CAPE After School 2020-2021: Jordan Knecht / Darlene Carothers
Digital Arts
Using building blocks to create our own digital worlds.
Teacher Name + Teaching Artist Name
Jordan Knecht & Darlene Carothers
Big Idea
Building Blocks
Inquiry Question
What can we create with the basic building blocks of technology? How can we use building blocks to create our own digital worlds.
Tell us the story of your project.
This was a very long year with many twists and turns.
Flexbility and openness were critical for sustaining our wellbeing and momentum throughout the year.
The story is outlined below.
What was your approach to online teaching?
Our approach was emergent, being responsive to the needs and interests of students on a granular level. Being able to pivot even within class periods to accommodate for what would best serve our students and class.
Tell us about how cultural capital played a part in your class.
Sharing was a huge part of our classes. Sharing music. Sharing stories. Sharing about our days. Sharing our works in progress, failures, successes. The uniqueness of every single student was cherished and valued.
Tell us about how family learning played a part in your class.
We didn't focus on family learning. So often, our after school classes were an opportunity for students to get to interface with each other in ways not possible during the school day. At the same time, it was a break for parents.
Tell us how you used Academic Standards/SEL Standards.
SEL Standards
IELDS 31.A: Develop positive relationships with peers and adults.
IELDS 31.B:Use communication and social skills to interact effectively with others.
IELDS 31.C Demonstrate an ability to prevent, manage, and resolve interpersonal conflicts in constructive ways.
2A: Recognize the feelings and perspectives of others.
2A.4b. Use conversation skills to understand others’ feelings and perspectives.
2B.4b. Demonstrate respect for individuals from different social and cultural groups.
2A.5b. Demonstrate ways to express empathy for others.
2A.5a. Demonstrate how to express understanding of those who hold different opinions.
1A.2b. Describe and demonstrate ways to express emotions in a socially acceptable manner.
24A. Demonstrate procedures for communicating in positive ways, resolving differences and preventing conflict.
ELA
W 7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
Math
3.MD.6 Measure areas by counting unit squares (square cm, square m, square in, square ft, and improvised units).
3.MD.7b-1 Relate area to the operations of multiplication and addition. b. Multiply side lengths to find areas of rectangles with whole-number side lengths in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems.
Science
Students engage in an investigation to collect observational data
Students discuss their observations and include other related phenomena in which they have noticed
After exploring phenomena, students ask questions to investigate
Students create initial models explaining the how and why of the phenomenon
Using students’ questions and initial models, students plan and carry out investigations to gather more evidence regarding the phenomena.
Students analyze data
Students conduct an investigation to model
Social Science
SS.IS.8.3.3-5. Use listening, consensus building, and voting procedures to decide on and take action in their classrooms and school.
Geography
Global Interconnections: Changing Spatial Patterns SS.G.4.5: Compare the environmental characteristics of the United States to other world regions.
History
SS.H.4.6-8.LC: Explain multiple causes and effects of historical events.
SS.H.7.9-12: Identify the role of individuals, groups, and institutions in people's struggle for safety, freedom, equality, and justice.
SS.H.8.9-12: Analyze key historical events and contributions of individuals through a variety of perspectives, including those of historically under represented groups.
Building Blocks
The aim of our program was not to create polished finished products. It was apparent very early on that students were exhausted after a full day of online classes, the pandemic, and social/political climates. In response, we pivoted, focusing on communing as a group, cultural exchange, and providing as wide a smattering of experience with different modes of creativity as possible. These different modes of creativity were our building blocks. Our building blocks were the tools (computer programs and technologies) we used to explore drawing, music, writing, video, photo editing, circuitry/electronics, storytelling, technology, as well as many other things.
Games
As we worked on creating familiarity with different digital tools (building blocks), we needed a fun way to try out our new skills. Much of our time was spent engaging with gamified learning, whether it was playing pre-existing games such as Scattergories, Kahoot, Skribbl.io, Brain Spin, Code.org, etc or by gamifying learning activities by turning them into challenges with time-limits. With all games that we played in class, we made sure that the activities encouraged learning. Often our games would yield additional unexpected positive outcomes.
Scattergories
https://scattergoriesonline.net/new-game.xhtml
Scattergories was a class favorite activity. Scattergories is an incredible tool for developing a multitude of important skills including, but not limited to:
Typing - Since each round is timed, students have to increase their typing speed in order to complete all the answers.
Out-of-the-Box-Thinking/ Idea Generation - Players don't get points for answers that other players have. Diversity is rewarded. Especially for middle schoolers, who are struggle to fit in, it can be a positive shock to the system to see that the students with the most off-the-wall answers are the ones who win the game. At the same time, when students had the same answer, it provided tangible examples of commonality of experience that could sometimes bring students together who thought they had nothing in common.
Vocabulary/ Research - In order to get more points in future rounds, students would research topics - colors, countries, types of food, etc. to expand their chances of providing answers no one else had. Often, a student would provide an answer no one had heard of. The class would then research and find out that they had just learned about something completely new. Other times our research would debunk a fake answer that someone tried to slip in.
Mediation/ Negotiation - As a class, we would have to compromise on the categories that we picked for each game. We also had to negotiate about contentious answers when it was unclear whether or not they deserved a point.
As the year went on, our games became more and more complex, with compounded knowledge and experience. Students became faster at typing. Their vocabularies and personal sets of knowledge grew. Their strategies deepened. We had fewer and fewer shared answers as our experiences and knowledge sets diversified.
Not only did this game have tangible developmental and academic effects, it also provided great way to unwind after a long day. We were often laughing so much while playing Scattergories that students had no clue they were learning new things.
Screenshot of the class playing Scattergories together
Occasionally, we would play online typing games as a way to improve our own typing speeds. Within digital arts, fast typing can allow for creativity to flow without being burdened by our own technical limitations. The more we are in control of the tools we use, the more we can use them without being limited by them.
Kahoot
https://kahoot.com/academy/study/
Kahoot was another class favorite game. This quiz game allowed us to collectively pick topics which were relevant to us, whether they were related to current events, holidays, common interests, etc. This was another way for us to learn as a group - to inquire into things we wanted to become more familiar with or previously knew nothing about. Students were able to design their own quizzes with their own custom questions. Students picked topics they were interested - African American history, anime, Chinese New Year, etc.
Playing Kahoot as a class
Pixel Art (Brain Spin)
We started out our program by studying the most basic elements of on a computer - the pixel. In order to become acquainted with the Pixil Art computer program, we gamified our learning. This began with a pre-existing game called Brain Spin. We presented scanned Brain Spin cards and students were given a time limit for submitting guesses of what the image could be. The objective of this game quickly morphed from not only trying to guess the most answers, but also providing the longest answers. Students challenged themselves to write extensive narratives in prose or poetry. This game championed open creativity, rather than "right or wrong" answers. It also facilitated neural pathways between the right and left hemispheres of the brain as students were asked to translate visual stimulus into writing.
Scanned Brain Spin image
Scanned Brain Spin image
Examples of Brain Spin answers
Once we were acquainted with the Brain Spin game, students created their own images to play the game with. The instruction was to make images that were unclear or incomplete, so that players had the opportunity to fill in the missing information with their imaginations.
At one point, one student made a gorgeous pixel art image of a dog crying. This yielded very few different responses from students, but still made room for long creative responses. This instance yielded itself to class discussion about how the image was beautiful, but was not entirely fitting for the game, because it was too good.
Custom Brain Spin image
by student Gabriel Elliot
Custom Brain Spin image
by student Matthew Elliot
Custom Brain Spin image
by student Matthew Elliot
Custom Brain Spin image
by student Matthew Elliot
Custom Brain Spin image
by student Gabriel Elliot
Pixel Art (Challenges)
As students became more comfortable with Pixel Art, we created different time-based challenges. The one featured below was a challenge to make a house using only a 32x32 pixel canvas (which is relatively very small and limiting). Students went above and beyond using the limitations of the challenge to create stunning houses. At the end of any challenge, we would take turns sharing not only finished works, but process of how they were created so that students could see how each other worked differently within the same program. Often, while presenting, students would find out that they had used a tool or technique that no one else knew about and get to teach the entire class.
Eventually, students began designing their own challenges for the class, defining the size & time constraints, as well as subject matter.
Pixel art house by student Gabriel Elliot
Pixel art house by student Matthew Elliot
3D Pixel Art
https://www.3dslash.net/
As an extension of our work with two-dimensional pixel art, we moved into three-dimensional territory with the program 3D Slash. In the example below, students were challenged to design and build three-dimensional houses either by accumulating or removing colored blocks. As always, students shared work in progress, as well as finished works. In all of the sharing, new tools and techniques were discovered and students were given the opportunity to teach the class.
3D house by student Barakat Solademi
3D house by student Nilah Gordon
Storyboards/ Comics
https://www.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-creator
Another way we explored basic building blocks was in storytelling. Often, we would compile responses from our Brain Spin games as source material for new writings. These new writings would then be turned into storyboards/ comics using the online storyboard creator, Storyboard That.
By providing a large selection of customizable images, this computer program freed students from having to create their own images. This allowed students to focus on telling stories without having to worry about whether or not they were good at drawing. It provided another opportunity for expression.
Storyboard using Brain Spin results
by student Barakat Solademi
Storyboard by student Gabriel Elliot
Pixlr (Photo Editing)
https://pixlr.com/e/
Along the way, we did some more traditional photo editing and image manipulation using an online program called Pixlr. One of our first challenges was to photoshop Jordan's face onto something else. Below are some initial results.
Chrome Music Lab
https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/
We introduced basic music production using Chrome Music Lab, which provides some great building blocks for exploring music synthesis and the physics of sound. One of our students was learning piano, so we began by experimenting with the shared piano, which allowed students to explore real-time improvisation. Our initial attempts were chaotic and cacophonous. Eventually, students created some rules for improvisation, but lost interest fairly quickly. We pivoted to a way of making which was much more aesthetically similar to pixel art - sequencing. Students were able to fill in colored blocks on a grid to activate different instruments, making melodies and rhythms affected by their visual expressions. Students were allowed to explore freely at first, but were eventually challenged to make images on the sequencing grid, see what the image sounded like, and then edit from there, focusing specifically on sound. This transference between visual and auditory expression was another exercise aimed at creating new neural pathways.
Group improvisation with Shared Piano
Student Matthew Elliot presenting Song Maker project
Groove Pizza
https://apps.musedlab.org/groovepizza
Example of Student Groove Pizza - https://apps.musedlab.org/groovepizza/?museid=gjFFS32cv&
We used Groove Pizza to introduce the class to more complex music production. The program allows students to map rhythms in a curvilinear path, creating overlapping Euclidean geometry. Similar to adding pixels to a canvas, students can essentially draw their own music using this program. As always, presenting and sharing was an integral part of our exploration of this program.
Student Matthew Elliot presents final Groove Pizza piece.
Soundtrap
https://www.soundtrap.com/
Example of Groove Pizza transfer to Soundtrap: https://www.soundtrap.com/studio/nqd5qw6kRq2Z7tpvRLVGog/
Conveniently, with the click of a button, students could transfer their Groove Pizza rhythms into an incredibly powerful online music editing program called Soundtrap. Once in Sound Trap, students could add a wide range of instruments to their compositions.
One very special aspect of Soundtrap is its collaborative nature. People can get together and work on the same project in real time from their own computers. This lent itself to a wonderful collaboration with Leana Allen and Ms. Nicholson's dance class in which students from both classes made a song together.
Student Gabriel Elliot presenting collaborative Soundtrap work in progress.
Student Barakat Solademi presenting collaborative Soundtrap work in progress.
Student Gabriel Elliot presenting collaborative Soundtrap work in progress.
Field Trips
Occasionally, we would take digital field trips together using Google Earth. We would take turns taking the class to a new place somewhere in the world. It was a great opportunity to follow student interests and allow students to lead the class.
Student Nilah Gordon takes the class to Lake Michigan
on Google Maps.
Student Nilah Gordon takes the class to New Sullivan
on Google Maps before showing us another school with nearly identical architecture. This led to a class discussion about architecture and the history of New Sullivan.
Student Matthew Elliot takes the class around the globe.
Student Gabriel Elliot presents a self-motivated, completely unassigned field trip to Pittsburgh, PA using Google Slides.
Jordan takes the class to his childhood home on Google Earth.
Mrs. Carothers takes the class to her home in Chicago
on Google Earth.
Student Matthew Elliott presents to the class about the cars which take photos for Google Earth.
Digital Literacy
https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/
Inspired by Matthew Elliott's inquiry into the technology behind Google Maps and Google Earth, we began exploring the concept of machine learning, beginning with the website, This Person Does Not Exist, which used an algorithm to generate human faces using different eyes, noses, ears, from a massive database of faces. From here, we looked into other forms of image manipulation using machine learning, specifically using a website called Artbreeder, which allows you to upload an image of a face and then drastically change aspects of the face through algorithmic manipulation. The results were intriguing but also somewhat disturbing. They led to very interesting conversations about computer automation, which also led to conversations about playbour and the unpaid work that we do for big tech companies under the guise of us getting to play games.
Example of Artbreeder gone totally wrong.
Sharing (Tangents)
As is mentioned in previous sections, sharing was an integral part of our classes. Everyone was encouraged to share their thoughts, feelings, questions, works in progress, and final works. This openness allowed for inquiry to blossom and tangential connections to be pursued. The "share screen" function was an amazing resource. It was an incredible way for students to teach each other (Jordan and Mrs. Carothers included). Sometimes, students would come into class excited about what they learned during the school day. Our class trajectory would shift and students would present on what they learned.
Allowing students to share gave Mrs. Carothers and Jordan the opportunity to be responsive to students interests and needs in real time. If students were tired from a long day, we could shift to an easier, restorative class. If students were excited about math or science or writing, we could pivot our curriculum to focus on those aspects of what we were learning.
Student Matthew Elliot presenting on digestion
Student Matthew Elliot presenting on digestion
Sharing (Cross-Classroom Exchange)
Occasionally, we would team up with other after school classes to share and to learn from what they were doing. We met on a few occasions with Shenequa Brooks and Mrs. Limon to explore art making in physical space. Shenequa led us in a color-based scavenger hunt of our rooms, culminating in improvised sculptures using the objects we collected. Students from our class would teach the other class programs we were learning and games we were playing. It was astounding to watch students step up and feel comfortable teaching another class something.
We also spent time with Leana Allen and Ms. Nicholson's dance class, making beats on Groove Pizza and eventually transitioning to collaborating on Soundtrap. It was fantastic to get to move our bodies with a dance class while students taught the dancers how to make music.
Color scavenger hunt led by Shenequa and Ms. Limon during a cross-class exchange.
Inter-class collaboration with Leana Allen and Ms. Nicholson using Groove Pizza and guided movement
Scribble Bot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVrfcTPSzyo
Inspired by the physical nature of Shenequa and Ms. Limon's class, we decided to explore physical electronics, circuitry, and robotics. Although this wasn't directly "digital" arts, it related directly to the electrical nature of the technology we were using with computers. For this project, we designed scribble bots. To do this, we had to connect a battery to a motor, attach it to a structure which had pens for legs, and then balance a weight on the end of the motor to make the bot dance around and draw. This project was a great challenge that students rose to. It required detailed preparation and a lot of experimentation. In presenting this work, I didn't tell students how to solve problems, instead, I assigned a task and let them problem solve as a group. Students came up with very inventive solutions which were outside of the scope of my imagination. As different students came and went over the days we worked on our bots, different students would patiently take the time to catch them up. This allowed other students who were a little bit behind to redo aspects of their bots and catch up.
Initial steps of making a Scribble Bot
Wrapping batteries for the Scribble Bots
Introducing motors
Attaching batteries
Student Barakat Solademi teaching how to make a Scribble Bot
Sharing scribble bots through an inter-class exchange
Sharing scribble bots through an inter-class exchange. Success!
Scribble Bots in action!