Personal Learning Environment- Narrative

aad610_f15, Marketing, Media, & Communication, Uncategorized

My personal learning environment consists of my family, work, school and my community. I have learned the most from my family. They teach me everyday how to be the best possible person. I strive to impart strong values to my children, values I learned I had once they were born. Attending school, working and volunteering are ways I can provide them with a stable life and better world. In these arenas, I have learned a great deal about the world and myself. Learning how to maintain a balance in my personal learning environment is often challenging. As a mother, artist, scholar, and community member, life and learning for me is a delicate balance. I chose to represent this precarious balance with a tightrope walker. She balances family, school and work effortlessly on her pole. It takes courage, focus and discipline for a tightrope walker to maintain her center of gravity. I have often visualized a tightrope walker when I felt like I was walking a fine line between success and failure. One false move could easily send me to my doom.

The tension wire of life has two points: the past and the future. Like a tightrope walker I must not look back or try to retrace my steps, however, I find that I learn a great deal from reflecting on my past experiences. There is never an option of turning back. The future can seem uncertain but it is full of promise and discovery. Every day I look forward to what I will learn next.

My personal learning environment usually depends on the act of doing. I am mostly a kinesthetic learner, and learn best through physical activities. When I find that I am stuck on some aspect of learning, such as assimilating complex information or an artistic technique, I find I push through by initiating a physical action, for example writing or making the first cut in the surface of a material. The tightrope walker must never falter and always move forward.

I have provided myself with a safety net in my personal learning environment. It consists of nature, community, friends, art studio, tools, mentors, professors, emotions, senses and family heritage, from all in which I learn.

 

 

 

 

Lexicon week 7

aad610_f15, Lexicons, Marketing, Media, & Communication

Third space- Third space refers to a physical or virtual environment, that is distinct from home or work, where people can unwind, talk and discuss things that are important or of interest to them.

Virtual Environments- Virtual environments can be a third space to some for example, Second Life or Facebook. These environments can allow people to connect with other communities that exist both virtually and physically. They are spaces where individuals can express or represent themselves in a variety of ways, such as a professional profile or avatar. In addition, virtual environments can provide virtual venues for people to hold meetings, conferences and online communities.

Infrastructure- Webster Dictionary defines infrastructure as: The underlying foundation or basic framework (as of a system or organization).

Infrastructure is the framework which supports the rest of the whole. Would the Internet be considered an infrastructure?

 

Lexicon Week 6

aad610_f15, Lexicons, Uncategorized

Audience: Audience refers to an individual or group of individuals who physically or digitally engage with a range of events for example, exhibitions, live music, dance or who participate in a cultural organizations or institutions to gain an experience. An audience member can be any age, race, ability or gender.

Accessibility: Accessibility is when every individual, no matter their mobility, education, income level, age, gender, or race, has access to arts and/or an arts experiences.

Mediating: Mediating, in a way, is like facilitating accessibility to art by enabling each individual participant to interact with art and take part in it. This includes the way an organization or curator presents the art or communicates about it to their audience.

Lexicon week 4

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Convergence- In relation to the article, Media Industries, Work and Life, it is the merging of various media, culture and the creative sector into the everyday experience of life. It is when the audience (consumer) participates and engages with different media and ultimately integrates it into life, work, and play.

Vector (image)- Is not pixels. Eric says it is like a mathematical equation using line, polygon and shape. Unlike pixels, it can be scaled to it’s maximum size without losing its clarity and quality.

Focal point- A focal point draws the reader’s eye into a piece. It is an area of emphasis that captures the viewer’s attention. It is usually achieved by creating visual contrast and can be used to pull the eye to important features or information.

 

Organizational Questions

aad610_f15, Marketing, Media, & Communication
  1. What is your organization or company. Give background history including who, when, and why it was founded.

The Village School

The Village School is a K- 8 arts-integrated charter school in Eugene. The Village School opened it doors in 2000 as one of Oregon’s first charter schools and was founded by community members who wanted a different educational experience than what was available in Eugene. The school is based on the Waldorf curriculum  infused with other contemporary educational and social practices. “The curriculum emphasizes the importance of balancing the growing child’s emerging capacities by serving the intellect through academics and by offering children daily opportunities for experiences of movement, music, drama, and art. Multiculturalism, respect for the natural world, and community are important elements in the daily school experience” (website).

  1. What do they do or make – describe the products and services and what makes them unique.

The Village School is special because it is accessible to a diverse range of people. It is a tuition-free public school using Waldorf methods. A Waldorf education is usually available privately with tuition costs ranging between $9,000-$13,000 annually. The school has been a model of a public Waldorf inspired school along with it’s healthy foods lunch program in the community, state and nation.

  1. Describe the culture of the organization or company. What is the work environment like – the atmosphere? What is the building like – exterior/interior, architecture, fittings and furniture? How do the employees work together? What are the jobs and roles of individuals? How are they treated by management?

The Village School embraces community and strives for inclusivity. Faculty, administration, parents and students participate in the culture of the school. Teachers and administration work collaboratively with the board of directors to guide the school in its mission to provide a holistic education by working on programs and curriculum that balances the capacities of the developing child through the intellect (academics) and opportunities for experiences in the arts, movement, music, drama and visual arts. Parents are strongly encouraged to participate in the culture of the school. Every parent is considered part of the Parent Council where they identify needs and plan for parent workshops, programming, such as the Garden Project, and appoint a Parent Council Member for the Board of Directors.

The school is currently located in the Willard building in south Eugene, however, the school has purchased its own building and will be moving in the fall of 2016.  The new building will be renamed as the current name is the Dunn Center, which was named after a KKK member. It will also be remodeled so new ideas are being generated by the Building Planning Committee composed of board members, administration, teachers and parents. Eventually, middle school students will be invited to attend and provide feedback to the committee. They are currently thinking about creating a new logo.

  1. Who is the targeted audience? What are their demographics?

Families who want a holistic, arts-integrated or Waldorf inspired program. Most of them are located in south Eugene, however, many families travel from other areas to attend. The school is a Title I school which means over 50% of the families qualify for free or reduced lunch.

  1. What is the organization or company mission statement?

The Village School Mission Statement

The mission of The Village School is to provide an education that fully integrates the arts with an academic curriculum, guided by observations of child development that promote the healthy growth of the whole human being – the head (thinking), the heart (feeling), and the hands (willing). Further, The Village School strives to create a community that honors truth, beauty, and goodness and encourages development of the inherent gifts of each school community member (website).

 

Lexicon- Week 1

aad610_f15, Lexicons

Alignment-

Alignment is the anchor in design which keeps all other elements balanced, rather than random and scattered across the page. It offers the viewer visual cues in understanding how each component relates to the other. New designers can fall into the trap of aligning text and images in the center of page because it feels comfortable, however, this can be visually confusing or amateurish.

Balance-

Balance is the equal distribution of design elements that create visual weight in a composition. Balance relies on alignment and is created around a vertical axis. Balance can be achieved symmetrical, asymmetrical and radial. Symmetrical uses the design principle of repetition by repeating the design pattern on the other side of the axis. Asymmetry achieves balance by contrast.

Materializing–

The tangible, artifacts created by the process of design, for example printed logos, catalogues, programs and T-shirts.