Welcome to this introductory
visual communications class
covering a wide range of topics that you need to become familiar with as you approach the possibility of participating in the field of graphic design. You will be expected to read and hold a lot of information throughout the semester until it becomes second nature to you via repeated application. Superb organization will help you manage the class better and is a skill that is vital to graphic designers.

Welcome to a class that is considered
a living learning laboratory
where participants (including both students and instructor) agree to share their knowledge and professional experiences as they relate to the class content, as well as their personal vision and energy in the effort to engage in a mutually beneficial learning environment. Participants in this living learning laboratory are encouraged to contribute in their own unique ways, to shape the class culture, and are invited to make mistakes which will be considered not as failures but as opportunities for feedback instead. Participants in a living learning laboratory recognize that learning takes place with each interaction and that each other's differences provide a richness in content and context, and therefore invite diversity of various kinds into the learning environment—which, in turn, sparks creativity.

Creativity
from which our ideas emerge, is sparked when we allow ourselves to step outside our comfort zone and bump into challenges of all kinds. Personal and professional growth will expand creativity which, in turn, facilitates creative output (also called innovation). Any form of growth and learning represents a change in one's “personal system” and might, at times, be experienced as uncomfortable. This discomfort (sometimes experienced as confusion) is evidence that neurons in a person's brain are building new pathways and thus represent evidence that learning took place! Having said this, I invite you to be highly confused in this class. Please trust the process.

Practical Issues
I am offering this section of Visual Literacy as a hybrid-online course based on student requests over the years asking for accommodations for those who work full-time, or have obligations which prevent them from being able to take a class on campus twice a week during the week. Since design classes do require a great deal of hands-on work, developing skills with a variety of materials, and individual attention on a one-on-one basis, I did not think that offering Visual Literacy as a fully online course would serve the students well. The content of lectures, textbook reading assignments, projects, written correspondence/discussions could all be posted online however. In addition, the online format allows us to post links to additional sources which provide opportunities for further research and broader coverage of our in-class discussions. Meeting face-to-face on several Saturdays allows us to have the best of both worlds: the comfort of the familiar traditional classroom format where we can meet with each another, while having the opportunity to do a good portion of the work at any location or time of day, as long as there is internet access.

Having stated the above, I want to touch on a few practical issues. The workload that is expected of you in this class is, in no way, less than in any other Design class taught at City College. We are meeting face-to-face 11 times during the semester, but we are meeting online throughout the week! You are absolutely expected to log on to WebCT Visual Literacy at least three times a week, read the materials posted, keep up with the weekly tasks listed on each week's page, visit the links on the web, and keep up with your design projects, completing them by their dues dates—as well as, participate in the weekly discussion board online!

Another practical reminder I should make is that, while I will be logging on to the class site daily monitoring and guiding participation, you should expect the turn around time for an e-mail reply to be about three days, even though you may often receive a reply sooner than that.

Please familiarize yourself with the site and read through all the materials I have prepared for you. I expect you to follow the proposed schedule tightly, and that you come to the face-to-face meetings well prepared.

If you need classroom or testing accommodations because of a disability, have emergency medical information to share with me please make an appointment to see me as soon as possible. Students seeking disability-related accommodations are encouraged to register with Disabled Students Programs and Services located in Room 323, Rosenberg Library, 415 452 5481.

I invite you to talk with me about your progress. If you are in a situation that impacts your class performance, please let me know about it. Most likely, we can find a way to help you succeed.

If you are anxious about navigating through an educational site, don't be. Pretty soon, it will feel like the most reasonable format for learning. Have a fun, and very creative, very productive semester, while you enjoy surfing the web!

I look forward to working with you.

Best wishes, Regina

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