

This week we have been learning how to work with programs like Inspiration. This diagramming software was very user friendly and is an important tool for creating diagrams, maps, and webs for students and teachers. It is typically used by students grade 6-12 and it allows them incorporate visual learning into their curriculum. I would highly recommend trying this software. Inspiration Software, Inc. does offer a free trial edition on their official website: http://www.inspiration.com/

I chose to do a web on famous Surrealist artists. The surrealist movement is one of my favorites, and I think one of the best ways of discovering an art movement is by discovering its representatives. The only thing I had trouble with was getting the footer (my textbook source) to show up on the GIF image of my web (pictured above). I had a good time discovering Inspiration, and I'm pretty sure I will be giving it another go in my future teaching career.

A Hunt for Shapes On Campus!

Here is the presentation for the scavenger hunt mentioned in the previous post.



Collection of photographs for scavenger hunt are organized in Hunt folder.

Scavenger Hunt and Google Presentations!

(Source of Image: WeHeartIt)

In class this Tuesday, Kyle, Alison, and I went on a scavenger hunt to discover shapes on campus. This would make a great project for many different classrooms including the art classroom. It would be a great way for students to practice using a digital camera, work together in teams, and take creative photos for their scavenger hunt. It also taught us to upload digital images, properly resize them and organize them. We learned how to use Google Docs Presentations in order to share our photos with the rest of our classmates during next Tuesday's class.
I thought the presentation program for Google was just as user friendly as Microsoft Powerpoint (not to mention very easy to share with group members and the teacher). I will most likely be using this project in my future art classroom.

Our hunt was based off of Shapes.
For example:

This clock became our Circle!

We had to find twelve different shapes on campus. I have to say, the hexagon was the most challenging.

Picasa!

Link to Picasa:
http://picasa.google.com

There are tons of photo sharing options out there when it comes to the internet. I have just opened my free picasa photo editing software account, and I love it!
Picasa is very user friendly. It is a great way to upload pictures to the web while having the option of sharing these photos with family and friends.

Is this a copyright violation?

This is a question I've asked myself many times...especially when it comes to using images and documents from the internet.
As a teacher, it is smart and safe to assume that images, documents, texts, video clips, or other outside sources are copyrighted. By making this assumption, we can avoid the risk of copyright violations and legally use these sources with the fair use guidelines.


Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeblogs/3020966582/


Fair Use according to the U.S. Copyright Office
(Link: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html )

According to the U.S. Copyright office, there are four factors to be considered when determining whether or not a the use of a copyrighted work is fair.

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

Here are a few Internet tips from a University of Maryland article regarding Copyright and Fair Use:

• Always credit the source of your information
• Find out if the author of the works provides information on how to use his or her work (explicit guidelines)
• Whenever feasible, ask the owner of the copyright for permission, and keep a copy of your exchanges of request and permission.

Other sources that are helpful in understanding copyright violations and fair use:

- PBS Teachers-
Copyright & Fair Use
(http://www.pbs.org/teachers/copyright/)

-Stanford University Libraries:
Copyright & Fair Use
(http://fairuse.stanford.edu/)

Google Docs!

This is a great tool for editing a document within a group of people or just storing a file on the internet. It's nice not to have to worry about remembering a document when it is on the internet and available for editing from any computer. Just upload your document, share it if you would like (insert the viewer or collaborator's e-mail address for their Google account), and voila. You can even create folders to organize these files and documents.

TeacherTube Video: How to Use Google Docs


Example of Google-Docs interface: