The Online Learning Experience Through Academy of Art University

In recent months, online learning (also called distance learning) has become commonplace, as the global COVID-19 pandemic forced centers of learning to explore unprecedented changes to how they instruct students. This has been true for elementary and high school education, as well as many colleges and universities.

Fortunately, Academy of Art University, home-based in San Francisco, California, enjoyed the solid foundation of a quality online education program that has been in existence since 2002. Consequently, it was not a huge task to channel on-campus students into a strong online education program. In fact, the safety restrictions enacted by the Academy due to COVID-19 may have sparked interest and helped to spread awareness of the high-quality online education program that is available.

I was afforded the opportunity to explore a basic overview of the online education experience at Academy of Art University, and to write an evaluation of that experience. I joined Academy of Art University’s online education webinar and had an opportunity to try out this platform.
I am pleased to share that those expectations, although rooted in positive experiences, only scratched the surface of the online offerings available through Academy of Art University. As I hoped to demonstrate, the Academy offers superior learning opportunities through a variety of methodologies that engage the student at different levels and that present unique challenges.

An Overview of Online Education at Academy of Art University

In the almost two decades of its existence, the online education program at Academy of Art University has become ranked as one of the top online art and design programs in the entire world. The quality of offerings is not adequately reflected in a list, but some important numbers can provide a sense of the broad scope encompassed by the Academy online learning experience.

• Over 900 online courses are offered.
• Over 120 undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered 100% online.
• Online students enjoy a free subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud.
• An extensive online library allows students to access eBooks, full-text periodicals, images, and more.
• An online music library is available with resources for use in Academy assignments and projects.
• Among the videos available are tutorials and instructional videos on every subject, as well as videos of VIP guest speakers and archived guest lecture series.

Due to their status as a pioneer in online education, the Academy has achieved their goal of offering online programs that provide the same quality of education as what is offered to on-campus students. All teaching material used is proprietary and created by the instructors at the Academy, who are working creatives in their respective fields. These top industry professionals offer the most up-to-date instruction and expertise to prepare students for exciting careers in a variety of creative endeavors.

A Description of a Sample Online Education Experience

Each of the three courses of study I reviewed reflected a slightly different approach to instruction, but allowed me access to some of the teaching resources that are available to students. Class curriculum is a mix of recorded lectures, written content, recorded audio, interactive slideshows, assigned discussion topics, scheduled zoom conferences featuring live sessions with the instructor and the entire class, and hands-on work.

Subjects are divided into teaching modules, each with its own specific set of learning objectives. Students progress through each section of the module, completing the assignments and using the provided resources. Completed work and viewed resources are marked with a green check to reflect progress.

Students can also interact with others taking the same class through the class discussion board. Assignments, work samples, and subject matter can be shared and discussed between students and their instructor, and instructors can even mark up submitted work to allow a student to make and learn from corrections or suggestions.
Following is a brief explanation of my experience with each of the three assigned subjects.

Game Development

In this instructional sample from a Game Development course, I viewed two videos featuring an instructor describing and demonstrating a method for using Adobe Photoshop to create an image of fire that could be used as an element in a game interface. Both 14-minute videos feature a screenshare of the actual creative process that a student could mimic while creating his or her own image.

The instructor described each step, which were also shown in a set of images, that combine to form a burning cube image. His descriptions and exhortations were simple to understand and provided the necessary insight into the creative process that was required. Students were encouraged to try creating their own similar fire image and uploading it in the discussion area for sharing and critique.

A later assignment in this module is to create a fire element in an actual video game interface, so this basic instruction provides important visual and auditory guidance for completing the task and the later assignment.

Photography

In the sample from an undergraduate Photography course, I viewed text explanations and visual representations to explain the workings of a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera. A video, labeled image, and an interactive image combined to show how such a camera allows the user to view what is being captured, and exactly how an image is captured on film or digital media.

This knowledge of how a camera works is vital to understanding the principles of light exposure used in taking pictures with more complex cameras. In a later assignment, students will be required to recreate an image that illustrates the basic parts of a camera, including how light travels through the camera’s parts and is captured as an image.

Fashion

The third sample I explored was from an undergraduate Fashion course that described the importance and purpose of a sketchbook. More than just an informal journal for random ideas, a fashion student’s sketchbook is a designing playground where creativity and research collide and often produce inspiration.

Eight enlargeable images and a video were provided that showed examples of working sketch books with notes, references, and creative images for ideas and works-in-progress. Students will be expected to share some of their own images from their sketchbooks in the class discussion area for sharing and critique by other students and the instructor.

Personal Observations

I was given the opportunity to explore the online education experience provided by Academy of Art University and render an opinion as to its quality. I wasn’t able to consider the aspects of instruction where interaction with a live instructor was observed. However, I did view a video where such instruction was taking place with a class, and its efficacy was obvious in just the few moments recorded.

That observation, and the instructional video in the gaming module featuring the actual ministrations of the instructor using a software program to create an image, were both demonstrative of the knowledge and skill of online education instructors. Written descriptions were clear and easy to understand. Images and interactive features also added easily-grasped information.

Although I did not participate in an actual discussion board activity, previous experience with those in a university-level setting leads me to believe that such interactions also contribute measurably to a student’s understanding and learning.

My overall impression is extremely positive. Everything in the online education experience afforded by Academy of Art University was of high quality. Accessibility was superb, instructions for using the system were easily understood, and the online interface was easy to grasp and navigate. Everything a student would need to complete each module of study was accessible from the online education portal.

The level and differentiation of instruction were refreshing, as were the samples from all three courses of study afforded to me. Aside from other hands-on aspects that would require specialized tools or equipment, which I am unable to evaluate in his experience, I am convinced that any student can obtain a top-tier education through the online learning program at Academy of Art University.