Teachers
Trevor Parham
e-mail: trevor@lpfi.org
cell: 510.219.2295

Simon Robertson
e-mail: simon@sidehat.ch
cell: 925.487.1180

Class Location & Meeting Times
Room 248 – LeConte

Tuesdays: 8:15 am – 10:30 am
Thursday: 8:15 am – 10:30 am

Course Description
Fusing creativity with technology, the Creative Media Lab will teach students to use new media, artistic expression, and relatable programming principles to create a variety of multimedia projects.Using Photoshop, Flash, Audacity, and Word Press, students will create personal website profiles, graphics, animations, podcasts and even cultivate an online community. Mathematical principles such as problem solving, algebra, and logic are incorporated in each project.

A demanding curriculum will expose students to communication theory, media literacy, and college level production skills. This course ultimately provides students with the foundational building blocks to leverage technology and media for social change.

The Class
Multimedia is defined as any combination of two or more forms of digital media. The Creative Media Lab seeks to explore the effects of combining various forms of digital media, and how students can use these mixtures to inform their surrounding community and ultimately change the world around them.

Lab students will experiment with popular media production tools such as Photoshop, Audacity, and Flash to concoct a range of media mixtures with which they can express themselves and actively participate in this ever-evolving world of New Media.

The class is lead by Trevor Parham & Simon Robertson, two Bay Area born creative entrepreneurs, who teach a group of 30 SMASH students from various high schools around the San Francisco Bay Area. Equipped with the experience they’ve used to further their own professional & artistic careers, the two instructors will guide the class through an array of engaging and educational activities. From blogging to podcasting, graphic design to interactivity, and even a step in to the virtual world of Second Life, these students will have the opportunity to satisfy their curiosity with their imagination.

All of the projects produced in this class will be showcased and archived on the Creative Media Lab website. Not only will students use this website as a platform to showcase their work to others, but they will also use the class blog to cultivate an online virtual community, where they can discuss their discoveries with their peers and any other interested onlookers.

By the end of this course, students are expected to have a heightened sense of familiarity with media production software, and to have experienced the effect of participating in an online virtual community. This summer course only lasts five weeks, but students will be encouraged to continue participating in their self-created community throughout the academic school year.