Images from Project de Construction:  Chaos & Calm: Over the Edge Painting Techniques



With Chaos & Calm, the third major class in the Project deConstruction Series, about ready to launch on Julie Prichard's Lost Luggage Network  I have been thinking a lot about being responsive.  I recently received a comment on this blog that was essentially a complaint regarding the quality of interaction within the class.  It always gives me pause when I receive negative feedback, even if it is a single complaint.  It is important to seek out any kernel of truth when someone is not happy and if there are things one can change in response then that should be done as well.

There is such a difference between teaching students in person and teaching online through video lessons and typed in comments.  When I'm in the room with a group of students I can pick up all the body language and facial expressions that indicate when someone just doesn't get it.  I can make appropriate recommendations before someone reaches the frustration point and encourage them to keep trying, making small recommendations for adjustments or changes that might help.  This habit has been honed over decades of teaching and I feel confident that my "in person" students get what they need from me. 

Translating person-to-person interactions is nearly impossible via an online class. Julie and I work hard to engage the students within the network and encourage, support and advise them as they progress through the lessons.  Sometimes we "lose" a student from frustration and then we feel frustrated as well.  Being articulate is so different in written form!  Someone asked a question today about the copyright limits of stamps.  I assumed they were talking about US postage stamps and Julie thought they were talking about rubberstamps!  It was a very funny moment as we both wrote responses each from our different points of understanding!  I am sure the student (the only one who really knew which stamps were truly being referred to) got a bit confused by the two answers, but hopefully she got a good chuckle out of it as well. 

We are refining this process as we develop classes in order to be more responsive to students.  When a "hard-of-hearing" student joined the Color Class we realized that we needed to reformat the PDF so that the pages referenced the lessons in a very direct manner.  The work that is put into the structure of the class and the supporting materials takes weeks for us to refine until we are both comfortable that the techniques work and are ready for students.

Working with Golden Artist Colors has really opened my eyes to customer service.  I know I can refer anyone to the Golden Tech people and feel absolutely confident that they will get an answer to their question about Acrylic paints or products.  But the key lies in being able to ask the question in such a way so that the person hearing the question can get at what you want to know.  Being responsive is a two way street I guess!  It is so much easier to answer technical questions.  What products do this or that?  How come my paint is cloudy?  Why did this happen when I mixed these two products together.  Most technical questions don't come attached to someone's personal viewpoint about what is aesthetically pleasing or harmonious.  It is important for teachers to give appropriate feedback when it comes to design or artistic expression questions but it is not appropriate to make the choices for them.  This is hard for students who are accustomed to "by-the-book" instructions or step-by-step projects.

When we offer positive encouragement statements in the network, they are just our way of saying "we see you", "we acknowledge your efforts"  and "we want you to keep going forward." These little statements are an indication to our students that we are checking in with each comment they make and are present in the process of on-line learning.  I would encourage all of our students to participate in getting their questions answered by asking specific questions and by asking again and again until they get every little part of the question answered.  Rephrase if necessary!  Be partners with us as we grow our skills as online instructors and you grow yours as an artist.