Digital Content

1.1 Welcome

Welcome to Art80T: Digital Tools for Contemporary Art Practices. I am your instructor, Kristen Gillette, and am very excited to teach this course. For this intro module content, I will just be introducing the module format and basic weekly schedule, and the online learning system, called Canvas, that we will be using to do everything for this course. The 5 “exercises” due for this module are short practice assignments to get everyone comfortable with using Canvas and a few basic operations on your computers. These assignments will be graded based on completion only - so if you submit something correctly, you will receive full credit for each. Most importantly, completing this module is required to “unlock” the rest of the Week 2 content and assignments - so be sure to do this as soon as you can.

1.2 Course teaching assistants

This quarter we will be joined by TAs Simon Boas, Shimul Chowhury, Zoe Sandoval + Kelly Skye. Each TA will host “studio-hours” via chat, assist in compiling content for lectures and tutorials, and evaluate most assignments and projects. They are each a wealth of knowledge with digital tools and programs, and use these tools extensively in their own art and design practices, both professional and academic.

1.3 Using Canvas

Canvas is the “Learning Management System” we will be using to host this course. Think of Canvas as the door to your classroom or lecture hall - every time you are doing any work for this course, you want to first log into Canvas, which will then link you to our course site. You will use this site to do everything for this class - accessing videos, tutorials and content, submitting assignments, posting discussion questions, taking quizzes and exams, viewing the course schedule, attending instructor office hours and viewing any course updates and announcements.

Important info about Canvas Announcements: You will need to change your Canvas account settings in order to make sure that all announcements are copied to your email. Be sure to check your email often for these course announcements (at least once a day, Mon-Fri). Starting Week 1, all course updates will be sent out via announcements, not the instructor's email.

1.4 Module Format

This online course will use “modules” to organize lectures, assignments, discussion board participation and other course components by subject grouping. Access modules via the “Module” menu option on the left, or by linking through to it on the course Home Page.

Most modules will feature a “Lecture Page”, a “Discussion Video”, “Studio - Tutorial Videos” and 1 - 4 corresponding “Studio Exercises” (which are like mini-projects), a required discussion board that you will contribute to, and a practice quiz. The modules will be organized by week.

Weekly Modules will be posted by 6am Mondays. Generally, Modules will not be released early, because some of the content is generated by student feedback from weeks prior. If you are interested in gaining early access to some modules and/or weekly assignments due to other scheduling circumstances (such as anticipated travel or limited internet access for 1-2 weeks during the quarter) please email me directly - this can usually work out in some way.

1.5 MODULE DUE DATES

When you decide to work on assignments, complete quizzes, view course content and videos, and participate in discussion boards throughout the week is totally up to you. All required assignments within modules will have weekly due dates, however, which will be specified under each individual assignment. The general rule of thumb - each weekly module will have a deadline the following Monday night at 11:30pm. This gives folks the weekend to work on assignments. These deadline will be outlined in the Course Syllabus as well as the assignment pages in Canvas.

1.6 Lecture Pages + Content

Lecture content covers things like different course topics, themes, artists, artworks + movements, as well as art + design principles, techniques and processes that correspond with ideas we are exploring in the studio portion of this course. It does not cover any technical information that is not fully discussed in these Studio Tutorial videos. When I was first developing this course, I had planned to present this content via video as well, however, I quickly realized it would be incredibly frustrating for students to access specific information from these lectures if they were all videos. This content is instead presented as a web page with text, slideshows and links to other resources and videos (that I did not produce). While this format does require you to read a bit more, it allows you to flip through slideshows, locate specific content easily and “attend” lectures and access course content from more locations.

1.7 Studio Exercise Assignments

Most modules will include 1 - 4 studio exercises due by 11:30pm the Monday following their specific week. Each of these exercises correspond directly to a different studio tutorial video. Sometimes you will turn in multiple exercises at once, and other times you will submit them one at a time. Be sure to always follow the written instruction in Canvas, as these are the most up-to-date, and some videos contain slightly different information. Each tutorial video walks you more than half way through completing each exercise, and also introduces and discusses core concepts and techniques more in-depth. They each also explain all of the processes and tools you will need to know in order to complete exercises. You will have practice using this turn-in method via Canvas with this Intro Module.

1.8 A note on Grading Studio Exercises

I want to emphasize that these exercises are intended to be creative ways to explore and learn the technical aspects of these digital tools, and to better understand ways these tools could be used for different types of art-making. For those of you who have taken art courses before, we are mostly evaluating these exercises based on your exploration and application of the technical steps presented in each video tutorial, as well as your problem-solving efforts.

Each exercise is worth 2 % - 3 % of your final grade. There are two exercises during Weeks 8 and 9 that are worth 8% and 6%, but these are broken down into 2 - 3 pt steps. Each exercises will be evaluated on a very simple rubric.

• An on-time project, or project step, that completes all of the listed requirements will earn full credit
• A partially completed project, submitted on-time, accompanied by a comment describing the technical issue(s) encountered and 2 ways you tried to solve or work around these issues will also earn full credit (the first time the issue is encountered).
• A partially completed project, or project step, submitted on-time will earn half credit (or minus 1pt).
• No submission will earn 0pts.
• Late submissions will be worth 1/2 credit (or minus 1pt).

1.9 Asking for Help + Troubleshooting

For this course, I am requiring that everyone follow a strict series of steps when it comes to asking technical questions. I am defining “technical questions” as any question about any program or tool presented in the studio exercise tutorial videos, or any process (including starting or saving) required by a studio exercise assignment. Don’t worry, you will actually be earning points by following these simple steps.

1. Read through your weekly section discussion board to see if someone has already asked this question, and if it has been answered. If not, post your question(s).
2. While you are waiting for replies or solutions, use the internet. It is possibly the most powerful digital tool available - Google your question...Even knowing these programs well, I still do this at least 2 - 3 times a week.
3. Log into one of our online “Studio Chat Hours” throughout the week. These schedules will be posted at the start of every week.
4. Continue to check your discussion board.
5. If your question still remains unanswered, it will most likely be discussed in the following weeks “Discussion Video”, an announcement, or on a help page. These will be posted midway through the week, and will essentially focus on answering the questions that were not addressed or answered on the discussion boards.

Reminder - this is for technical software questions only, and does not include things like health emergencies, issues accessing your course portal, DRC accommodations or any other course concerns. Please contact me via email with any non-technical questions, with “Art80T” in the subject line. During the week, M-F, please allow 24 hrs for a response. Sometimes a general concern might be addressed via an announcement - if this happens, it means that multiple people had similar issues. Over the weekend, my response availability is limited, but always email me anyway, as this will allow you to "timestamp" any serious issues.

1.10 Discussion Boards

During Week 1, you will be broken up into discussion board sections of 50 or so. Most weeks, you will be required to post at least 2 technical questions or answer to this discussion board by the following Monday at 11:30pm - these will be listed in each module if they are required. Specific due dates will be listed under weekly module requirements. You will receive 1 point for each post, up to 2 points, however, you can always post more questions and answers if you want (and I would encourage it). The more that you use these discussion boards as resources, the more beneficial they will be to everyone. You can answer your own question, as well, if you ask and then find a solution. Just to be clear, these are required for each module, and each discussion post is worth 1% of your final grade, up to 2% per module, and up to 14% of your final grade total.

These posts will not be graded for spelling or grammar, but its in your best interest to be clear because you want your question to be understood. When answering your peer’s questions, please remember that everyone is coming into this class with different levels of experience with (not to mention access to) these tools, processes and programs. And short threaded replies, such as "me too", "same", "ditto", "thanks" etc, while helpful for us in terms of knowing what is most challenging for folks, are not substantial enough to earn credit.

Any disrespectful communication, bullying, and hate speech will be immediately deleted and will subtract 1 pt from the student’s 100 point final grade. Each repeat issue will compound that subtraction. If anyone is feeling bullied or uncomfortable with a discussion board communication, do not continue to engage, do not post any kind of reply, and instead email me immediately.

1.11 Weekly Practice / Attendance Quizzes

Most weeks, there will be 1 short “Attendance” quiz required for each module. These will cover mostly content from that week’s “Lecture Page” and “Discussion Videos”, and occasionally a studio tutorial video. Think of these as practice quizzes - they are timed, multiple choice and “open book” and you can also take them as many times as you need to “pass”, by answering a set amount of questions correctly. Once you pass, you can continue to take them without losing that passing score. Your scores on these quizzes do not impact your final grade - all we look at is if you took them at least once. Most of these quizzes (except for the Intro Module Quiz) are not “due” at any point.

The questions on the quizzes will be similar to some of the midterm and final exam questions. Probably very similar. For example, if the quiz for Module 2 asks you multiple questions about a specific artist or a technique, you will want to make note of that specific artist or technique for the midterm. This does not mean that ONLY questions from the quizzes will appear on the exams. But they are an excellent starting point for review.

1.12 Midterm and Final Exams

Week 6 and Week 10 into Finals week, there will be a midterm and final exam due to be completed. Unlike the quizzes, these can only be taken once. They WILL, however, be the same multiple choice, open-book and timed format.

1.13 Time Management, Computer Issues + Internet Access

As a professional who works with digital tech constantly, I know that some of you are going to encounter equipment issues - like internet outages, or crashed or stolen computers - at probably the worst times. It happens to all of us, however, these types of issues do not excuse late assignment submissions or late midterm or final exam submissions. If something DOES come up, you need to first have submitted your “Back-Up Plan” (Exercise 1.5), and then complete the following steps:

1. Take screenshots of any error messages or issues, or photos of any equipment malfunctions.
2. Email me with the issue and any of the above documentation ASAP.
3. Proceed with your back-up plan.

Each issue will be considered on a case-by-case basis - communication and pro-activeness is very important with these kinds of problems, in both the academic world and in the professional world, and will weigh heavily on our decisions to grant re-submissions. For example, don’t wait until Friday night at 8pm to take the midterm if its released on a Monday, especially if your internet has been acting up all week, or, if you notice your computer crashing a few days before an assignment is due, check the computer lab hours and figure out a repair plan as soon as possible.

1.14 And now, on to the fun stuff…

This week is all about getting this logistical stuff figured out and on the record. I promise, this will be the most textual, non-visual lecture page of the whole quarter. Since this is still a very new course, you all will be a part of shaping it for future quarters and students - so, please feel free to send any feedback, suggestions or ideas our way. Make sure to check out the posted syllabus (subject to change, with plenty of heads up) and work through the intro exercises for this Module. Next module we will be diving into pixel-based image editors - like Photoshop, and then moving into vector editors starting Week 4.