Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

A sense of curiosity and a willingness to experiment are helpful.  

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

• Solve aesthetic and content issues using beginning-level creative methods in a variety of digital media.
• Create personal works in digital media, which demonstrate a beginning level of understanding of artistic and design expression, and methods of data collection, creation, manipulation, and output.
• Follow standardized practices for use of existing data content and other copyright matters.
• Identify ideas and issues, and develop a digital vocabulary to actively participate in a critical dialogue about digital media with others.
• Demonstrate autonomous expression in self-critiquing skills in digital media while recognizing the standards and definitions already established in contemporary digital media from different cultures.

Acquire a heightened appreciation for digital tools in art and design, their usefulness and limitations.

• Instructor lectures and presentations provide students with verbal and visual communication to clarify assignment guidelines and expectations, reinforce discipline specific vocabulary, and to exhibit the diversity within digital media and its tools, cultures and makers.
• Art making and design projects geared for student centered learning and expression, idea development, digital tool use, manipulation, understanding compatibility, formats, and output.
• Coaching through in-class lab time which includes one on one time between the instructor and individual student to address the student’s specific needs and concerns.  
• Group discussions allow for student centered learning and the opportunity for students to use discipline specific vocabulary, and to build cohort relationships.
• Out of class time is expected of students in order to keep up with assignments and homework.

Students will do the following in order to be assessed:

• Make creative, appropriately crafted, challenging solutions to given provocations using various digital media and techniques.
• Comprehend and apply analysis of art and design ideas, techniques, terminology, and issues through participation in formal critiques and discussions.
• Develop conceptual ideas through the practice of creative research and preparatory studies (e.g. sketchbooks, journals, maquettes, models, writing assignments, presentations, technical practice tests, etc.).

Themes

1. Issues of accessibility and modes of equity and access
2. Software
3. Pocket technologies
4. Web

Concepts

1. History and timeline of tools
2. Form and aesthetic considerations
3. Experimentation and play
4. Content and meaning
5. Craft, technique, manner, and modality

Issues

1. Process and media limitations
2. Personal expression
3. Graphics
4. Audio
5. Video
6. 3D
7. Interactivity
8. Virtual Reality
9. Audience
10. Copyright laws

Skills

1. Data collection
2. Data manipulation
3. Data storage
4. Data output/presentation
5. Cross platform/ Intermedia
6. Ideation (models, sketches, studies, journal writing, collage, etc.)
7. Understanding aesthetics choices
8. Critique and self-reflection strategies.