Janee's Online Photoshop Classes How do the classes work?

How do these online classes work?

Note: This page tells you about the in-session classes. For information about independent study (non-session) classes, go here.

On your own time. The regular session classes are Message Board-based, so you complete the assignments on your own time. There are no times that you have to "be somewhere," no 4am chat sessions, and no having to find a place to park!

The lessons will come to you via email and they will be in PDF format. This will enable you to read them on your computer or to print them -- your choice! You'll get your first lesson on the Wednesday that the class begins. The rest of the lessons (for some classes) will come to you the following week.

How to work through the lessons. When you get the lesson, I suggest that you read quickly through it, just to get an idea of the projects that we'll be doing. This will enable you to be thinking ahead a little and to be sure that you have assembled the right sort of images, as well.

Then go back and carefully work through the lesson. If you get stuck on something, don't fret over it for too long. This is why you're in a class, after all! Head on over to the Message Board and post a question. We have people from all over the world taking the class, and there might be someone else up working at 2am.

As you complete a project, save it to a folder where you can find it easily. You'll be uploading your assignments to the internet, either to your own website or web space, or to a photo sharing community.

Turning in assignments.

A website of your own.

If you want to have your own website, your own personal URL, like www.yourname.com, you'll need a Web Host. You will have to find a web hosting company, or use your ISP's "free" web space. With a paid host, you can get your own domain name like "yourname.com." You'll find that they offer great service and very reasonable prices.

By setting up your own site, you can keep all your assignments up there as you move on from this course, and this can serve as a sort of learning journal.
Photo-Sharing Community Account. You can set up an account with one of the many online photo-sharing communities. By opening an account on a photo sharing community, you can keep all your assignments up there as you move on from this course, and this can serve as a sort of learning journal.

I recommend Smugmug for its features, no advertising, reasonable price, and good service.
A Blogging Account. These are easy and fun to work with, and you can post your work and your comments. Oh.. and these are mostly free. I like Blogger, myself.

After you've posted your work, you'll paste the URL's into the Message Board in your own thread. And the rest of your classmates and I will come along and offer our comments!

The importance of keeping up. We all understand the intervening of "real life," and the impact that this can have on your class. That's why we have worked a week's break into the class, to help you to get and stay up with the rest of the class. I urge you to make every effort to keep up with the schedule, though, and this is for your own benefit. The truth is that, if you keep up, you'll have much more fun with the class. You'll get to see what others are doing with the current assignments too, and get involved in discussions of questions. So if you get behind, the class will not be as much fun for you.

Teachers. At myJanee.com, you're going to be working with teachers -- real teachers. We are not hobbyists who are doing this "just for fun," although we do have a tremendous amount of fun doing what we do. We are certified teachers, accomplished and certified Photoshop instructors.

Upon your successful completion of the requirements of the course, you'll receive a Certificate displaying the Adobe Certified Instructor logo. Only an instructor who has passed a rigorous set of criteria can put this logo onto your Certificate.

We are not "presenters," like those you find in "seminars." We don't send you the materials and leave you to say, "Wow, how'd she do that?" Our goal is not to show off OUR work, but to see YOU make wonderful things. There are lots of people who claim to be teachers, but who don't do much real teaching.

Breaks. We're also people. We realize that you have a life, a job, a family. We know that you have holidays and you travel. So do we. We therefore give you 7 weeks to complete the 6-week class. There will be a week's break built into each of the sessions. This can give you a chance to get caught up, get ahead, or just time to take it easy!

Schedule. Our week starts on Wednesday. This will give you a chance to get going on your lesson before the weekend. Then you can finish up after the weekend. Certainly you may work over the weekend, but the weekend won't be the busy time around here. This will leave you free to do other things.

Value. You're going to be pleased with the value offered by your myJanee.com class. While you may find a less expensive PS class elsewhere, you're not likely to find a better one. Besides giving you 15-30 printed pages worth of material per lesson, you'll also get many tips and tricks from us in the Message Board, and advice and tips from your fellow students.

Friends. The camaraderie you'll experience in this class may well lead to your forming new alliances and friendships which can extend beyond the class. I maintain an Alumni Forum in the myJanee.community as a potential gathering place, once your class has ended.

No games. My classes are different in that you're not boxed into rigorous requirements. Yes, there are certain things that you must do to get your Certificate, but you have plenty of latitude within the assignments. NEVER will we say that you can't display work that uses techniques that are beyond this week's lesson.

Nor will we say that something is "easy." We understand that it's NOT easy, and that's why you're in a class. Surely it's easier once you know how to do it, but till then, it's often quite difficult! These may sound like small things, but add them up, and you'll see that this is going to be a seriously fun place to take a class.