I delivered the news we were integrating Google Draw into the class. Students could move to using Google Draw or, others could stay with Photoshop. At the beginning of class many of the students seemed relieved, but by the end of the class some might migrate back to Photoshop. After working in Photoshop and seeing what the program can do, some students are frustrated by the simplicity of Google Draw.

I had the students open their emails and showed them the Photoshop tutorials I provided—if they were staying with Photoshop.

Then, I had them open the email about Google Draw. I provided the 3 links I mentioned in my previous post. Unfortunately, the lab computers’ speakers did not work (or they were so quiet it was difficult to hear) and the students could only watch the YouTube video on their screens and could not hear it. This created a hardship, since they really could not engage. I could have run the video with the teacher computer, but most students wanted to jump right in. It was difficult to get their focus back.

A short demo on Google Draw will be completed on Monday. I believe that will be helpful for students that are using it to provide ideas on what is possible.

I also required students show me 4 images they were intent on using for the project. I asked them to save them to their Google Drive, call me over to show me, and I indicated they were getting credit for completing the task. All but two completed the task. So they have the images to use next week.

Presently, the main concern is if students are using images from the internet as a starting point for an identity idea, how do you get them to make something new or change it a bit to make it their own? It is a question that plagues many art programs. I might recommend if students are using someone else’s image in Google Draw, they should draw on it, make a pattern around the image to make a frame, or add some text blending the image and text with various techniques. Providing examples of how to do this in Google Draw with a Demo will be important.

For project 2 the students will be required to take original images and embellish them. Since the images will be original the issue of ownership will not be a problem. The inspiration will come from their lives. We can discuss the difference between copyright of images borrowed for inspiration vs. original images.

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