GRC 175 and COVID-19

[Instructor]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to the post COVID-19 edition of GRC 175. As each and every one of you are almost certainly aware, campus will be closed for the foreseeable future. They have given we instructors no timeline on the campus reopening and I would be quite surprised if it reopens before the semester ends. This will have a number of effects on our class:

1. The show must go on! First and foremost, I would like to assure you that class is not canceled. It will go on in an electronic/online form. This will be easier for us than many other Visual and Performing Arts classes since the class was like, 50% online anyway.

2. Lectures! I am going to attempt to continue lectures online via Big Blue Button on Canvas. Big Blue button is a videoconferencing tool that is part of Canvas and is usable in both the desktop version on Canvas (it likes Chrome the best) and the Canvas app on iOS and Android. Here is a tutorial video on how Big Blue Button works and here is an article on best practices of Big Blue Button. I suggest you all watch the video and read the article before class on Tuesday. We will meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:00 pm on Canvas to continue the class as scheduled. You'll get to watch Michael fumble around with Big Blue Button starting Tuesday, March 24th at 6:00 pm. It should be must-see TV for all of us under civilizational house arrest.

3. Due dates! As discussed in class, Project 2, Project 3, and Project 4's final due dates have all been moved to Friday 5/15. We will have a busy week of final critiquing! That's for sure. Preliminary due dates, however, will stay the same, so that we know when to get together on the forum and give each other feedback. That means that Project 3's preliminary critique is due Tuesday 3/24 and Project 4's preliminary critique is due Tuesday 4/21. As before you will have seven days from the time of the due date to provide feedback to your fellow students.

Resources

Here is a quick reference guide the Visual and Performing Arts Department put together for every student in our program. Please download it and review it thoroughly.

There is one additional resource I'd like to make you aware of as well.

- Free CC. Adobe is making the Creative Cloud suite available for college students who need it free of charge until May 31st. The free access must be provided by TMCC's IT department. If you need free CC, let me and Ron Marston ([url=mailto:rmarston@tmcc.edu]rmarston@tmcc.edu[/url] ~ (775) 674-7938) know and we will get in touch with TMCC's IT department to provide you with a login. Since labs will be unavailable for the remainder of the semester this will enable you to get your Graphic Arts and Media Technologies coursework done in a timely manner.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to ask me. I'm available via email, Canvas, and the class forum.