Understanding New Media Arts
ART 103 // Portland Community College
Kelsey Ferreira
This is a fully online course that begins on April 3, 2023.
Welcome! I'm Kelsey Ferreira and I will be your online instructor for Understanding New Media Arts. I've prepared this webpage as a sort of course welcome package. While our course material will be online using PCC's Desire2Learn, this page will help you prepare for week one.
A little bit more about me: I attended Willamette University for undergrad and the University of Oregon for graduate school. I majored in art history at both places, with a certificate in museum studies from U of O. I have a daughter in elementary school and a son who was born in November of 2018; both keep me very busy! I moved to Oregon in 1999 and currently live in Portland. When I was younger I lived with my family in California, London, England, and Lagos, Nigeria.
I hope this course helps you become more interested in the visual arts, aids in your ability to interpret your environment, and encourages you to look closely at the world around you. I also hope it helps you build a solid understanding of the history of new media and how digital technologies continue to shape our world.
I'm excited to get the class started and I'll see you online!
Kelsey
This video highlights the process of slow looking, which is a skill we'll develop in our course (4:12). (Part 2 of the video will be a part of a future module in our class!)
How Does This Course Work?
This is an 11-week, fully online course that begins on April 3, 2023.
This class does not meet regularly in Zoom. Your learning will be conducted asynchronously (which means "not live") in Brightspace Desire2Learn (D2L).
There is no required textbook. All of your required readings will be included in our course modules in D2L.
You will learn in a community with your peers. This is not a self-paced course.
This class is organized into one-week modules that open each Monday at 12:00 a.m., and close the following Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.
Each module contains readings, videos, a weekly guide, and an assignment or collaborative activity, including discussions and image-curation assignments in VoiceThread.
To signal your desire to remain enrolled in the course, you must complete the Intro Quiz and Discussion 1 by Friday of Week 1.
Health & Wellness Statement
As your instructor, I value your health and wellbeing and recognize that this is an especially stressful time to be a student. COVID-19 has added significant stress and trauma to all of our lives, some more than others. In order to succeed in this class, in college and beyond, you must work hard and balance your work with attention to your mental and physical health.
My commitment to you is that I will be flexible throughout this course to support you towards your academic success. Online classes can be especially challenging with weekly readings, writing assignments, quizzes, and video content to absorb. By the end of this class, I hope you feel proud of your growth, and will have found time to celebrate your successes - large and small - in our class and beyond!
If you have a documented disability that may impact your learning and /or participation in this course, please talk with me so that we can develop a plan to effectively support your learning and participation. You can reach out to Disability Services for more assistance with getting help for a documented disability. If you have an undocumented disability you’d like me to know about, or are opting to not register your disability with the college, or just want to talk about learning to learn, you are invited also to set up a conversation so we can plan for ways you might collaborate with me, peers, others on campus, and family members to maximize your learning.
You are encouraged, and supported, to ask for help, to place your wellness ahead of a due date, and to take breaks. Let's look out for one another and embrace finding healthy ways to relax, breathe, and make space for our wellbeing. We'll be stronger as a class, together, because of it. Onward!
What Will I Learn in Art 103?
This course introduces aesthetic, historical, and critical issues of new media in the arts. We'll examine how artists have utilized new scientific, technological and intellectual developments to redefine and expand conventional art media. We'll explore the evolution of new media in the arts from the printing revolution of the fifteenth century to the digital revolution today, focusing on printmaking, photography, film, video, performance, installation and other forms of time based art.
For more detailed information about learning outcomes, please visit the Course Content and Outcome Guide for Art 103.
(The artworks pictured here are by Camille Utterback and Postcommodity, just two of the many new media artists whose work we will study together this term!)
Activities, Assignments & Assessments
Activities & Assignments
Quizzes: There is 1 introductory quiz and there are 3 content quizzes. The content quizzes will test your knowledge of factual information and conceptual ideas. You will demonstrate your ability to identify, define, and analyze material covered in lectures and the assigned readings. Quizzes may consist of image identifications, multiple-choice, short responses, and long answer responses.
Essay Assignments: There are 3 essay assignments, each addressing a different topic of New Media art history. All are interpretive papers, meaning you'll have the chance to write about your informed opinion of particular examples, styles, and issues in the course. Essay 3 is designed as a final reflection paper, allowing you to think about what you've learned throughout the course and how you might apply the concepts reviewed in in class to your life outside of the classroom.
Discussions: There are opportunities for discussion throughout the course. The first one is an introductory post designed to help build a sense of community in our online class; the remaining discussion assignments address material from the corresponding weekly module.
Assessment
The assessment of individual assignments is described within the modules on D2L.
Generally, grading of discussion assignments, quizzes, and essays will be completed within a week of the due date. I will always let you know if I anticipate any significant delays in grading and will post an update to our course announcements on D2L when all grading is complete!
Quizzes are designed to give you an immediate score on any multiple-choice, matching, or true/false questions, so will look artificially low until I have the chance to look over your entire quiz and score your written responses. So, please keep in mind that only after you receive comments from me is you score considered final.
Grades are based on your written assignments, quiz results, and the quality of your participation in class discussions. I will send feedback on assignments and post grades within one week of the due date. Be sure to read over provided feedback after your assignments and quizzes have been graded.
Week 1 Success Kit
Online courses move quickly and getting off to a good start is the best way to prepare yourself for success. Read this section carefully and you'll have all you need to start this course on the right foot.
Monday 4/3
Log in to D2L, view the welcome video and click Start Here to begin the Intro Online Learning Module.
Tuesday 4/4
Continue working your way through the Intro to Online Learning Module and Course Information Module.
Wednesday 4/5
Finish up reviewing the Course Information Module and complete the Intro Quiz.
Thursday 4/6
Introduce yourself to the class by sharing a bit about yourself in Discussion 1.
Friday 4/7
Be sure to submit the Intro Quiz and your original thread to Discussion 1. Please reply to at least one (1) classmate by Tuesday.
Saturday & Sunday 4/8, 4/9
Read and reply to at least one of your classmate's intro posts, or take a break from our class if you've completed your assignments!
Monday 4/10
The Week 2 module will open today, but you still have until Tuesday to post your reply to at least one classmate's Discussion 1 post.
Due Dates for Week 1
By Friday, April 7 at 11:59 p.m.
Complete the Intro Quiz. This is quiz is our first "check-in" assignment to make sure you know where to find answers to your questions and to demonstrate your understanding of our course expectations. There is an optional question on the Intro Quiz that is an opportunity for you to name your access needs. Your responses come directly to me and I will use them to support you in this course. By completing this assignment, you signal your intent to complete this course. If you do not complete this assignment on time, you will receive a message from me and your spot in our course may be given to a student on my waitlist if you do not respond. This is an institutional policy for all PCC online courses to ensure active students receive the courses they need.
Complete the discussion assignment: Discussion Assignment 1: Introduce Yourself. This assignment is simple, fun, and will help us get to know each other. Your task is to respond to 2-3 of the questions posed in the assignment directions. Your are welcome to respond by text, video note, or audio. I hope that by sharing a bit about ourselves, we can create a sense of community here in our virtual classroom. The full directions will be available online on our D2L course page on the first Monday of the term.
By Tuesday, April 11 at 11:59 p.m.
Reply to a classmate is due: Discussion Assignment 1: Introduce Yourself. Reply to one peer's comment that inspires you. Like with your original thread, you are welcome to reply using text, video note, or audio tools.
How to Get Help
Need individual help or guidance with our class? Ask me!
I am happy to help. You can reach me at kelsey.ferreira@pcc.edu or through the Classlist on D2L.
If you contact me Monday-Friday, I will respond within 24 hours (usually much sooner). I will also reply during the weekends but I might be slower.
I'm happy to arrange times to meet individually in Zoom or call you directly via phone if that's preferred. Just let me know!
Have a general question related to our course? Let's Chat!
Use the Let's Chat! Discussion Forum via D2L. This is a place to ask and answer questions.
If you have a general question about the course, I encourage you to post it to the Let's Chat! Discussion forum on D2L. Your question will help others! The Let's Chat! forum is also a great place to look for someone to review with before quizzes!
To find the Let's Chat forum, click on the link on our homepage or click on Discussions in our course menu.
If your question is personal in nature, please send it directly to me through email.
Need assistance or help that is not specific to our course?
Visit PCC's Student Resources page
PCC wants you to be successful and have resources that may help. If you face challenges affording food or housing, or if you need access to technology, this will naturally affect your classwork.
In addition to the Student Resources page linked to above, there are additional ways to get help:
You can also contact a campus Student Conduct and Retention Coordinator at conductandcare@pcc.edu.