Digital/Media/Arts (DMA) is a two-year curriculum for academies and pathways focused on digital media. DMA prepares students to enter college and media careers by integrating academic standards and career-technical learning. This hands-on session focuses on how the DMA curriculum can be used to strengthen the arts and media component of AOIT offering a specialty in digital media.

1. Digital/Media/Arts Curriculum:
Building Foundations in Art and Digital Design

2. #NAFNext

3. Who We Are
 Ilene Kantrov
 Deidre Searcy
 Dave Yanofsky
#NAFNext

4. Session Goals
 Learn about the Digital/Media/Arts
curriculum
 Experience a taste of the activities
 Explore strategies for engaging students in
the art of storytelling
#NAFNext

5. Conversation Shorts
Pair up with someone that you do not know, and
each spend one minute responding to the
following:
 What is the one project you use with
students that they find the most engaging?
#NAFNext

6. What Is Digital/Media/Arts?
 Foundations in Visual Arts
o Art fundamentals, with focus on visual literacy and personal expression
 Foundations in Media & Digital Design
o Basic production in four media, with focus on storytelling
 Sixteen units in math, history, English, science
o Academic content related to art and media projects
#NAFNext

7. NAF Curriculum & Instruction
Standard I: Program of Study/Integration
The academy uses NAF curriculum and fully integrates it with the core
subject area content.
 a. The academy program of study  b. Multidisciplinary projects are the
includes one or more NAF courses* per primary vehicle by which NAF course
grade level, with themes from these themes are integrated into core subject
courses integrated into core academic area content, providing a relevant
course content. (*or approved context for student learning.
alternatives)
#NAFNext

8. Essentials for Media-Makers
Qualities & Habits of
Knowledge & Skills Mind
 Visual literacy  Problem solving
 Art-making techniques  Critical thinking
 Personal expression  Effective
communication
 Artistic vision
 Teamwork
 Storytelling
Qualities & Habits of
Mind
#NAFNext

9. Curriculum Characteristics
 Develops qualities important to industry professionals
 Project-based pedagogy; performance assessments
 Career exploration strand
 Tools for learning: analysis, research, creation, critique
#NAFNext

10. “The real process of education should be the
process of learning to think through the
application of real problems. Everything
depends on the quality of the experience.”
--John Dewey
“The real process of education should be the process of learning to think
through the application of real problems. Everything depends on the quality
of the experience.” --John Dewey
#NAFNext

11. Foundations in Visual Arts
Grade 9 or 10
Unit 1: Getting to Know You
Unit 2: Saying It With Symbols
Unit 3: Community Storytelling
Unit 4: Make Me a World
Unit 5: Creating Characters
Unit 6: Games for Good
Unit 7: Art Show!
#NAFNext

12. Foundations in Visual Arts:
Framing Questions for the Course
 What is your vision?
 How do you see the world?
 How does the world see you?
 How does the world influence your vision?
 How do you transform your vision into
action?
#NAFNext

13. Foundations in Media and Digital Design
10th or 11th Grade
Fall Semester: Audio & Video
 Unit 1: Using Sound to Tell Stories
 Unit 2: Telling Stories with Moving Images
Spring Semester: Animation & Game Design
 Unit 1: The Animated World
 Unit 2: Principles of Game Design
#NAFNext

14. “I’m a storyteller. That’s the chief
function of a director.”
—Howard Hawks
(Bringing Up Baby, Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes)
“People are hungry for stories. It’s
part of our very being. Storytelling is
a form of history, of immortality too.
It goes from one generation to
another.”
—Studs Terkel, author, historian,
broadcaster
#NAFNext

15. The Power of Sound
 Why do certain sounds make you feel certain
emotions?
 How do sounds help to tell stories?
#NAFNext

16. Unit Project Description
 Students work in teams to create a short audio
story for a radio show or podcast targeted to
teenagers.
 The story can be a personal anecdote, an
exploration of a theme or issue, or a profile of a
person or place in their community.
 Students tell their story through sounds they
record, including interviews, ambient sound, and
narration.
#NAFNext

17. Framing Questions
 How can voice, music, sound effects, and other
sounds be used to evoke emotion and tell a
story?
 What story do you want to tell? How can you
tell your story using only sound?
 What are the different tasks involved in
developing a media product from idea to
completion?
#NAFNext

18. Technical Skills Learned and Applied
 Setting up and operating
audio recording
equipment
 Choosing, using, and
creating an acoustic  Conducting and
environment for recording interviews
recording quality sound  Organizing, labeling,
 Assigning and managing and logging audio
audio production roles. recordings
 Editing and mixing audio
tracks
 Sound design
#NAFNext

19. Ira Glass on Storytelling
#NAFNext

20. Activity: Recording an Anecdote
TEAMS:
 Share an anecdote about a moment of truth or
turning point in your life.
 Select one anecdote and record it.
#NAFNext

21. Discussing Anecdotes
 What might listeners find interesting about this
anecdote?
 What is the take-away or moment of reflection
in this anecdote?
#NAFNext

22. Sharing and Reflection
 How will the curriculum activities you
experienced today support students’ successful
completion of the unit project?
 What do you already do in your classroom that
will help students learn the storytelling skills
necessary for completing the unit project?
#NAFNext

23. Accessing the Curriculum
 Browse, sample, and download at
dma.edc.org
 Download, upload student work, and join
online community at
connectedstudios.org
#NAFNext

24. Thank you for your interest!
Ilene Kantrov
Director, Pathways to College and Careers
Education Development Center, Inc.
Email: ikantrov@edc.org
Deidre Searcy
Project Director
Education Development Center, Inc.
Email: dsearcy@edc.org
Dave Yanofsky
Director of Media and Youth Development
ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career
Email: dyanofsky@connectedcalifornia.org
#NAFNext