Communication With Students

It’s important for my students to know they can communicate with me when needed. With this in mind, I post my weekly office hours and contact information within the online classroom. I am available to students during my office hours or by appointment either via phone call, Skype, and/or e-mail.

When speaking to my students, whether it is within a group video critique, or within a written format, or over Skype, I always maintain a professional, supportive, and positive tone. This friendly approach helps to keep the line of communication between the students and myself open and as a result, the students are more willing to accept the feedback they are given.

This all starts at the beginning of the class. To “kick things off” - I record a positive-sounding video introduction to the course with SnagIt and iMovie and after, it’s shared in the Course Home section. This video allows students to hear my positive voice about the class and to be more open and in turn also positive about taking the course. Please click “here” to see an example video introduction for PHOA223: Advanced Lighting.

I also like to keep an open form of communication with my students. Along with communicating with my students in the online classroom through feedback and notes within the grade book, I e-mail my students and post announcements in the classroom on a weekly basis.

Positive Learning Environment

I believe it is important to establish a positive and open learning environment in order for students to succeed not only within my class but also throughout their career as a student and eventually, as a freelancer in the photography work world. At the start of each class, students can virtually “meet me” as their instructor via a video introduction and the written word.

By allowing the students to see me in the video introduction, students can “put a face to a name” and hopefully, feel as though they can “get a hold of me” more readily if a concerns pops up throughout the course. Within the same video introduction, I let students know when my normal work hours occur, and when I am most likely to be at my computer.

Depending on the school’s regulations, students are kindly asked to allow 24 hours for a response during the week and 48 hours during the weekend. Although my office hours are clearly listed within the classroom and in my email signature, I also reiterate this within the video introduction.

Please click “here” to see an example video introduction.

Each week is started with a new announcement to go over what can be expected that week.  As a way for me to “check in” with my students, they are also e-mailed either at the start of each week or towards the end of the week.  Each critique ends on a positive note in order to encourage the student to push further.

In the scenario below, the PHOA209 student is unsure of how to light her next subject and she’s unable to find a model. My response to her is up-beat, offers assistance, encourages her to keep going, and I make a point to tell her to get in touch if she has further questions.

I constantly encourage my students to get in touch with me if they ever have any questions or concerns regarding feedback, grading, or a question about a module or assignment.  Students are reminded that if they cannot meet with me during my office hours, they are more than welcome to schedule an appointment that would better suit their schedule.  I have found that making my work and office hours readily available for students to be very helpful.  Students can anticipate when I’ll be available via the online classroom, e-mail and/or Skype.

For my past portfolio courses that the seniors are take, a Skype conversation are worked into the course.  I found these assignments that require a Skype conversation to be very helpful to both myself and the students.   These face to face conversations create a stronger and more positive teaching environment.  In the past, students have pointed out how much they enjoyed the conversation and felt more connected to the course, the material, and I as their instructor in comparison to other classes.

Flexibility with Students

As an instructor, it’s important for me to see that the students are understanding the directions and my feedback; that they are progressing in their photographic and artistic skills.  For this reason, I place a strong emphasis on students showing their work in an online classroom. An assignment that may require use of specific gear, such as lighting equipment or a handheld light meter. To show their work, students are asked to include a wide-angle image of their lighting scheme and a clear image showing their handheld light meter in use.  Similar to what a math teacher may say, “show me the work”; I say the same things to my students, “show me how you went from ‘point a’ to ‘point b'”:

Re-Shooting an Assignment: If a student misunderstands an assignment and as a result, submits poor work, I may be flexible and allow the student to re-shoot the work within 48-72 hours. Notification of a re-shoot will not only be noted in the feedback but will also be sent out via e-mail. Below is a screenshot of a “before” and “after” from one of my portfolio students when she was given an opportunity to re-shoot:

Video Feedback: Below is a video where I discuss why one of my PH323 students at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh - Online Division was asked to re-shoot her Week 4, Assignment 1 (W4A1) and how doing so benefited her final portfolio:

Due Dates: I try to establish a pattern for due dates within a course so students can plan their time accordingly. For example, in “PH331: Location” at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh - Online Division, there are two assignments per week.  For classes that start on Thursdays, the first assignment may be due on every Sunday of the week and the second on every Wednesday. The first assignment during the week is written journal and a contact sheet of location scouting images. The feedback the students receive is vital to the success of the second assignment for the week. This second and corresponding assignment is when students will attempt to shoot successful images at the previously scouted location and try the lighting scheme and concept discussed in their journal. Below we see an example of the journal and then then final image: