Grading

No more math! No, seriously. You can weight projects, work with either letter grades, points or percentages, take roll/attendance, and on and on. Then, at that fateful moment at the end of the semester, it's all calculated for you, so you won't have to stay up all night wondering if your math skills will stand up in court. Beautiful!

See a demo about Snap Grades here: http://snapgrades.com/web/demo.php

Website: SnapGrades

From the SnapGrades website:

•	Enter scores as points, percents, grades, rubrics, even adjustments (25+2 or 40-5%).
•	Customize letter grades, rubrics, pass-fail, etc.
•	Customize weighted or unweighted categories.
•	Set weighted grading periods and exams.
•	Customize special marks for missing work, excused assignments, etc.
•	Type comments for each score of each student.
•	Set different grade scales for different classes.
•	Drop low scores automatically.
•	Override or adjust the total grade for each student.
•	Curve grades for any assignment.
•	Create independent study assignments for one or a few students.
•	Graph how each assignment impacts the student's grade.
•	Show students "What If" scores so they can see what they would need to reach a certain grade.

Scheduling Nightmares? Turn Them Into Dreams.

There are several free scheduling programs/services online, but When is Good, saved my life and a LOT of paper! It's simple, straightforward and just works.

When is Good allows you to develop and event and send out a call to participants via e-mail. They respond, and the computer finds the "times in common" for you and the group! And you see it as a chart. I know! Super.

Here is an example of what an account looks like:

Watch a video about the program works here.

New Models of Professionalism in Illustration/Visual Communication

“Life is not semesters.” Aaron Meshon

The illustration field is changing quickly.

Illustrators and clients are coming together to work online and social media allows for valuable interaction. Once isolated, illustrators now coming together and use social media to market their work (in varied ways such as Etsy, BeHance, the iSpot, etc.) and discuss the profession, strategies, and client issues.

Digital entertainment is normal now. And it makes people comfortable with electronic formats. E-book sales have tripled in the last year with e-books outselling traditional books by 43% in the last quarter. They can be multi-path stories and are highly visual. E-books will outsell paperbacks in 2011.

Markets for illustrators are opening in electronic publishing and online gaming. Vinyl toys and licensing are on the rise (Haring: The Pop Shop). Illustrators can develop their own markets and not necessarily wait for an art director to call.

Gary Baseman is a good example.

 

Online Filesharing

Share files that would otherwise clog your e-mail (or be rejected by a server 'cause they're too damn big) using these resources. There are free and paid versions. Visit each one to get the specs, but they're all worth checking out to see which one fits your needs. They all allow you to "share" your files with an invited person online. Yowza! I see your stacks of paper disappearing!

Box.net

Dropbox.com

Evernote

What is Social Media and Why Should I Care?

What is Social Media?




Why Should I Care?

Mindmapping

Mindmapping offers those of us who are more visual some real options for organizing material and/or activities in ways that make a lot of sense. Give some of these a try!


Advising: flexible advisee course sequence plans (fully interactive), visual guide for visual students (and advisors!)

Courses: collective information, group brainstorming, quickly accessing web resources

Meetings: keeps "flow" going, can be converted to outlines

Mindmeister.com

Example Map

PB Works

Wikis offer a lot of flexibility and convenience for teaching and collaborative work. Though they can seem daunting at first, remember that Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is your course or work wiki.


Courses:
Paperless courses, archive of course activity, available 24/7, students (and instructors) cannot lose materials, determine levels of access

Faculty + Administrators:
Paperless, avoids overstuffed "in-box"on e-mail, available 24/7, cuts down on meetings if desired, organize small and large projects, determine levels of access. Can include calendars, task lists, references (links, files, images, etc.)

Further:
Copyright concerns, private vs. public pages, limited number of participants (depending), cost? Some examples follow...

UConn IllustratioNation Blog

UConn Illustration Wiki

UConn Studio Art in Florence

CLDeiblerStudio.com


Easy wiki services with FREE options:

Edublogs

PBworks.com