Digital Photography Self- Portraits and

Reflection using an LMS

Rationale
At the high school level it is extremely important to set students up with skills that they will
be able to use post graduation in whatever field they decide to go into. It is the job of the
educator to help prepare students for any future endeavor and have students feeling as if
the skills they have obtained inside the classroom will be used in their futures. Using an
LMS system in the classroom helps students prepare for the roles they will have post
graduation as it teaches them the importances of becoming more independent and
understanding they have to manage time, tasks, and work mostly on their own. The use of
the LMS system in this lesson will allow students to work on their independent work skills,
time management, group/ peer discussion techniques, and creative problem solving skills.
All of these things are vital 21st century learning skills that will transfer into a student’s
future life.

Defining the Learning Environment

The learning environment would be blended, with instruction both face-to-face and online.
The face-to-face portion of the learning would provide students with the most detailed
instruction and access to school materials and technology. It would also allow for peer
group work and collaboration. The online portion of the instruction would offer further
resources for instruction but mostly independent work time and the ability to work on
assignments/ tasks at the student’s preferred pace.

Students will have blocks of time in person to collaborate with one another as well as hold
discussions about their ideas and work ahead. There will be time available for one-on-one
conferences with the teacher as well. Online time will provide students with the same
opportunities for one-on-one discussion with the teacher, but more independent work time
at home based on peer discussion and collaboration that happened during in-person
instruction.
This LMS would be focused on a digital photography class where computers and cameras
would be provided during face-to-face instruction. Students would also have access to
Adobe Photoshop and a variety of materials/ props to be used for photographing if needed.
For the online portion of instruction students would need an individual computer and
access to the internet. YouTube would be an avid resource with videos provided by the
teacher. Students would also need to make sure any work done in class would be able to be
accessed on their personal device from home as well. Online instruction will provide
students time to dive further into any work done in class as well challenge them to try new
things and re-work the assignment as needed. The LMS being used would be schoology and
google classroom. Schoology would be used for all instructional materials and resources,
while google classroom would be used solely for submission.

Instructor’s AIM
The aim of this lesson and the use of blended learning with an LMS is to provide multiple
ways of learning to the students. Using in- person instruction along with independent work
tasks from the LMS will allow learners different opportunities throughout the lesson to
figure out what is working best for them. The aim is for students to understand that
in-person instruction is a better way to get more one-on-one time with the teacher and peer
interaction while the LMS can be used more independently during online instructional time.

Describe the Learners

The digital photography class will range in grades 9-12. Students do not all have a basic
understanding of how to use a camera or iMac desktop. They will range in learning abilities
and some students will have specific accommodations and learning needs regulated by IEPs
if they are in special education. Students will have worked in groups before but will need
more motivation to work together in completing photographic tasks in the classroom.

OVERALL use of LMS/CMS

The LMS that will be used is Schoology. Schoology will have a folder specific to the unit
where all content and resources will be organized for student use. Students will use the
LMS to navigate the information independently when needed, but in-person instruction will
also help guide students through the information correctly. Resources and links to
additional web pages, and videos will be left for students to explore more independently
during online instruction. Videos will be embedded within the LMS for students to view
right in the unit folder. This will be learner-centered as students will have specific choice
over which resources they choose to look at and spend their time viewing. Students will
have specific tasks/ questions to respond to regarding the video or resource they choose.

USE of Webpages
Within the LMS in the unit folder there will be specific pages added for direct instruction
and expectations. Sometimes pages will open and be directly accessed within the LMS and
other times directions will be a google doc that will open outside of the LMS. Any specific
step-by-step instruction will be provided as an additional document in google that way
students can save it and have personal access within their drive. Students will be able to
make a copy and add their own notations or tips for themselves within the instruction
written. There will also be more of a checklist or bullet points for students to follow through
as they complete the lesson. This will help them stay on track and make sure all tasks are
complete.

Discussion Forum
Jamboards will be placed in the folder with specific resources for students to collaborate
with one another's responses and see others ideas/ views. This will allow for a better
discussion and would be part of an online instruction day. Students would be able to add
notes to the jamboard which would pose a question based on the instruction given whether
it was a video, article, or teacher given information. A traditional discussion board of
commenting back and forth would not necessarily be used in this unit.
Example Prompt 1:
After viewing the video what do you think some of the most important aspects of taking a
self-portrait are? How can you challenge yourself to take an engaging and emotional
self-portrait?

Virtual Presentation
Students will use virtual presentations to record their artist’s statement and explain their
photography work. This unit would focus on self-portraits and reflections. Students would
go through and present their 3 final photographs explaining their process and techniques
for the work as well as the narrative or meaning behind the photographs. Classmates will
view at least 2 of their peers' work during an online session and leave feedback/ comments
on their work. Students will put their video links or recordings into shared google slides for
classmates to access.

Quizzes
This unit would not consist of any specific quizzes. In the LMS rather than quizzes, students
would receive participation grades based on their interaction through the Jamboards and a
check for understanding would be done verbally by the teacher. In the digital photography
classroom there usually aren’t many quizzes as most assignments are project-based with
creative choice.

Content – Web Resources

A web resource that would be used would be adobe spark. Adobe spark would be used for
students to create their virtual presentations. They could create a webpage style portfolio of
their final photographs and then record themselves with their explanation and artist’s
statement. Students would be given instruction on how to use this resource and shown a
proper example before being made to create their own. This also promotes a
learner-centered approach because students will have multiple options to make their
portfolio on Adobe Spark however they want! They are given a variety of options through
the website and can really personalize their end result.

Challenge
There are a variety of challenges that could present themself with this unit. Students may
be absent from in-person instruction and then need to use online instructional time to catch
up, and then may miss or rush through the independent online time. Students are often
hesitant to interact with one another in class which presents another challenge face-to-face.
With the online instruction students may also have connection errors or the LMS may be
down and have difficulty loading pages. Certain resources also tend to work fine online
while students are at home on their own networks, but then once in-person those resources
may not be available due to the school district’s network restrictions. It’s important to have
back up resources and be prepared for anything. Being able to work through the issues and
challenges is important rather than just saying forget it and move on. It’s important to show
students there are ways around difficulties and success is still achievable.