Curriculum Created for Artistic Thinking

Alison Caselman: HABITATS

COMPUTER ART

Fall 2016
9-12 GRADE LEVEL

NATIONAL VISUAL ARTS STANDARDS

(http://nationalartsstandards.org/sites/default/files/Visual%20Arts%20at%20a
%20Glance%20-%20new%20copyright%20info.pdf) :

Creating:
o VA: Cr1.1.8a Document early stages of the creative process visually
and/or verbally in traditional or new media.
o VA: Cr2.2.lla Through experimentation, practice, and persistence,
demonstrate acquisition of skills and knowledge in a chosen art form.
o VA: Cr2.3.lla Redesign and object, system, place, or design in response
to contemporary issue.
Presenting:
o VA:Pr4.1.lla Analyze, select, and critique personal artwork for a
collection or portfolio presentation.
o VA:Pr5.1.8a Collaboratively prepare and present selected theme-based
artwork for display, and formulate exhibition narratives for the viewer.
Responding:
o VA:Re7.1.lla Recognize and describe personal aesthetic and empathetic
responses to the natural world and constructed environments.
o VA: Re7.2.la Analyze how ones understanding of the world is affected
by experiencing visual imagery.
o VA:Re9.1.8a Create convincing and logical argument to support and
evaluation of art.
Connection:
o VA:Cn10.1.lla Utilize inquiry methods of observation, research, and
experimentation to explore unfamiliar subjects through artmaking.

NETS (http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/standards-for-students):

1. Creativity and innovation

o a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or
processed
2. Communication and collaboration
o b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple
audiences using a variety of media and formats
3. Research and information fluency
o c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on
the appropriateness to specific tasks
o d. Process data and report results
4. Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
o d. Use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore
alternative solutions
5. Digital citizenship
o a. Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information
and technology

b. Exhibit a positive attitude towards using technology that supports

collaboration, learning, and productivity

6. Technology operation and concepts

o a. Understand and use technology systems
o d. Transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies

RATIONALE and GOAL(S) FOR THIS UNIT:

The rationale for this unit is for students to take the skills and concepts
they have learned in the first five weeks of Computer Art class and create an
encompassing virtual reality by means of Vizor.io, a web based program. This
unit will show off their knowledge of Vizor.io, introduce big ideas into this
class, and move away from task-based thinking. Students will be using their
personal experience with habitats and research that they conduct to
complete the lessons within this unit. Throughout the three weeks they will
be working on this unit, students will write blogs/reflections to help vocalize
their thinking. I ask students to do this because this is for an online setting
and I am usually unable to be with them as they are working through these
assignments. Students also have the option to vlog their thoughts; however,
previous students were not receptive and have chosen to get a zero instead
of vlogging. Now I ask them to blog, to which they object less and actually
complete the task. Vizor.io is perfect for this project because the students
are able to use basic functions to create and explore different habitats while
adding in sound, images, and viewer manipulation.
ENDURING BIG IDEA: Habitats
Defined: The place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally or
normally lived or grows.

Relevance: Asking the students what their habitat is could give them a
new perspective where they start to see the world around them
differently. This can allow them to think about their living spaces more
in-depth than just surface value.

Multimodal Connections: Students are connecting research and

images, building creatures with basic shapes, adding their voice, and
inserting viewer interaction into one space that can be manipulated
and played with for a better understanding of the students message.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
To what extent does a habitat define its occupants?
Whats the optimal strategy for maintaining a habitat?
What in imperative in the creation of a habitat?

Is a habitat just about physical attributes, or about ones surroundings,

or what else could contribute to a habitats development?
How do habitats reflect the values of a culture?

KNOWLEDGE BASE AND KEY CONCEPTS:

Students will know:
The history of Virtual Reality (VR) and the latest tools to help create VR.
How to discuss VR headsets, Google Cardboard, Tilt brush, and other
tools to help create virtual reality.
o It is becoming more of a reality to walk through an artwork with
virtual reality tools
More information about these contemporary artists:
o Andreas Lie with his double exposure animal and habitats
artwork
Links to more information: http://www.andreaslie.com/;
https://society6.com/andreaslie;
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/05/double-exposureanimals-andreas-lie/; https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=dgksg8RqU2k
o Tim OBrien with his detailed, imaginative illustrations that can
change what reality looks like
Links to more information:
http://www.obrienillustration.com/about/;
http://www.drawger.com/tonka/
o And Shezad Dawood who used virtual reality to connect the
present day with the 1920s and 1960s in Kalimpong, India
Links to more information:
http://www.timothytaylor.com/exhibitions/shezad-dawoodkalimpong/; https://frieze.com/article/shezad-dawood;
http://hyperallergic.com/330208/virtual-reality-journeyremote-corner-himalayas/;
https://www.ft.com/content/89bdcff0-7fe0-11e6-8e508ec15fb462f4
How different types of mediums can still create different meanings
within an artwork
How to use basic functions of Vizor.io to create a big idea themed
artwork (Habitats) within the program instead of following task-based
instructions
Different contemporary artists and how they change actual reality into
either a double exposure image, imagined reality, or into virtual reality
OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to:
Create a response to The Art Assignment

Research what type of habitat has meaning to them

Create a virtual reality of this habitat using Vizor.io
Produce a voice over as their artist statement
Present and respond to their peers work and ideas.

NECESSARY PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:

How to log into Vizor.io
How to create a new scene
How to add, delete, move, scale, and rotate objects
How to group multiple objects together to create one object
How to add patches
How to add a glaze click and trigger
How to get objects to be manipulated by the viewer
How to save their work
How to publish their work, both privately and publicly
How to submit their work
How to open and view their peers work
How to give constructive feedback to peers
How to conduct research
UNIT AND LESSON VIGNETTE:
Note: This is a unit that I am creating for an online Computer Art class I am
teaching this year. With online education there are no transitions to consider.
Our agenda is set up weekly, so Ill be breaking the unit plan into weeks so it
is realistic for my current teaching situation. I estimate students spending
around 3-5 hours working on their art each week (45-60 minutes per day).
Each week will look similar because my students work better when they have
a routine and structure that they have already become familiar with.
Students have a Vizor.io account and have already proven that they know
basic skills. Students are also allowed to work in an alternative setting, if
they determine that it better fits their design, and after communicating this
to me. These are places to explore what they are learning about and
reflecting on their experience visually and then writing a reflective blog to
accompany their creativity.

Computer Art 1 Class

WEEK SIX
Try to complete all assignments by Friday.
Everything in the Do Column is for points in Student Connect
Week Six assignments will not be accepted after midnight Friday of Week Seven.

Folder

Watch

Read

Do

Week 6
Breakdown

Week 6

Week 6

Virtual Reality
1991

Week 6

The Art
Assignment

Pioneers of Virtual
Reality Art
Virtual Reality Is the
Most Powerful Medium
of Our Time
A Virtual Reality Journey
to a Remote Corner of
the Himalayas- Shezad
Dawood
Tim OBrien About
Section and scroll and
investigate his blog and
portfolio

Explore the artist who

are using Google Tilt on
this website.
Discover other tools that
help with the creation of
virtual reality

Analyze the articles you read and the

video you watched. Start a conversation
on the Discussion Board. Reflect on how
these artists are using virtual reality. Are
they using virtual reality the same?
Different? Not even in the same realm?
Do the tools you have read about inspire
you? Make you wonder? Having you
wanting to try them out?
- Have your original post be at least
200 words and respond to your
peers giving evidence on why you
think this way.

Follow the directions in the video to

create your own double exposed habitat
Programs you can use but are not limited
to: Photoshop, Pixlr, PictsArt, Gimpshop,
and Prisma
Write a blog over the experience
- Must be at least 200 words
Respond to at least 3 peers work
- Points are being removed if you do not
give evidence on why you think the way
you do

Computer Art 1 Class

WEEK SEVEN
Try to complete all assignments by Friday.
Everything in the Do Column is for points in Student Connect
Week Seven assignments will not be accepted after midnight Friday of Week Eight.

Folder
Week 7

Watch
Week 7
Breakdown

Rea
d

Do

Vizor.io Overview
Tutorial

Week 7

Complete the Who Am I Worksheet

Research what you believe your habitat is and
draw/sketch/write what you will include in your Visor.io
habitat.
- Make sure to explain (either in a blog or vlog) on
why you are making these conscious decisions and
what made you think this was the best for your
habitat.
Respond to at least 3 peers work
- Points are being removed if you do not give
evidence on why you think the way you do
Start CREATING you habitat within your Vizor.io
account.
- Make sure to remember the skills you learned
the first 5 weeks of this class and to look over
the rubric to see what objects there are for this
project

Computer Art 1 Class

WEEK EIGHT
Try to complete all assignments by Friday.
Everything in the Do Column is for points in Student Connect
Week Eight assignments will not be accepted after midnight Friday of Week Nine.

Folder
Week 8

Week 8

Watch

Rea
d

Do

Week 8
Breakdown
Tutorial on how to
add sound into
Vizor.io

Finish Working on your Habitat Project in Vizor.io

- Make sure to remember the skills you learned the
first 5 weeks of this class and to look over the rubric
to see what objects there are for this project
Post the link into the discussion board on Blackboard
Respond to at least 3 peers work
- Points are being removed if you do not give
evidence on why you think the way you do

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND ADAPTATIONS FOR SPECIAL NEEDS:

Differentiate Tools for My Diverse Classroom:

o Text to Speech apps for their readings
o Students using Speech to Text apps for their blogs

Making sure the materials that students use fit their small and large
motor abilities
o Allowing the students to create what has meaning to them and being
open to the unknown outcome.
Keeping Students Engaged:
o By allowing them to create artwork for personal reflection
o By making computer art lessons more hands on with less text to read
o By giving them the ability to make choices and problem solve for
themselves.
Challenge Highly Talented Students:
o Ask them to try an unfamiliar medium
o Encourage them to continue to research the Big Idea and to dig
deeper into the content.
When Students Finish Early:
o One great thing about online education is student can finish early
without needed busy work to keep them from bothering others.
o They need to make sure to login each day for attendance
o Work on other work from previous units
o Work on other work from a different class
o

ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES (both formative and summative)With this class being online, it is hard to really get substantial
formative assessments. I am able to see what they are thinking and the
steps students take by reading and responding to their blogs. How the
student receive points is if they hit the word count and stay on topic for their
discussion board writings and explanations of what they did that week. If
they do both of these tasks, 100% is awarded to the students.
When students complete The Art Assignment, they will be graded on if their
project followed the objectives within in the video and if their blog was on
topic and met the word count minimum.
For their final Habitat Project they will be graded over this Rubric:

Lastly, students are graded on responses to their peers and giving evidence
why they think the way they do. If I did not give students points for this task,
very little students would look at their peers work and the sense of
community would be lessened.
EXEMPLARS:
[Images of different things students could do. Still a work in progress, but a
starting point for students to expand upon. These examples are from
previous students and my exemplars created for them.]

http://vizor.io/chriz/c9wdemessestand (Found on Vizor.io website as an

example)

http://vizor.io/torquehornet/house
http://vizor.io/caselman/noah-worls-copy
http://vizor.io/wesinschool/bdzrof
http://vizor.io/caselman/habitat-try-2-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy

RESOURCES AND LINKS PAGE

Vizor.io The virtual reality space where students will be creating projects and
building this multi-modal unit.

Links to more information on Andreas Lie: http://www.andreaslie.com/;

https://society6.com/andreaslie;
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/05/double-exposure-animals-andreas-lie/;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgksg8RqU2k
Links to more information on Tim OBrien:
http://www.obrienillustration.com/about/; http://www.drawger.com/tonka/
Links to more information on Shezad Dawood:
http://www.timothytaylor.com/exhibitions/shezad-dawood-kalimpong/;
https://frieze.com/article/shezad-dawood;
http://hyperallergic.com/330208/virtual-reality-journey-remote-cornerhimalayas/; https://www.ft.com/content/89bdcff0-7fe0-11e6-8e508ec15fb462f4
VR Tools: http://makezine.com/2016/03/24/makers-introduction-vr-bestsoftware-tools-free/
Tilt Brush Links: https://www.tiltbrush.com/; http://time.com/vr-is-for-artists/
Google Cardboard: https://vr.google.com/cardboard/
Link to my The Art Assignment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=CCEX5qW4Lu8&t=1s
Websites/apps to create their Art Assignment: http://www.adobestudents.com/products/photoshop.html; https://pixlr.com/web;
https://picsart.com/; http://prisma-ai.com/; https://www.gimpshop.com/
Virtual Reality 1991: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVn3H93Ysag
Website about Virtual Reality as a Medium:
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-virtual-reality-is-the-mostpowerful-artistic-medium-of-our-time
Tutorials made for my students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZstilAU6IU&t=3s; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAtbxvesQec
Examples of students have done and can do: http://vizor.io/torquehornet/house;

http://vizor.io/caselman/noah-worls-copy; http://vizor.io/wesinschool/bdzrof;
http://vizor.io/caselman/habitat-try-2-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy;
http://vizor.io/chriz/c9wdemessestand (Found on Vizor.io website as an
example)

Who Am I?
Please answer at least 8 of the following questions. Then create 2 more questions that you also
think need to be answered.

Who am I? How do others see me? Who do I want to become? Who can I
imagine myself to be? What are characteristics of me? What do others
think of me? Do the people I hang out with say something about me? Does
my culture say things about me? What about the clothes I wear? Am I
religious? Do I want to be? Do I think for myself or do I just repeat what I
hear/read? Would I change my identity if I could? Am I happy with who I
am? Should I strive to be something different?
-

For each of the questions you ask, ask yourself why multiple times.
o So, after you first answer the question ask yourself Why? then write down that
answer. Then ask Why? again and record that answer. Ask yourself Why? at
least four total times. Really try to think why you answered the way you did.
o Points will not be given for I dont know answers or something similar.

Question #1:
Answer:
Answer to 1st why:
Answer to 2nd why:
Answer to 3rd why:
Answer to 4th why:

Question #2:
Answer:
Answer to 1st why:
Answer to 2nd why:
Answer to 3rd why:
Answer to 4th why:

Question #3:
Answer:
Answer to 1st why:
Answer to 2nd why:
Answer to 3rd why:
Answer to 4th why:

Question #4:
Answer:
Answer to 1st why:
Answer to 2nd why:
Answer to 3rd why:
Answer to 4th why:

Question #5:
Answer:
Answer to 1st why:
Answer to 2nd why:
Answer to 3rd why:
Answer to 4th why:

Question #6:
Answer:
Answer to 1st why:
Answer to 2nd why:
Answer to 3rd why:
Answer to 4th why:

Question #7:
Answer:

Answer to 1st why:

Answer to 2nd why:
Answer to 3rd why:
Answer to 4th why:

Question #8:
Answer:
Answer to 1st why:
Answer to 2nd why:
Answer to 3rd why:
Answer to 4th why:

Question #9:
Answer:
Answer to 1st why:
Answer to 2nd why:
Answer to 3rd why:
Answer to 4th why:

Question #10:
Answer:
Answer to 1st why:
Answer to 2nd why:
Answer to 3rd why:
Answer to 4th why: