Josh Holnagel

Josh Holnagel is a graduate of the University of  Michigan-Flint Educational Technology program.  But he began preparing for his current position as a customer growth specialist at TechSmith corporation with studies in  Art and Design.  Josh started with a BFA in illustration graphic arts from College for Creative Studies in Detroit.  He went on to earn a BS in Art Education from UM-Flint before starting graduate work in Ed. Tech.  

The Teacher

His artmaking and teaching took him on a journey from creating with pencils to creating with pixels.  While teaching web design, digital photography and digital illustration at the high school level, he saw the excitement his students had toward digital media and started using it in his own personal artwork.  He reckons it might be easier for art students to work in digital media because digital imaging follows a predictable process and painting requires a lot more dexterity.  He used video to display student works because it was a quick way for students to feel like they have participated.  Because Josh’s career has taken him from education to technology, I asked him about his thoughts on  the emphasis on technology in education. “I think that students can learn as much from their peers as they can from a teacher or technological tool. Learning can happen with any kind of balance.  To me the full balance of  all three things,  that way you know you are hitting everything you can with students.”

The Digital Craftsman

What can you point to as a specific expertise or value you bring to your profession?  “I would consider myself a digital craftsman.  Every digital tool I have picked up, I have loved  to master as much as I can.  And I can thank the Ed Tech program for that, because I didn't know I even wanted to make a video before I had to make a video for a class at U of M-Flint.  Before I knew it I became a video specialist at Techsmith. I take a lot of pride in my work. Especially how it looks. How it sounds. How it feels. And how universal it is.  Aesthetics go a long way when you are trying to teach something.  That's what I would call my specialty. So, when customers need help while trying to use their technology in clever ways they go to Josh.  

“People are always trying to stretch the limits of the software.” He has heard from people who have used it to almost create a software simulation which would mostly be used to demonstrate their software or a website.  He also knows people who try to build a website with it as well. "Especially with Camtasia because it is so deep."

While talking about his part in creating educational technology, he says “it is very much dependant on the clarity of the image and the quality of the illustration.  Sometimes the visual effects can be too flashy and unclear.”  We have all experienced at one time or another the video that was meant to clarify is too busy with unnecessary text.  Well, it turns out that Josh and the team of technologists are working to make instructional videos that are focused and distilled down to only the required elements.  “One of the things we have been playing around with is instead of showing the traditional screencast we have started to use simplified graphics with only  the key elements listed.  We just represent all of those elements that don't matter as light gray boxes. The only things we label with text are the things that you need for the process.  We do that for a couple of reasons.  One, because sometimes menus change. The other reason is to minimize the visual information and make it more likely that you remember the points you need for the process. Whether you are in K-12 or Fortune 500, “if you are trying to get across information, that is Techsmith's sweet spot.  Whether it is a short tutorial or an inspirational video lesson.”

Conscious Learner

Ask Josh how do we keep learning and he will tell you: “At a certain point it becomes a conscious decision.  Younger people learn all day long but at some point it becomes a conscious decision and the way I learned this is through music.” As  he went through life he was constantly in search of new and better music but at a certain point he stopped listening to any other music.  He had a full library of music he didn't have enough time to listen to. He asked himself  ‘Why am I searching for new music?” He did that for a couple of years.  Just going back to the same albums over and over again. He recalls”At some point I had that conscious realization that I haven't listened to anything new in two or three years. And that kind of drove me to consciously search out and look for new music.”  HeI thinks the same thing happens with learning. “At a certain point if you are in the same job for long enough, if you are not having any huge life changes, you can kind of feel like you don't have to search anything else out. I’m sure it’s a different point for everybody and some people say, ‘Oh I never stop learning.’ When that happens for you, you might not realize it right away.  But when it does, just figure out what it was that made you stop.  Was it you were just sick of a particular subject or an entire field of study? Make a conscious decision and set a goal."

Written by: Sam Huff August, 2017