EDU642 Week 2: Visual Design + Copyright

Slow to Change

My thinking this week was slow to change. Because I already knew about design principles (out of pure interest) and copyright (from EDU590), I felt like the readings this week were reinforcing some prior knowledge and going just a little deeper. This is not a bad thing of course, I just didn't have any big shifts or lightbulb moments while reading about the content.

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Stand Out

That being said, the biggest thing to stand out in my mind is the usefulness of The K-12 Educational Technology Handbook by Royce Kimmons. I think this is a great place to go back to when educators are feeling a little lost and don't know what to do. I definitely still get confused and often shy away from things that are not labelled as Creative Commons because of the complexity of copyright. This interactive textbook gives a lot of information in simple text

Biggest Struggle

The biggest struggle for me this week has actually been this reflection. As someone who blogs fairly often for professional purposes, I usually get to pick my own content and therefore write about things that I know I have a lot to say about. This week I do not feel like I have a whole lot to comment on. I found it useful to read other people's posts from this class, as it gave me a bit of a kick start of things to talk about and things I connected with people on. This definitely helped me grow, and I will continue to do this when stuck in the future. One thing I could have done better is probably to comment on their blogs showing my appreciation and connections to their experiences.

Tensions

The tensions I noticed actually came from reading about my classmate's experiences. I saw that a few other people are overwhelmed by the 6 or 12 design principles. I connected with this because in my last post I mentioned that we use CARP with our grade 4 students, and I wondered if this might be a simpler place for people to start. However, I also saw people who identify as a little more of a designer themself and that some principles just come naturally to them. I feel this way as well, and wonder if it is a product of being exposed to good design for so long or if it is a creative talent in certain people.

Moving Forward

I have not started designing yet because I am still trying to decide what I actually want to create. I have many ideas I am excited about and am trying to narrow my decisions down to the ones that will be the most immediately useful. I wanted to dive right in (I am definitely that person) but did not have the time yet. I am excited to work on these creations and of course to see everyone else's!