Technology in the Classroom

                 I appreciate the flexibility of this course to include projects that were pertinent to my position and interests.  Projects were designed so that they could be successfully completed at my current skill level with the possibility of evolving as my skills develop.                 

                Communications and expectations were clear and concise.  Feedback was timely, convenient and extremely beneficial.  Supplemental resources were provided to enhance my exploration of valuable programs and systems.                 

                This course has given me the confidence and resources to build a more current, interactive and enriching experience for my students.               

                My only concern will be evaluating the necessity of the programs and services that were available for trial periods only.               

                Thank you!

                Currently, I am meeting with the tech support system at my school to outline the resources currently available to be utilized in art classes.  Additionally, we are revising the Photography & graphic Design class to incorporate a much larger digital component.  Software, hardware, digital cameras, etc. are being researched and considered for purchase.

                During the spring trimester, I will begin collaborating with the technology department to provide students with a more advanced technological experience.  In the future, there is the possibility of team taught, cross curricular classes incorporating art and technology.

                The art department is being considered to demo the Mimio interactive system that the school is considering equipping all classrooms with in the future.  This portable technology would allow current white board, power point and internet lessons to become amazingly interactive.          

                Although intimidating in many ways, fostering an environment of shared learning would be mutually beneficial for faculty and students.  Listening to, encouraging and relying on the technology that students use personally provides a relational bridge as well a base of knowledge to begin teaching.

1. Students seem consistently infatuated with graffiti.  Discussion could involve social statements in art and artists such as Keith Harring whose fame stemmed from tagging the subways in NYC.  Students could trace the lives and works of such artists and then create their own path for graffiti as related to topics and issues of their choosing..

2. Teachers could develop an art heist.  Students could be given  a set of “stolen” works of art.   Students would be asked to make the connections between the pieces, locate the crime scenes and formulate possible motives.

3. Reincarnated masters – Students could trace the actual country of origin & work and the cultural & social influences of specific artists.  Students could then create scenarios and hypothesis the influences and changes in the artwork if the artists had lived in a different region of the world.  For instance, placing Mexican muralist and outspoken political activist in Germany.

                Shared data could minimizing the amount of class time dedicated to group work.  The excuse of not being able to arrange meetings outside of school would be diminished.  Students could add to the data independently or simultaneously.

1.  Revision could be made to the traditional group research and presentation format.  While each student may be given a sub topic to research, as information is posted it becomes clear how much work has been done by each group member.  Also, deficiencies in the project are evident from the start, eliminating one slacker showing up on the day of the presentation with nothing.  If a group member finds information about a different sub topic, the link or the information can be shared. 

2.  A virtual scavenger hunt could be designed.  This idea could be applied to various age levels and subjects.  With the teacher as an integral member in the guided discussion, search topics, obscure bits of information, and images could be sought after.  Students could report back the findings and map the paths that lead to the information.  For instance, the teacher could chose a period in art history, ask for 5 major artists, countries that hey lived and worked in, style, influences, or random interesting facts about their lives.  As each project is completed, a database is built to create a student information center for future classes.  Once the foundation has been created, Docs could be used to facilitate a more discussion based component to the project.  Perhaps one class could create discussion questions to be posed to the next group to complete the assignment, following the idea that the more people who utilize a system the broader it becomes.

3.   Applying a spreadsheet of some sort to color theory may help students who prefer a systematic, scientific approach to learning.  I typically encourage students to rely on trial and error when learning to create and combine hues, tints and shades, etc.  It would be interesting to challenge students to devise a system for mixing each of the required elements according to precise measurements.

                Students could not lose or destroy an online calendar.  I could post reminders and help students budget their time for long range assignments by sharing my calendar.  I could also post upcoming community art events.  I have tried this via the school blog and have had little to no response.  If the calendar could become a shared tool among multiple teachers, it could replace the traditional planners that are routinely checked and signed by parents and teachers.  Requiring a post to the calendar may serve as a more self sufficient form of organization.

The versatility of this program is amazing.  The concept of translating between two and three dimensional items is typically tricky for students to grasp.  SketchUp provides an innovative approach to this concept.  The program provides enough components that young students could begin to design elements as well as creative freedom for older students to design entire environments.  This program may also motivate students who may be interested in video game design or computer animation.

 http://www.webquest.org/

Constellation Construction!

Third grade students study constellations and the mythology and imagery associated with constellations.  This webquest provided a wealth of easily obtainable information.  Printable worksheets were provided for the different jobs delegated to the students in the group.  While the variety of constellations seemed a bit overwhelming, setting guidelines or providing a set to work from at the beginning of the project may keep students from becoming overwhelmed.  The site recommends this webquest for second grade, but I found a few of the myths a bit advanced in both content and reading level.  Again, limiting the set of constellations to work with would alleviate this problem.  The end culmination of the quest is the creation of an original myth and the accompanying constellation.  I have, in the past, asked students to plot the stars of major constellations and after reading the accompanying myths create images of the characters depicted.  This project could be improved through the development of original constellations.

18^th Century French Painters

The Core Knowledge curriculum includes works from the Rococo and Neoclassical eras in middle school.  This is not a time of particular interest for me, and I find it hard to get my classes enthused about the work as well.  The idea of a hunt for the paintings and the simulation of an interview with the artists was a refreshing approach and could prove to be a valuable tool.  The search included written descriptions of the pieces to be found.  The process of searching the galleries would familiarize students with other pieces and artists from the same time periods.  Asking students to assume the voice of the artists and perhaps explain or defend their work would encourage understanding of the conceptual aspects of the pieces and perhaps the formulation of an opinion of the work.

Extreme Makeover Classroom Edition

While the concept of this quest was intriguing, the wordiness detracted from the excitement of the project.  Examples of historical classrooms were provided.  The elements of the rooms were clearly defined and the thought processes of improving each area were solidly established.  I think the format and the bulk of the webquest may prove to be daunting or cumbersome to students.  If I were to use this webquest with a design class I would extract portions of the material and process instead of completing the entire webquest.

                Social networking sites and chat rooms seem to pose similar threats when discretion is not used.  Adolescents naively give out personal information and feel distanced from those who receive the information online.  Some of these interactions lead to personal meetings.  He image portrayed by people online can be deceptive.  Many of the social networking sites will not allow children under 14 to register.  The sites have no capacity to verify the ages given. 

                Cyber Bullying has the same characteristics of bullying in person, yet the actions can be covert and hard to track and deter.  Students are harassed, ganged up on, or threatened via e-mail, blogs, chat rooms, even via text message.  I have experienced conflict between my students that began days before online.  Such interactions blur the line between school and home social situations and force the teacher into an entirely different mediation role. 

          The filtering system for my school district is extremely inconsistent.  I search constantly for images to show the students and a majority of the sites, even on completely appropriate subject matter, are blocked because they contain images.  Sometime even lesson plans sites are blocked or partially blocked.  Yet, searches for artists who are not know for nudes linked right to contemporary artists with full frontal nudity.  Searches for topics not of a sexual manner, but related to the body, such as tattoos pop up nude photos.  Searching for pictures of animals, I hit on seductive women after searching with the word “fox”.  Because the only computer in my classroom is my computer, students have limited access to the internet.  I have explored conducting research with classes using sites where I can select and make available limited art history sites.  Many renowned artists led controversial, unethical or immoral lives by the standards of many.  While this information may be critical to the study and analysis of their work by older students, I would not feel comfortable presenting their drug use, self inflicting physical maladies or promiscuity to my students ages 5-14.  I am not sure how filters could possibly restrict this type of content or be labeled by audience appropriateness.

          While cheating and plagiarism is an issue with middle school students, most of the information that I request can be submitted in either compositional or outline format.  I know in the Language Arts and Reading classes, the sites to check for plagiarism have been mainly helpful, but at times lead to false accusations.