Is Your Brightspace A Blankspace?

Where To Find Free Images & Why You Should Use Them

Images play a key role in enticing the eye, holding a viewer's attention, and images make instructional content look better. As we transition to remote learning within the college system crafting visually appealing content will be essential to help maintain student engagement.

Let's face it we don't always have time to go photography something. Or you might feel guilty about "borrowing" another image from a Google search (yes we all do it by the way). So, if you searched online you might have found an article or two on Free Photo Stock sites, well here is another....wait!!!! Read on trust me.

This is a list of free photo stock sites... from a photographer's point of view. No not a nit-picky critique of composition and focus. This is a list from a photographer and instructor who has had to put together plenty of presentations. Someone who wants an image quick but also wants good quality relevant images. These are sites I have used and recommend (graded of course too), get ready to do some bookmarking:

Pexels - pexels.com

It has some good photo and video content that is cool and useful but it does has content that is a little cheesy and looks stockish, but hey it is free!!! It is good but not as cool as Unsplash or BURST or as unique as Gratisography.

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pixabay - pixabay.com

This sits has graphics, illustrations, photos, and video some are a little stockish and cheesy though. This site is like shopping at a rummage sale, the thrill of finding that awesome piece does not come often but when it does it is good!!

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Unsplash - unsplash.com

This site has photos, that is it and they do it well. The site is well-curated, it also has a good look and feel and is easy to navigate. If you want to level up your photo cred this is a great option.

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Gratisography - gratisography.com

This site has photos, that is it and they do it weird. The site is very well-curated, and it has a distinct style which is goofy and yes weird. If you want something different this is the place.

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BURST - burst.shopify.com

This site if from Shopify it is very well done, a little on the hipster side but that is alright. It reminds me of shopping in Kensington Market or Hintonburg, very slick hip images, and some that are grungy and I like that.

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The Cat Test

Here is the Cat Test, the first image from a cat image search on each stock site above. Why cats? Well they are cute and images of them can be a little cheesy!! Take a look, pick a site and give it a try, because all presentations and learning management systems need a shot of colour.

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Pexels - First Cat Result

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pixabay - First Cat Result

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Unsplash - First Cat Result

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Gratisography - First Cat Result

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BURST - First Cat Result

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Tips On Using Images for instructional content

Using images in presentations or on your LMS.

1. Use only one image per slide or LMS sub-module, learners need to take in a lot of info so too many images can be overwhelming.

2. Use images to draw attention and reinforce content. This can be done with humor, a funny photo can bind itself to a tough concept and help learners recall that info.

3. Many people use visual learning while learning, so to help students grasp concepts use an image that is explanatory, one that shows a concept visually. This can be a little challenging on a stock site but be creative.

4. Crop and enlarge images, the main cat image on this post, that might have caught your attention when you were scrolling, was severely cropped for effect. Often bigger is better, as it helps simplify the image and it can also be used as a background in this state.

5. Lastly, try lowering the opacity of the image to use as a background.

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Final Thoughts

There is a lot more to the backend of these sites. They are aggregate sites, on Pexels and pixabay so you will see the same images on both sites. You can, and it would be nice, to give kudos to the photogs that is how these sites entice photographers to post. Many sites make money from ads, mostly ads for Shutterstock, so you will see ads often.

Ultimately, in a perfect world, it would be great to produce all your own image content or pay someone to produce it for you. If you want to hire a student or a recent graduate the Algonquin College Photography can give you a hand. But sometimes you just need a quick pic to add a bit of pizzazz to a presentation. (I did have to look up how to spell pizzazz by the way.. what a word). Enjoy and stay safe.

Ten Bright Ideas To Level Up Your Brightspace

LMS Remote Learning Level Up

Our LMS (Learning Management System) is Brightspace from D2L. The training from Algonquin College was good but I wanted to level up for remote learning, so first stop LinkedIn Learning. There are two well-rated courses Learning Brightspace by D2L and Desire2Learn: Advanced Techniques by Alan Ackmann. Another course by Ackmann Desire2Learn 2016: Teaching Online is a bit dated. I know only 2016 but things change quickly when it comes to software.

Here is a breakdown of the basic/intermediate course Learning Brightspace by D2L:

1. Self-Assessment

   Like a quiz but they have questions but no grading and no numeric value. Self-Assessments were a major component of my MA. At first a frustrating tool but one I learned to love as a student. Suggestion, add feedback to give the answer or where to find it in the course material. These are used for students to gauge their own skills. Or use them for reflection pieces for students to recap what they have done. No data stored in D2L. Tools - Course Admin - Self-Assessment

2. Surveys

   Like a quiz but more for gauging how students feel about a course and their progress. Use these to help student engagement. Students pay a lot of money and so make sure to provide an excellent product and service by listening to their needs. Tools - Course Admin - Survey

3. Manage Dates - Course Tool

   This gives an overview look at the due dates and release dates. A great way to manage all your content. You can also offset dates for copying content from one year to another with this area. Tools - Course Admin - Manage Dates

4. Quizzes

   • Email notification can be set to keep on top of asynchronous quizzes a good idea when running a course online.

   • Disable right-click, click this on, it disables a print function on some computers.

   • Before posting review the Submission Views in the Quiz tab to see what the students see after completing the Quiz.

   • Create a Question Library to mix up quizzes for multiple sections of a class.

   • In the Options for a question, you can add Custom Weights so you can give partial marks for an answer that is partially right. Or to shows the student is on track but not fully there yet. Make sure to add this info to the feedback.

   • You can use a Question Pool option to get randomized questions for a quiz.

   • You can also use Sections to help organize questions based on some criteria, i.e. multiple-choice, or topic.

   • Use the chevron by the Quiz name and click Statistics. This gives better insight through the quiz stats. This will help you refine a quiz and how the students did as a whole. The Question Details has a lot of deets for refining questions. The ones that were too hard or easy, the data is only for first attempts not multiple attempts. The Rubrics have stats too!! Which will allow you to modify future content based on student performance. Always refine your content!!

   • If using multiple attempts try using Advanced Attempt Conditions. This gives access to other attempts only if the students hit a minimum of maximum %.

   • For online quizzes/tests goto the Submission Views and click Add Additional View. Then give the students View Details click Yes and then select only Show questions answered incorrectly and check show score. When students repeat the quiz they have to redo the questions they got right, reinforcing learning through memory. They will also have to try the questions they got wrong again.

5. Assignments

   Within the Submissions Folders there is an Email Users Without Submissions which is a great feature. Downloading the submissions as a group, use the Download checkbox in the submission list. A quick way to get all the submissions.

6. Grade

   Using Can Exceed and Bonus is an interesting feature. Use Exceed for assigning points if a student lets Faculty use Assignment as an example. Or Bonus for extra but not mandatory work for an assignment. Start to use the Overall Feedback in Grades for feedback to the whole class. Also, add Feedback at the end of a course. in the Final Grade area, a nice touch.

7. Import/Export/Copy Components

   Use Copy Components from another Org Unit and choose Select Components to pick what to transfer. You can Offset Dates as well within this area.

8. Release Conditions

   You can program the release of content based on a list of many variables. This is help to manage the flow of the class. Let students know about the release conditions as the students will not see the content until they complete other items or hit a certain grade.

9. Pulse App

   This app has a feature that shows the students their busy time of the week and month if all Faculty put due dates in Brightspace.

10. Notifications

    **Walk the student through this setup, they can enter a cell number too. Choose how often to get notified and for what. Also, have them confirm their details. This will help keep them up to date and informed on class content and deadlines.

The second course Desire2Learn: Advanced Techniques is good, however, the first section is a complete rehash of the basic course. The other sections do have some repetition from the first course. There are a few nuggets of info that are interesting. I found this second course to be a good quick refresher on Brightspace learned from the first course, it is only an hour. There were some features we do not have like the Insights portal which allows you to generate class reports from Brightspace. It would be a nice added feature.

Other Resources To Check Out

D2L also has some great resources on remote and online learning. I have signed up for a Webinar in June on Intelligent Agents, I am curious to see how that will be.

Currently, I am also enrolled in a Learning Path at LinkedIn Learning, Become an Instructional Designer. A learning path is a series of courses through LinkedIn Learning, the Paths are more in-depth on a topic and provides greater scope. I completed one on Online Marketing a few years ago and it was long but very informative. Hoping this path is as good, I will post an update as I progress through that path, stay safe.

How To Make Remote Learning Not Suck

Concerns & Expectations

There are a few things I am concerned about and want to focus on over the next few weeks.

1. How to maintain engagement with the students.

   Teaching like any profession is about building relationships and trust. You and the student are on a journey together and this relationship is important to establish early on.

2. Managing a classroom online.

   Making sure all students feel heard and can participate in the class activities. The students pay a lot of money and I want to make sure to provide an excellent product and service.

3. Producing something that is on par with online platforms like Linkedin Learning and Skillshare.

   Production quality is very important to maintain a level of professionalism and to keep a student's interest. Also for our program, this is something we teach, so producing engaging online content is a space where we can showcase our skills.

These concerns can be overcome it will just take planning and hard work.

Expectations

My worst fear is to produce online video tutorials that have poor audio, and video quality, and are shot like we are face to face in a classroom. This is not going to engage anyone, and neither will screencast tutorials with no personality. I believe that the students expect well-produced video and lecture content that is interactive and engaging. One of my favourite online instructors is Aaron Draplin his videos for Skillshare and Linkedin Learning are amazing. Currently, I am taking his Skillshare course, Design Great Stuff: How to Make Merch with Draplin.

Aaron Draplin - Skillshare Course #6

All these courses start with a quick overview and intro all set to music they use b-roll and quick cuts to set the video's pace. There is good quality video and audio production, time-lapse and engaging graphic elements to keep the content motivating.

I also like how Draplin is in his space, his studio, and uses that to do his demos and teach. My plan is to outfit the Print Lab with camera and audio equipment to do all my face to face demos and tutorials. The space will be isolated and only I and Joy will access the lab to produce our content. Next time I go to the college I will take some photos of the space and then draw up a few lighting schematics and a shot list.

Getting excited about this new teaching format, stay safe everyone.

Remote Learning Where To Start?

Broad Strokes & Initial Steps

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak the face to face courses I teach at Algonquin College are going online for "remote" learning. This series of posts is an ongoing journal documenting my prep for delivering classes online in September. This journal series will contain all my ideas, resources, and prep and act as a reflective piece to help me plan the curriculum.

For the last two months we have been wrapping up the last semester and coming to terms with the new "normal" of social distancing and isolation. I can not say that this has been easy but I do not have it as hard as some people do. Over the last few weeks we were asked if we could run our program online, and second to begin to plan for online or "remote" delivery. Luckily I work with very innovative colleagues and we developed a rough idea of how the program would work online.

Some courses like Digital Imaging, History, and Multimedia are easier to transition to online delivery. Others like Print and Studio are more challenging, here are my initial ideas for Print:

1. Printing - use VPN to have the student print remotely in tandem with me broadcasting from the Print Lab via Zoom. The students will get a feel for the process of printing.

2. Theory - print theory will be delivered as video tutorials.

3. Paper - create a print package for the students with all the paper they will be using for the semester so they get a tactile feel for the paper.

4. Learning Management System (LMS) - update the course curriculum on Brightspace for online delivery.

These are very broad strokes, now it is time to plan, prep, and write, stay safe.

Free Business Info You Should Actually Read

Etsy Seller Handbook 

There are a lot free resources for entrepreneurs, you just need to know where to look. Etsy has free advice, their Seller Handbook has great content for savvy creatives like this article which has 31 tips for marketing your business on any platform.

3 quick takeaways from the article for those on the go:

1. Tell your brand story when using social media with bts content, workspaces photos and a little bit about you.
2. Create a content calendar for social media and blog posts.
3. Engage with your followers, remember social media is a cocktail party so mingle, create on!!

Freemium Presentation Templates

The Cool Free Stuff... But Read The Warning Too

I love designing presentations but I do it for a living. If you need to create a presentation here is a great free resource: 24slides.com/templates. 

When I say free I mean freemium, more advanced services are available for a fee but all their presentation templates are free to download and use. They will make you sign up and get your info but this is worth the trade off as these presentation templates are quite good.

The Warning

Online services that offer free products or stuff are really making you their product. Your info is what they want and they could then sell your info, use it for their own marketing, or add you to their own mailing list.  You can never be too sure, data is big business.

Here are three tips to keep you and your information safe when signing up for services like this:

1. Use the auto generated password feature on your device and your keychain to save the password to all your devices. Also generate a new password for each service you sign up for.
2. Never ever sign up using your social media accounts i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.  This allows the service access to more of your personal info.
3. To be super safe create a separate Gmail account to use when signing up for all free services like this.

Freemium services like this are great resources for creative entrepreneurs but be savvy and safe when sharing your info, create on!

7 Tips For Entering Competitions

Whether you are a professional Creative or just starting out competitions are a great way to gain exposure. Competitions are like mini-jobs, so invest time and effort into them and only enter those that will give you a good return on your investment.

There are a lot of competitions out there, which can be a little overwhelming, and some are not so legit. How to know the good ones from the bad and some tips on how to get a leg up on the competition:

1. If the competition is associated with a magazine, festival, organization or company, that is a good sign. 
2. Search for past winners. This will help you figure out if there is a pattern to what the competition is looking for. 
3. Look at the judges, their backgrounds, and their credentials. This will also give you a good insight into what the judges are looking for. 
4. See how long the competition has been around, the longer the better. 
5. Who are their sponsors, the bigger the names the more reputable the competition? 
6. What are the prizes or awards? Higher end prizes or awards indicates a more established competition. 
7. When submitting make sure to review the submission criteria carefully!! You don’t want to miss anything that would disqualify your submission. 

If you do win something make sure everyone hears about it promo it on social media, be proud!!. Also remember to add this accomplishment to your resume, CV, and your LinkedIn profile, create on!!

Upcoming Competitions:

1. Applied Arts Magazine Student Competition: appliedartsmag.com/student_awards/ May 25
2. Emerging Photographer Magazine: emergingphotographer.com/ June 14
3. List of PDN Magazine Competitions: pdnonline.com/contests/
4. List of Communication Arts Competitions: commarts.com/competitions
5. this is a great site that you can create a profile on to make it easier to enter multiple photo competitions: picter.com/photographers/

How You Can Become an Adobe Certified Expert

Tips For The Savvy Creative:

The first question to ask yourself, why do you want to write an Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) exam?  Will you power up and become an Adobe All-Star?  Will people climb a mountain to listen to your sagely digital advice?  Umm no.

The exams are hard, so why take them?  I became an Adobe Certified Expert because I teach Photoshop and Premiere Pro, this was a small part of the reason. The real reason, I did it for myself let me explain:

1. The exams are challenging and I like a challenge it helps you grow.
2. It forced me to look at the software differently, which made me think of new ideas and business possibilities for the software and myself.
3. It gave me a sense of satisfaction and a nice boost in confidence which we all need.
4. Like it or not the certification is a stamp of approval and any edge you can get in this competitive business helps.

When you push yourself and challenge what you know you will always come out ahead.  It is the obstacles in life and how you navigate them that define who you are. So set a goal and achieve it, whether it is becoming an Adobe Certified Expert or running a 10km this year.

How I Successfully Completed The Adobe Certified Exams

I use the software, a lot.  If you have less than five years experience with the software don’t bother. Study how the software works, and apply what you have learned through practical exercises.  This is the only way the skills and knowledge will be reinforced.  Here is what I studied for the Photoshop Adobe Certified Expert Exam:

1. The Exam Prep Guide.  Make sure you know every point listed in this guide, decipher the sample questions.  The way they ask the questions is tricky.  This is the hardest part of the exam and this will challenge you to see other possibilities of the software.  
2. The Software Help Doc.  Use this in tandem with the prep guide, I read the whole document.  Yes, it is long and dry but very informative.
3. Adobe Classroom in a Book. A common theory I heard online is the exams are written, or based heavily, on the material in these books. The books are good but what I found most useful were the exercises.  Once again applying what you are learning. 

The Benefits

When you successfully complete your exam be proud and let people know, share it on social media.  Also attach the Certified Expert badge to your email signature and website. Add your profile to the Adobe Certified Expert Finder, update your Accomplishments on your LinkedIn profile and add it to your CV. 

The pay off for completing the ACE Exam will mostly be a sense of accomplishment, but I am a firm believer that things like this work in subtle ways.  The boost in confidence you get will be noticed because you will feel better about yourself and project more confidence. So challenge yourself often you are stronger than you know, create on!!

I Have Something To Say But My Writing Sucks

Tips For The Savvy Creative:

We visual creatives have an aversion to writing. For those starting out writing about your work and your process is so important. It shows depth and online search algorithms still index text better than images. Instagram posts perform better with more written content using keywords that reflect your hashtags.

Everyone has something to say and in today’s app rich world there is no excuse not to write. Services like Grammerly assist with spelling & grammar. To help you get to the point and be clearer though use the free Hemingway App. Tips aim for a Grade 9 reading level & practice, create on!!

F*uck Social Media Image Sizing!!

Tips For The Savvy Creative:

As creatives we like things done right, but when it comes to sharing on social media we want things done fast. Nothing is more of a social media buzz kill than trying to figure out sizing for your epic image post. Or worse having to scramble to delete an incorrectly sized post before anyone likes it.

There is an app for your social media woes Hootsuite Enhance.  It has all the images sizes preloaded!!

The app is integrated into the Hootsuite app.  If you don’t use Hootsuite it can post direct to social media or save to your photos. It also has text, shapes & image editing, create on!! 

Robots Are Here To Do Your Photo Editing!!

Tips For The Savvy Creative:

I am a fan of Adobe Lightroom, it is a great program for stills and multimedia projects like stop motion.

For savvy creatives Lightroom is a cheaper alternative to Photoshop. It has basic retouching, cloning & DAM. Some of Lightroom‘s more advanced features tethered capture and plugins.  One of my fav plugins is Photolemur ($29 USD).  It is an artificial intelligence automated image enhancement & correction tool.  It works very well, great for quick fixes and batch edits.  The edit can also be scaled back as it sits on a separate layer.  I❤️🤖, create on!! 

Lynda.com: Digital Marketer Learning Path Completed

22 hours of in-depth courses and 40 mini quizzes on Google Analytics, SEO, Online, Social and Content Marketing sounds likes fun doesn't it... let me tell you it was!!  

To keep my Marketing skills current I completed Lynda.com's Digital Marketer Learning Path this summer.  This Learning Path not only helped me keep up to date it has also been a great resource while studying for my upcoming Google Analytics IQ exam.  A highlight of the Digital Marketer Learning Path were the courses by Brad Batesole and Dayna Rothman.  Their knowledge on this fascinating subject and their practical real world examples helped clarify the Marketing concepts and ideas.  

I highly recommend this Learning Path for anyone starting or running their own business.  It will also be on my course's recommended watch list, as Lynda.com is included in our student's tuition.  

If you have been follow along this summer you might have noticed I have been focusing on Marketing quite a bit, this has been for two reasons.  Firstly I love Marketing and second I am rewriting the Algonquin College Photography Program's course, Multimedia II.  This is our Marketing course and we are going to be focusing even more on Marketing, Branding and Social Media this year.  This is a skill set that is hugely important when starting your own business and is a great skill to help enhance a resume if you are looking for work in any field.  

I am so excited to share what I have learned this summer with our students. It is so amazing to see their work come together and it will be great to help them further showcase their work and talent to the world online.     

For those unfamiliar with Lynda.com it is an online learning platform that offers courses for business and creative fields.  Their Learning Paths are a great addition to the platform, aggregating courses around different fields.

This I Know: Marketing Lessons from Under the Influence - Terry O'Reilly

We are all trying to sell something; at a job interview, a client meeting, on a date or online to friends and followers.  We all have a story to tell and an urge to have it heard.  Like it or not marketing plays a big role in getting our story listen to.  So how does one get heard in this age of persuasion? 

To do anything well takes practice and research and Terry O'Reilly's book is a look into the life of a Marketer who has done both.  His lessons are humours, revealing and he tells them with excellent storytelling skills that make them stick so well.  He also relates them not only to the business but to everyday life.

Yes this book is a must read for anyone starting a business, running a business, looking for a job or working, which pretty much covers everyone.  So if you are curious to learn more about human nature and the art of storytelling, have a read.  

My favourite quotes and parts:

1. Chapter 4 Bieber In A Blender (pg 51-52), The Allen, Brady & Marsh's ad pitch to British Rail, so good!!
2. Unless you have big ambitions, you'll only have small outcomes, so true.  
3. Companies look to sell products, and customers look to buy solutions.  
4. Chapter 7 Start With The End, on the important of presentation skills.  
5. Telling a compelling story that is rooted in your product is the most persuasive way of converting potential customers into paying customers.  
6. Marketing is theatre.  

I will not lie I am a big fan of Terry O'Reilly, love his CBC shows and his first book, Age of Persuasion, I highly recommend them all.  

Make Your Idea Matter - Bernadette Jiwa

Make Your Idea Matter, written by Bernadette Jiwa of thestoryoftelling.com, is a nice quick inspirational read for all entrepreneurs.  Each page is a stand alone point easily digestible.  Yes some points you might already know but if you are a entrepreneur, which can be lonely at times, some reassurance is nice to hear.  My favourite quote:

"The bad news is, it’s all been done before. The good news is, it doesn’t matter, because it hasn’t been done by you.....  What makes anything you do unique is your voice. The story that only you can tell, from a perspective that nobody else can have."

So if you are looking for some insights into branding, marketing, how to pitch your business, the importance of a mission statement or just looking for some business inspiration have a read.

Bernadette Jiwa's Blog: thestoryoftelling.com/blog (Also a good read)

Get Working Your Networking

Great short networking video on how to start building your network by Lisa Green Chau and TED-Ed, using resources we all have but may overlook. 

Here is the networking article by Declan Fitzgerald from HubSpot that led me to the video, also a great read.

A few things that really stuck with me:

1. Invest the time to make new connections often, but also invest in the follow up to build stronger relationships. 
2. Remember the Three Friend Effect, watch video by Lisa Green Chau a very simple cool concept. 
3. Try to be as helpful as possible, always great advice!! 

Read the full lesson by Lisa Green Chau from TED-Ed here. 

Happy Networking!!

Steal Like An Artist - Austin Kleon

Finished reading  Austin Kleon's Steal Like An Artist, here are a few of the many things that really resonated with me:

1. Fake it until you make it.
2. Practice productive procrastination.
3. When you open up your process and invite people in you learn more.
4. When you are unknown you have freedom to experiment.   You will never get that freedom again once people start paying you money for doing what you do.
5. Be nice the world is a small town.
6. Create an analog and digital workstation.
7. Use a logbook everyday.
8. Nothing is more paralyzing than limitedless possibilities, the way to get over this creative block put some constraints on yourself.  

Who is this book for?  Everyone.  

Some of the advice you will already know yes, but it is so nice to hear it reaffirmed.  Some advice will blow your mind and some you might not fully appreciate at this stage in your career / life / journey.   Regardless you will be better off after this quick and enlightening read, I am.