Reasons Not to Bring Flash into FYC
Teaching the Program
Of course Flash can be taught. And although much of this document may make references to its user-unfriendliness and general headache-inducingness, it wasn’t created and left to us by alien beings.
Like say, Photoshop or Dreamweaver, I have no doubt that some basics of Flash could be taught. But a number of questions cross my mind. First among them is how long such instruction should take. Those sixteen weeks of a semester style class already feel dreadfully short and pose a constant struggle to fit everything in (whatever an instructor’s personal “everything” may be). As I mentioned in the introduction, I taught myself the Flash basics over an extended summer session, and I hazard to guess how many hours went into that learning total. True, I was self-teaching, so the assistance of a knowledgeable instructor would certainly speed the process up. Still, what would be enough time spent on basic operations to expect students to compose something (especially something like a video game that requires all the basics and knowledge of basic actionscripting)? Honestly, I’d want a week– 3, fifty-minute class sessions; which of course, is a totally arbitrary number based on my own instruction style. Even then, I’m not entirely sure it would be enough. Additionally, the students would have had so much information thrown at them, I can only imagine what would stick..
At the core of the time issue is the fact that I’m not willing to give up a whole week on what would amount to teaching basic program function. There’s simply too much else I want to do, and too much else I want to discuss about a program beyond how to work it.
Not to mention that all of this assumes you and your students have not only access to Flash but also access to a classroom that enables computer-based teaching. I’m speaking from my experience as a graduate student at Purdue where we have once-a-week computer lab sessions. I can also request additional lab days, so I could technically arrange a week for this purpose. If your students don’t have university provided access to Flash and computer workstations, then I would instantly drop all notions of composing a Flash assignment. Programs like Photoshop have free online equivalents that will get the job done (such as the Gimp), and programs like Movie Maker or Imovie come installed on most new systems. Flash is expensive and, as far as I know, has no satisfying equivalent (suggestions?).
The Basics Don’t Do Much and Language Issues
Have access to Photoshop? Cool. Trust me, in a fifty minute class session you can show students quite a bit about the program’s basic function. Something as simple as teaching them how to import a photo, resize the photo, add text to the photo, and play with the look of that text can lead to some fascinating conversations about creating new meanings with juxtaposition. Cropping and simple photo effects are taught fairly easily too. This can lead to not only some interesting compositions, but additionally a chance to discuss layout and issues of the “real” in representation.
I’m not convinced that a quick run through of Flash basics would enable students to create anything rhetorically savy enough to count as a successful assignment in one of my classes. Could I teach them to animate a simple object to move across the screen? Sure, probably. But without a whole lot of surrounding context, an object moving across the screen is not going to be all that vigorous of a rhetorical workout.
Keep in mind that even the basics require somewhat more teaching than other programs (so again, we’re back to an issue of time). I think the only new term and concept my students have to absorb when I teach Photoshop is that of layers. Even then, “layers” is a wonderfully named concept that pretty much explains itself upon one demonstration. Then here comes Flash. First we have “symbols.” But is that symbol going to be a “graphic,” a “button,” or a “movie?” Want to make something move? How about a “motion tween?” Maybe set that tween along a “path?” Want to add text? OK, do you need “static,” “dynamic,” or “input” text? Don’t forget to set the “stage,” and what “scene” are you working within? “Frame” or “keyframe?” Maybe just make it a “blank” frame. And this is only scratching the surface of Flash terminology and concepts. How can you explain all this well enough that a student can eventually compose something with rhetorical purpose? In a week? In two class sessions? In a day?
Other Programs are Often Needed
Anyone who composes in Flash knows that you don’t draw in Flash. The program provides some basic tools, but it’s not really designed to be a graphic making program. Flash provides a number of ways to import layers or images from Photoshop or some other illustrating program, and they are quite accessible . . . if you know what you’re doing. Still, even if you can teach the basics of importing, this implies your students already have a knowledge of how to manipulate layers and photos in another program. Animation in Flash often requires breaking an image down into separate parts to put on separate layers. Sometimes it requires removing backgrounds from original pictures or merely lassoing separate parts. In other words, by the time you got around to teaching Flash, I recommend that you already put significant time into teaching some more advanced Photoshop techniques. Again we see that all these separate issues I’m listing keep coming back to time. I am talking about a First Year composition course here, and I am sympathetic with fears that visual rhetoric focus can turn into a how-to class for program usage. That is not my goal, and again, Flash seems to fail based on how long such “banking” style instruction would take before students could be using the program on their own and composing rhetorically. I’m afraid there just isn’t enough time and too much to be lost.
And for What Purpose Again?
As I mentioned at the start of this section, I believe instructors should never make students compose in a program without making them question why they’re using that program. In other words, the rhetorical purpose of the document must be intimately linked to the medium in which it is being produced. So, what do we have our students make in Flash if we’re going to go down this road? I’ve given presentations in Flash, but the topic of the presentation was demonstrating New Media principles. There was no other program that would give me as much freedom to visually demonstrate. But most of the time I make presentations in good ol’ Powerpoint, just like the vast majority of students and professionals. What do we want our students to make that can only be done with Flash and that the confines of the Flash environment specifically makes possible?
I come back to video games, for that was the genesis of this project. But if we’re talking gaming, we’re talking coding. And that’s coding education that must come after all the other basic usage issues I’ve been discussing. Video games, to me, feel like the perfect reason to bring Flash into the classroom– a rich opportunity to marry graphics, animation, interactivity, and rhetorical purpose. If I’m not thinking outside of the box enough, I’m open to other suggestions on what use Flash could be put to in a student sense. But I started this project with video games in mind, and that is still where my heart is set. But as you can see, I have plenty of reservations and concerns that are not even close to being worked through yet.