Graphics

We live in a visual culture. We need to learn how to see and see critically. One way we can take command of the visual process is by creating images.

One of my passions as a technology teacher is teaching kids to use graphics software. I've usually started out with OpenOffice Draw which I have found to be an extremely useful tool as an introduction to this instruction. What I miss is the layers and the ability to stack them behind and infront of each other. Learning layers in GIMP and Photosphop etc. is difficult enough and I thought this was a gentle introduction. Paint has no layers and one has to create a new document if one wishes to restack a selection.

This year I've been having Grade Seven and Eight start with Microsoft Paint. What I like about Paint is we can select parts of objects and then glue them together. Whatever graphics program we use, we learn about pixels, vectors, bitmaps, resolution....etc. etc......

My next plan is to move onto Microsoft Publisher before I go onto GIMP, Flash, Fireworks and Dreamweaver.