P.S. I Love You (photoshopped)

Photo provided by blog author

Active Learning

As a visual learner, I will only really learn the most effectively by being hands-on, creating, and sharing. I cannot sit in a lecture room and just listen to information nor can I just read something. I have to put pen to paper or at least be able to highlight something in a handout to be engaged. In group project settings, I've always been the person to build the volcano or make the poster for the presentation. 

This week I watched Nicole Zumpano's book notes on Tim Gillmore's book Generation iY. Something that resonated for me, and I'll have read on further, is that we are energized by our strengths and exhausted by having to play to our weaknesses. In my LIS 708 class I am collaborating in a group to write a research paper and I've felt very overwhelmed in this class. I couldn't understand why - I've read so many papers now in grad school, I'm smart, I love working in groups... so why does this class make me feel so blarghhh? I realized this morning that these are my weaknesses and nothing in it feels like it's playing to my strengths so I now I know how to adjust my sails.

Active Learning Sample

I looked at an Active Learning exercise from Ms. Malhiot's class at Coonley Elementary on the American Revolution. She introduced her students to PicCollage and Audioboom which they used to create hands-on presentations featuring the American Revolution. Her students added their faces into pictures, added text, and elements in PicCollage. Audioboom was used a recording device for them to explain the events covered in their pictures. Using Google's Jamboard, I broke down this sample into how this project worked and what could be better. My suggestions for making better are simply in response to the original lesson being done in 2015 and utilizing the updated tools used in the original assignment.

Jamboard provided by blog author

As you can see based on how I saw this as Active Learning I would've loved doing this project. This class project would've really played to my strengths and I would've learned way more about the American Revolution than just memorizing facts from spoken lessons and book reading. I believe that sort of creativity is vital in the classroom to making sure all the students are able to learn with their strengths in mind. They are not only learning about the American Revolution and seeing themselves there, but they're also learning how to use visual web design tools and storytelling via a podcast platform. 

How Can I Use This In The Public Library

Fun fact: I don't really know how to use Photoshop but I do love to put me and my siblings' faces into all manner of pictures. My mom has amassed a collection of these over the years that she keeps in a photo album with a warning label that reads "pee before opening." As our family grows so do the opportunity. At my library we held a formal wear drive where we collected dresses and tuxes that we had dry cleaned and made available for our teens to choose from for prom. My coworkers came into see all their faces added into retro prom photos and our young patrons thought they were hilarious.

We have computers, iPads, and Chromebooks available for our young patrons to use and/or check out. As a result of my recreated silly prom photos we went into our library system's archives to look for prom-related images that were from Chattanooga. We could've created an active learning project based around this by showing them first what a library archive is and how to access it in person and through our OPAC. Then showed them the variety of tools available to them for free from our devices to add their faces into the mix. An even further exploration could've been in storytelling with these new historical photos what was happening at the time in our city/state/country that teens might've been interested in. We don't get much time to do this sort of programming for our middle and high school patrons but I do think it would be a lot of fun!

Just for fun, I'm sharing some examples from this most recent mother's day that involve a series of record album covers featuring myself, my sister's dogs (Lucy at the top and Jack below), and my older brother. 

Photo provided by blog author

Photo provided by blog author

Photo provided by blog author








Comments

  1. NMZumpanoJune 1, 2023 at 10:35 AM

    Those photos are hysterical! You must have such fun holidays. As you made clear in your post, active learning doesn't have to be time-consuming, stressful, or boring. Yet adding these elements to instruction- even in libraries- can help us retain information. Some of the tools such as Audioboom are no longer available- that's the 'curse' of digital platforms. For me, the best part about the original project is that no one instructed the students to add their faces in. It was all their idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Books + Arts = Book ArtsJune 1, 2023 at 1:58 PM

      That is AMAZING that they put themselves into the collages! My older brother and I were both yearbook editors back in the late 90s and it was probably good that we didn't have the technology to add our faces into things!

      Delete
  2. CarolJune 1, 2023 at 11:56 AM

    I love the note on your mom's photo album!!! :) My kids are masters at photoshopping, so I love what she did with your photos! I also enjoyed your Jamboard and I'm embarrassed to say that I literally hit my head with my hand when I saw how you used the post-its. I tried to fit everything in one post-it and got quite frustrated! Obviously, I've never used Jamboard before and it didn't occur to me to group them like you did, so thank you for that! I am learning so many new things in this class! (I'm so embarrassed that I admitted this. I clearly need some sleep.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Books + Arts = Book ArtsJune 1, 2023 at 2:00 PM

      I definitely had to play with it because I kept hitting "enter" and instead of creating a space it posted my post-it. I also attempted to use the highlighter to add some arrows for pizazz and they didn't show up..... until I downloaded the pic and posted it and there were orange scribbles everywhere! Since I couldn't see them from by Jamboard I just sort of eyeballed with the eraser tool.

      Delete
  3. Peasesm98June 4, 2023 at 6:15 PM

    Hi Lauren,
    First I'll start by saying that I felt EXACTLY the same way when I was in LIS 708, but I promise you'll get used to the elements of the course and it's better than it sounds/looks. Secondly, I think it's a fantastic idea to use photoshop as a means to facilitate active learning. Like you said, it can allow for greater collaboration among classmates and use various tools, all to focus on one specific element at a time, just as in the American Revolution post. I also really like your idea of creating an active learning project in public libraries for children, showing them first what a library archive is and how to access them, and I have known of some libraries to do just that. Good job here!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tony Ja... Lerooooy! Jeenkiiins! ... JacobJune 4, 2023 at 11:59 PM

    There was a project for an old history class where students would simulate the roaring 20s; we were buying stocks and feeling the sting of losing money after the Great Depression rolls in. This activity could have had a greater impact if students could use the same programs you highlighted to make their own 20s persona. That way, they would learn how serious losing assets back then was and compare that feeling to losing stocks in apps like Robinhood. There are College students and even high schoolers investing in these apps, so it would help them learn risk assessment as well.

    ReplyDelete

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