By TOM TUTTLE Faculty, Digital Media Academy , Digital Photography and Photoshop

Last summer’s Digital Media Academy Introduction to Digital Photography and Photoshop summer camp course was a classic. Every class seems to have an extraordinary mix of people. This past summer we had a gentleman who came from Tokoyo, two high school teachers and great mix of five high school students. Some had a little photoshop experience and some had photography experience.

One of our high school students decided her passion was photography and sent me the following e-mail just last month:
“Hello Mr. Tuttle!
I just wanted to let you know that I was accepted into the school of Photographic Arts and Imaging at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)…”

For those not familiar with RIT, it is one of the top three photography schools in the world.  A portion of her portfolio came from her class at Digital Media Academy. This photo was chosen as the most outstanding image of the week; selected from over 3,000 photographs taken.

Every course is different. We do a survey of what students want to learn and then mold the class to include those topics. Last summer, we covered outdoor portraiture, close-up & macro photography, architecture and special effects.

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Janet Armstrong is a high school teacher at Adrian Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, California. She recently attended CUE (Computer Using Educators), where she learned of DMA. Seeing the importance of technology in today’s world and the importance of keeping up with and teaching the latest technology to her students, she is going to take a DMA course this summer to advance her skills. The following is her views on technology in the classroom:

Schools have seen the need to educate students to make appropriate, efficient, and productive use of available technologies. At the same time they are compelled to reduce the digital divide that exists between higher and lower socioeconomic groups of students, giving them all access to the same tools. Consequently, as the tools advance, educators must be at the forefront of life long learning.

Life long learning is a phrase that has been buzzing around academia for the last decade. It’s a mindset educators must have to stay connected to the ever-evolving technology that seems to grow exponentially each year. Teachers and administrators MUST stay abreast these advances or they will quickly find themselves fossils.

Skills once reserved only for high school students are more appropriate today for middle school students. This has created the opportunity to expose high school students to cutting edge technologies that are fun, interesting and highly engaging. At Wilcox High School in Santa Clara we are opening two new digital media courses that will employ the use of Adobe CS4 products to teach web design, digital image editing, digital storytelling, and publication design. To be a proficient teacher I must become a proficient user of these tools. This summer Digital Media Academy at Stanford will prepare me to be such a teacher. The Introduction to Web Design with Adobe CS4 – Dreamweaver, Flash & Photoshop course will enhance my current skills as I learn the latest version of these programs to design lessons and activities for my students.

Life today is complex and diverse. As never before, communication involves the constant use of visuals, sound, and action. The digital age is here and education has the responsibility to prepare our children to use the tools today and into the future. Thankfully, the Digital Media Academy is available to assist with this process.

Janet Armstrong
Adrian Wilcox High School

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