Originally published 100123

Fall 1999 (Breakfast)

Susan handed me the newspaper. “You have to see this.”

The Smithsonian Institution is adding a local high school teacher’s 3D computer design curriculum to its permanent collection.

Wait, 3D computer design in high school??!

I called the teacher and left a message. He called back 20 minutes later.

I was in Don’s classroom the next day.

SDSU’s teacher education program application required 30 hours of volunteer work with a classroom teacher, and the art teachers I’d contacted had not yet responded.

I spent far more than 30 hours with Don and his kids.

The experience dramatically altered the trajectory of this story.

Let’s skip forward a bit, move from Don to Dan (010), and fill in some missing details.

Fall 2001 (Parkway Middle School)

SDSU arranged a better match for my second student teaching assignment.

The middle school had even purchased licenses for Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

My first student-teaching gig (at Valhalla) had not impressed anyone, and I wasn’t doing much better at Parkway.

I had to try something different.

“This is it!” I declared confidently after working most of the weekend.

Dan smiled. (He’d heard that before.)

Yeah, but I knew he was going to witness history this time.

I created a website (Dreamweaver) with imagery (Photoshop) and written instructions to accompany a collection of step-by-step video tutorials, so the kids could work at their own pace, creating websites to tell their stories and showcase their art.

I copied the files to each iMac before school (using a 100 MB OWC bus-powered portable hard drive) and placed a desktop shortcut to launch a local version of the site.

Virtually instant page loads and video playback in a room with minimal internet bandwidth.

And I could add new content each morning.

I can still see Dan trying not to laugh as my voice emerged, then overlapped, on one computer after another, as kids looked around in confusion.

That night, I rewrote the instructions and recorded silent videos (using exaggerated cursor movements to convey the information).

Asynchronous instruction freed me to wander the room, observing, helping when needed, or simply staying out of the way while students worked.

Most importantly, the kids learned that I didn’t start the class; they did.

Some began rushing in to begin (before the bell).

The scattered groans at the end of class were another positive indicator.

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Context: Dan gave me freedom, support, and sage advice.

Uploading files to Valhalla’s server simplified the process. A year later, headphones brought our self-paced learning system into the 21st century (long before YouTube was a thing).

An email from those days:

I have a graphic design background and have been trying to make headway and crack the Flash code for a long time. There just isn’t anything on the web that is as clear and easy to follow as your tutorials. I started working with them when they didn’t have any sound. They were a big help to me then and continue to be so to this day.

I’m not the only one in my family who appreciates what you do. My 13-year-old son and I have been homeschooling for a couple of years now, and when we just couldn’t take another minute of math, science, or social studies, we’d sit side by side at our computers following your tutorials and improving our Flash skills.

Now that I’ve waded through most of the Flash tutorials, I’m looking forward to seeing what more I can learn about Photoshop!

For Nerds: My first online videos (2002) were 4 fps (not a typo), 614 x 461 (60% of 1024 x 768), and highly compressed. I learned to compromise and get the best bang for the kilobyte. Function > Form became my mantra.

A monumental adjustment at the time, but it’s not like I had a choice. The videos had to play smoothly on the iMacs, or the idea was worthless.

Our district finally unblocked YouTube in January 2015.

Featured Image: Indispensable indeed.

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