Design Principles For Students As They Create Visual Projects And Digital Stories

Source: DesignMantic (click for full-size image)

Students are producing more projects than ever before. The proliferation of visual apps and the access to easy tech tools have allowed learners to create all sorts of digital stories and custom graphics. Yet, as Marvel Comics teaches us, with great power comes great responsibility.

It is tempting to assume that because children are growing up in a visual world, they automatically know how to decode and encode optical inputs. This proficiency is known as graphicacy, which is the key to visual thinking in a differentiated classroom. If educators are going to ask students to design posters and slideshows, then they also need to guide young learners in the skills of effective design. Any teacher who has seen children layer neon pink fonts on top of vertiginous purple backgrounds knows that kids don't innately grasp the keys to clean layouts.

Source: DesignMantic (click for full-size image)

The logo design firm DesignMantic has published a series of extremely helpful infographics to help budding artists generate successful visuals. Even though these placards are intended for marketing and business purposes, they perfectly suit the needs of teachers looking for classroom resources.

DesignMantic's graphic of the "15 Golden Principles Of Visual Hierarchy" marches through a framework for art and imagination. As the firm notes:

"Visual hierarchy ... offers to your eyes visual assistance, suggesting to them, what information to linger on to, as your vision glides through it. It lays down a path for the data to flow in, to get absorbed into the brain smoothly. It guides the human eye from one element of the data to the next, like an invisible pointer moving through the data, to keep the reader free of any visual fatigue."

Source: DesignMantic (click for full-size image)

The company also offers a primer in "The 10 Commandments Of Visual Communication." Much like its tenets for quality logos, these guidelines range from line and font choices to arrangement and sizing tips. In essence, it provides "a layperson’s handbook of visual communication." It reminds us of similar advice from "The Design Of Project-Based Learning - Color Theory For Web 3.0."

NYSCATE 2014 - Simple Ways To Publish In A Paperless Environment

Source: ASIDE, 2014

The increasing use of technology to deliver information means the traditional bulletin board is going the way of the newspaper. While teachers still display student work in traditional venues, they can also seek alternate, virtual opportunities to share projects with peers and parents. Publishing student work motivates them to see, share, and engage in the collective consumption of ideas. Simple, free digital tools make it easier than ever to display content online. Collaborative whiteboards, digital fliers, and virtual pinboards can exhibit student creations with creative design.

Source: ASIDE, 2014

Embedding content in a paperless environment promotes active and continuous discussions about accountability and digital citizenship. Our students are growing up in a world that is always-engaged, always-on, and always-connected. We need to foster dynamic learning networks that take advantage of these tools to help them navigate, curate, and publish their work.

Source: ASIDE, 2014

The increasing move toward 1:1 and BYOD programs has also pushed the speed and availability of information to mobile environments. It is important to employ app smashing and other interactive ways to engage with student work that builds on the collective feedback of teacher to student, student to student, and student to teacher.

Free publishing platforms:

• Twitter
• Kidblog
• Tumblr
• Wordpress
• Wikispaces

Source: ASIDE, 2014

 

Free publishing tools:

 

Adobe Voice

For examples of student creations in Adobe Voice for different grade levels, click here and here.

Kidblog

Source: ASIDE, 2014

 

 

To create a free teacher class in Kidblog, click here. 
 

Padlet

Created with Padlet

For examples of student publishing via Padlet, check out this, this, this, and this.

Smore

For examples of student publishing via Smore, check out this and this.

Source: ASIDE, 2014

For further reading and resources, we recommend:

• D-LIT: Transliteracy And Web 3.0
• Digital Humanities - Writing Analytically Across Disciplines

Make It, Own It, Learn It

Source: ASIDE, 2013

Like so many other teachers faced with time constraints in completing curricula, we often think of how to fit more things in that we know will make a difference in the learning. We strive to provide our students with creative opportunities to show what they know. To this end, the best advice we can give is to collaborate with other teachers.

By taking an interdisciplinary approach to a particular topic and partnering with others, it's easier to accomplish this objective. Straightforward projects are equally beneficial to student understanding, and the educational looping of material allows students to make stronger connections. Our Sumerian ziggurat project is one example of this.

Source: ASIDE, 2013

The fifth graders learn about ancient Mesopotamia and in particular how farming gave rise to the first civilizations. They make sketchnotes about the eight basic features of a civilization to understand the transformation from a hunter and gatherer society to that of settling down in permanent locations. Two of these features that the ziggurat project addresses are organized religion and the development of art and architecture.

Source: ASIDE, 2013

We keep it simple, but we thread in the history throughout the process. Before beginning, the students complete a short research assignment in their history class using the British Museum website on ziggurats.

In art class, they work in small groups to construct, paint, and build ziggurats by transforming boxes to look like stone, stepped structures. The students have a blast spackling pizza boxes, too. In addition, our art teacher gives them a history lesson about the different types of art the Sumerians made that adds to their knowledge about Sumerian culture.

Each group personalizes their ziggurat with offerings, people, and a dedication to a god or goddess. This makes for an incredible show of creativity. The kids get so into it that they made clay figures praying on their knees. The temples at the top are equally as elaborate.

Source: ASIDE, 2013

They also write a dedication to the deity based on their selection from the list of gods on the British Museum site. They have fun developing this written piece as a tribute to their god or goddess, and each dedication is displayed next to the ziggurat in the school library.

Once everything is completed, the math teacher uses the ziggurats to teach the students about area and perimeter. The students enjoy using their own work to measure and figure out math problems.

As we stated earlier, we keep the project simple, but allow for the students to take ownership of what they make and use it to further their learning. It makes a difference in how they retain the content, because they are engaged throughout the process.

While we all wish we had more time to make things with our students, collaborating with other teachers not only helps bring the learning to life, but also makes it fun.

Source: ASIDE, 2013