Images are a huge part of our lives – from billboards we see on the road to the website graphics we see via our phones. With the prevalence of imagery in our lives, many schools have become convinced teaching students the fundamentals of digital art is a useful life skill.
Photoshop is a well-known tool that is used extensively for this express purpose. It is used in many industries, including game development and web development which are on the rise in terms of career choices for kids.
However, where can you find the best Photoshop lesson plan resources so you can teach it in the classroom?
Continue our Photoshop lesson plan resource guide to learn what to look for in a Photoshop teaching resource, what the best Photoshop resource providers are, and more!
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What Is Photoshop, And What Are Its Main Features?
Photoshop is a multi-purpose image software with many creative web and game development uses, along with multiple applications in other industries. Here are some of its primary uses and features:
- You can use it to create images on websites. There are multiple tools to edit and add elements to the picture.
- You can design simple graphics to use in a game or a web app.
- The most common use for Photoshop is editing photos. You can change the size, edit the colours and change aspects of the image.
Since Photoshop is used in so many industries, many schools offer courses on it. Even for students who aren’t particularly interested in art, it can be a monumental game change that enables them to at least interact with the world around them better.
Therefore, many Photoshop lesson resource providers are making high-quality teaching resources to start students on a path to learning all the features of Photoshop.
What Are The Primary Qualities A School Should Want From A Photoshop Lesson Plan Resource?
Before you begin researching the best teaching resources to teach Photoshop to students, you must know what to look for and avoid.
There are numerous qualities that a high-level Photoshop lesson plan resource provider should aim for; here are three of the most important ones.
It Should Start With Photoshop’s Basics And Have A Clear Learning Path
Making a Photoshop learning resource start with the basics is one of the most crucial ways to make it effective for learning.
Photoshop has multiple features and functions. They are often complex and have many tools to edit photos and create images. Therefore, a Photoshop lesson plan resource must break down the features to make it simple for a student to learn.
The easiest way to make a Photoshop learning resource simple is to start with the basic features and interface, ensuring that students have the best chance to take in all the information.
It Should Follow A Curriculum To Ensure That The Information Is Accurate
One of the traps you can fall into when choosing a Photoshop lesson plan resource is finding one that doesn’t follow a curriculum standard. Curriculum standards provide Photoshop teaching resource providers with a comprehensive set of rules to follow and teaching objectives to meet.
If a Photoshop teaching resource provider doesn’t follow a curriculum standard, the information and teachings will be less credible, and the product will feel redundant compared to better-quality options.
In addition, curriculum standards also ensure that even if the students aren’t interested in art as a whole, they still get valuable skills for the future.
It Should Make Photoshop Fun For Students
The final element teachers should search for in a Photoshop lesson plan resource is entertainment.
Creating Photoshop images and graphics can be a fun experience for students, so lesson plan resources must reflect that. A Photoshop teaching resource can be entertaining in multiple ways, including:
- Including various teaching resources, such as video lessons, interactive elements, printable activities, quizzes, and more.
- Making the interactive elements engaging by demonstrating how to complete an actual project in Photoshop.
Again, this especially needs to be accounted for as not every student has the same interest in art. The more students enjoy themselves, the more they’ll stop fearing things related to art education.
What Are The Best Types Of Photoshop Lesson Plan Resources?
Now that you know the best qualities of a Photoshop lesson plan resource, you need to see some of the most effective resource types for the system. A good Photoshop teaching resource provider will include multiple resources to give students a well-rounded learning experience.
Here are the two best types of Photoshop lesson plan resources and why they are so effective when considered together.
Introductory Photoshop Lessons And Resources
Students must learn the basic features of Photoshop before learning any of the advanced features and functions. Additionally, although the essential elements can be complex for a beginner, an entry-level lesson must introduce them in a way that is easy for a student to understand.
In addition, an introductory Photoshop lesson plan resource doesn’t have to detail everything you can find in Photoshop; it can focus on one element and give a broad overview of all the features.
In other words, while there should be a focus on art, Photoshop as a tool needs to be covered as well. Photoshop has tons of tools, so students need to be shown the ones they’ll be using most often to get the functionality they want.
For example, Zenva Schools has an introductory course for Photoshop that focuses explicitly on using Photoshop for creating pixel art. Here is the information that the introductory Photoshop lesson plan resource on Zenva Schools will teach students.
- Teaching students how to use essential Photoshop tools, including pencil and eraser
- Learning layers and swatches
- Learning how to create sprite sheets by using multiple tile sprites
- Painting various elements using pixel art, including characters and backgrounds
- Creating sheets to use for sprite animation
- Exporting art files to use in future projects
More Detailed Photoshop Courses And Resources
Once a student completes a course on Photoshop that introduces them to the site’s essential features, they can move to a more advanced topic. With these Photoshop teaching resources, you can learn topics in more detail and focus more on more intermediate tools Photoshop has to offer.
One core aspect of this type of resource is it balances Photoshop with projects. So, while students still need to learn Photoshop as a tool, they should also get the chance to actually make art and express themselves creatively.
Additionally, to make these teachings engaging, these resources will usually have an interactive element, such as an online interactive task, a fully interactive demo of a Photoshop function, or a printable activity on the topic.
To example again, Zenva Schools has a great course called Pixel Art Techniques in Photoshop on Photoshop that focuses a lot more on using it practically with art fundamentals. It showcases the primary ways you can create and edit pixel art with the tool while still incorporating real-world techniques. Some of the topics covered:
- It can teach them the basics of character color palettes (selection, application, etc.).
- It teaches them to create and edit specific animation sprites (walk cycle, etc.).
- It teaches them how to mimic motion blur using trails.
- It can teach them how to make tilesets that are tilemap-ready.
- It can teach them to apply shading to different organic materials.
What Are The Best And Most Competitive Photoshop Lesson Plan Resource Providers?
After finding the best types of resources for your school, you need to narrow down the top Photoshop lesson plan resource providers. There are many Photoshop teaching resource providers with many unique features. For example, some rely on the number of resources, whereas others rely on various resource types (video lessons, interactive elements, etc.).
Here are three of the best Photoshop lesson plan resource providers and what they provide to teachers and students.
Udemy
Udemy is an online video course provider offering education on just about any topic you can think of. Given the popularity of Photoshop as a whole, their content library is filled to the brim with Photoshop teaching resources. This includes courses on image editing, digital art creation, and more.
Additionally, virtually anyone can make a course on Udemy. As such, the numerous providers can give you options as to who is the best instructor for your students.
This being said, bear in mind quality here is variable. Udemy doesn’t have the strict QA standards other sites offer, so you’ll have to review the content before committing. Additionally, as the platform is aimed at consumers first, it’s not school-oriented.
Skillshare
Skillshare is a platform comparable to Udemy. The site offers a large collection on numerous different topics, and likewise has a good collection of courses on Photoshop.
Whereas Udemy is priced by course, Skillshare is primarily a subscription service. However, this makes it arguably more accessible for team use – as Skillshare even has useful tools built for using Skillshare as a team.
Worth noting, though, is that Skillshare’s content also comes from many different providers. While this gives you options to choose from, it similarly means that quality will be a bit variable. And also in a similar vein, Skillshare is for consumers first over school-usage.
Zenva Schools
Given how much we mentioned it, Zenva Schools is another great lesson provider. While their content library for Photoshop is minimal, it has a few advantages that other platforms don’t.
First, Zenva Schools’ content is pre-mapped to Australian and US curriculum standards. As such, students are assured they’re getting the right skills they need to meet their education requirements. It also saves teachers time as well from doing that work.
Zenva Schools is also designed for use in schools. As such, they come with a lot of useful features, like:
- A classroom management system
- Reports to track student progress
- Multiple ways to learn (videos, text lessons, etc.)
- Bonus activities like interactive lessons and quizzes
Which Of The Top Photoshop Lesson Plan Resource Providers Is The Best One?
Choosing the best Photoshop lesson plan resource provider will ultimately depend on what you want to achieve with teaching Photoshop. There are numerous ways to use Photoshop, so this is one area where it will vary from teacher to teacher.
In terms of our list, though, Zenva Schools would definitely be the top choice. While the library is smaller, it offers a lot more features that make the content more easily rendered in the classroom. On top of this, with pre-mapping to curricula standards, it stands out as unique amongst the large pool of Photoshop courses.
Either way, Photoshop remains a great skill to impart onto students and prepare them for the world at large!