Looking back on the semester, I find that I was able to experience many new technologies that could help me in my future career and classroom. Though it was frustrating at first, figuring out all of these programs and technologies really gave me a new appreciation for new media exploration in the classroom. Here is a list of just some of the technologies I experienced in this semester, and how I plan to utilize them in my future classroom.
1. Tinkercad modeling- This is a program that is available free online to anyone who signs up. It is an easy-to-use 3D modeling program with great tutorials and a basic layout. I plan to use this program to introduce my students to 3D modeling. I feel like it is useable all the way down to fifth or sixth grade and I think it would help them understand all forms of 3D art better by exploring in Tinkercad.
2. 3D Printing- 3D printing is something that I had heard of a lot in the past few years, but had no experience working with until now. 3D printing allows you to take a digital 3D model and turn it into a physical piece. By printing out layers of plastic, 3D printers can take a project developed in Tinkercad out into the real world. I think students of many different age levels would be really excited to work with this relatively new technology, and I think it’s an important step to get the 3D printers in the art rooms as well as in the technology education rooms.
3. I-Movie- This is a program that is specific only to Apple computers which allows users to easily create and compile movie clips and add sounds and effects and captions. Though I don’t have extensive experience with the program, it was easy to learn what I have learned thusfar, so I think it could be easily integrated into a classroom experience. I think that this would be a good way to introduce film as art. Maybe start by having the students draw a comic strip. Then expand it into a flip book, and then into a zoetrope or something, and then compile a stop-motion animation through photography using I-Movie. I feel like it’s something the students could get into
4. Flash- Flash is an animation program that comes with the Adobe suite. It is a simple-to-use program with many tutorials online. I definitely enjoyed the Flash experience, and though I’m sure there are many things you can do that I have not even thought of trying yet, the things you can do with a very basic knowledge of the program are still pretty impressive. I think that students could interact fairly easily with Flash and I think they would love to explore animation in a similar fashion to how they could explore I-movie. I think there could be an entire film unit that includes both Flash and I-movie as well as flip books and zoetropes.
5. Photoshop- This is a photo editing program that is also available through adobe. I think there are a lot of different uses for this program, beyond just the usual editing of photos. I think that this is something that could be adapted for younger students as well. The first non-photography idea that comes to my mind would be to take students’ drawings into Photoshop and allow them to explore coloring it and using different stamp tools, textures, and overlays. This knowledge could then be brought into a higher level class where they could begin to use the program as a photo editing program, and then as an art tool through photography.
6. Wordle- Wordle is an interesting online program that can take any chunk of text and weed out the most frequently used words in order to make a visual diagram of it. Though it was not my favorite program for doing its actual purpose, considering it would not differentiate between words that make meaning and words like “the” and “and”, I still could see myself open to using it somehow in my classroom. I think the way that I would use it would be maybe a brief project at the very beginning of the year where I have each student write down 10 words that they think are important to our classroom environment (kindness, respect, creativity, etc.) then I would run all of their words together through wordle to create the word cloud diagram and have it printed as a poster to hang in the classroom to remind students of what our classroom ideals are.
7. Eye-Toy- This is actually not a program but an accessory for the video game console Play Station 2. There are applications for the console that go along with the eyetoy, but the eyetoy itself is a camera that can take your mirrored image and project it onto the TV screen. You can turn on different effects that take in your movements on the screen and add effects like glitter or color or vibrations or sound. I think that there is a lot that can be done with this as an introductory tool. The first use that I would like to try would be to use it in a special needs art classroom. I think that the interactivity would be a great way to stimulate interest in the students, and it is something that many students of many ability levels could be involved in. It could be included in a lesson about color or light or even performance art.
8. Weebly Blog site- Weebly is an online program that lets you design a personal blog site through the use of templates. The lovely site that you are currently reading is my weebly creation. I think that blogging as a way of reflection and exploration is an excellent way to integrate writing and research into the art curriculum. I think that once students are old enough to have a firm grasp on writing, there could be many uses for having student blog sites. Though I think I would find a way to make them private within the school, maybe through Google Classroom (another technology I won’t be touching on). I think a blog is a good place for students to document their work, document their progress, and document their thoughts and reflections.
9. Wix Website Maker- Wix is an online program similar to Weebly that allows you to create a personalized website through the use of combined templates. I will definitely use this website maker again because the layout is easy to understand but also very customizable. I think I will create more short webquests to keep on hand in case of my absence. I would like to just leave my substitute with a URL and some behavioral guidelines and be confident that my students are still learning and exploring during my absence instead of wasting art time as free time. (Which sounds harsh but many of these students may only have 40 minutes a day two days a week for art, and I would like them to get the most out of that time they have).
10. Lino- Lino was actually my favorite of the new technologies I learned this semester. It is an online program free to anyone who makes an account, and it is essentially a virtual bulletin board. You can post pictures or text in the form of sticky notes, and you can set the accounts to private, public, or you can share it with specific people. I think that I will definitely use Lino in my future classrooms. I think it is a great place to organize your thoughts and inspirations without taking up any classroom space or budget. I think I would have my students brainstorm on Lino and post in-progress pictures and updates on Lino and comment on others’ work through Lino. As an avid organizer and list maker, I think that there are so many uses for this program and I can’t wait to see how it can be integrated into my classes.
Though ideally I would like to try all of these programs in my classrooms, there are definitely some setbacks and challenges that need to be taken into account. First of all, I don’t know where I will be teaching or what kinds of resources they may have there. I know there are still schools that don’t have computers for their students which would definitely put a damper on almost all of my plans. I think that budget is also a concern. If there are computers, what kind are they? Are they Macs that can use I-Movie? Are they connected to the Adobe Cloud? Are there enough of them to successfully integrate them into a class of students? Then there are also problems of privacy. There are permissions that must be granted by parents to allow their students to have an online presence, and strict privacy rules that must be followed in regards to what information about the students and their work may be shared online. At least I can keep all these technologies in mind to do what I can with the resources given to me in my future career.
1. Tinkercad modeling- This is a program that is available free online to anyone who signs up. It is an easy-to-use 3D modeling program with great tutorials and a basic layout. I plan to use this program to introduce my students to 3D modeling. I feel like it is useable all the way down to fifth or sixth grade and I think it would help them understand all forms of 3D art better by exploring in Tinkercad.
2. 3D Printing- 3D printing is something that I had heard of a lot in the past few years, but had no experience working with until now. 3D printing allows you to take a digital 3D model and turn it into a physical piece. By printing out layers of plastic, 3D printers can take a project developed in Tinkercad out into the real world. I think students of many different age levels would be really excited to work with this relatively new technology, and I think it’s an important step to get the 3D printers in the art rooms as well as in the technology education rooms.
3. I-Movie- This is a program that is specific only to Apple computers which allows users to easily create and compile movie clips and add sounds and effects and captions. Though I don’t have extensive experience with the program, it was easy to learn what I have learned thusfar, so I think it could be easily integrated into a classroom experience. I think that this would be a good way to introduce film as art. Maybe start by having the students draw a comic strip. Then expand it into a flip book, and then into a zoetrope or something, and then compile a stop-motion animation through photography using I-Movie. I feel like it’s something the students could get into
4. Flash- Flash is an animation program that comes with the Adobe suite. It is a simple-to-use program with many tutorials online. I definitely enjoyed the Flash experience, and though I’m sure there are many things you can do that I have not even thought of trying yet, the things you can do with a very basic knowledge of the program are still pretty impressive. I think that students could interact fairly easily with Flash and I think they would love to explore animation in a similar fashion to how they could explore I-movie. I think there could be an entire film unit that includes both Flash and I-movie as well as flip books and zoetropes.
5. Photoshop- This is a photo editing program that is also available through adobe. I think there are a lot of different uses for this program, beyond just the usual editing of photos. I think that this is something that could be adapted for younger students as well. The first non-photography idea that comes to my mind would be to take students’ drawings into Photoshop and allow them to explore coloring it and using different stamp tools, textures, and overlays. This knowledge could then be brought into a higher level class where they could begin to use the program as a photo editing program, and then as an art tool through photography.
6. Wordle- Wordle is an interesting online program that can take any chunk of text and weed out the most frequently used words in order to make a visual diagram of it. Though it was not my favorite program for doing its actual purpose, considering it would not differentiate between words that make meaning and words like “the” and “and”, I still could see myself open to using it somehow in my classroom. I think the way that I would use it would be maybe a brief project at the very beginning of the year where I have each student write down 10 words that they think are important to our classroom environment (kindness, respect, creativity, etc.) then I would run all of their words together through wordle to create the word cloud diagram and have it printed as a poster to hang in the classroom to remind students of what our classroom ideals are.
7. Eye-Toy- This is actually not a program but an accessory for the video game console Play Station 2. There are applications for the console that go along with the eyetoy, but the eyetoy itself is a camera that can take your mirrored image and project it onto the TV screen. You can turn on different effects that take in your movements on the screen and add effects like glitter or color or vibrations or sound. I think that there is a lot that can be done with this as an introductory tool. The first use that I would like to try would be to use it in a special needs art classroom. I think that the interactivity would be a great way to stimulate interest in the students, and it is something that many students of many ability levels could be involved in. It could be included in a lesson about color or light or even performance art.
8. Weebly Blog site- Weebly is an online program that lets you design a personal blog site through the use of templates. The lovely site that you are currently reading is my weebly creation. I think that blogging as a way of reflection and exploration is an excellent way to integrate writing and research into the art curriculum. I think that once students are old enough to have a firm grasp on writing, there could be many uses for having student blog sites. Though I think I would find a way to make them private within the school, maybe through Google Classroom (another technology I won’t be touching on). I think a blog is a good place for students to document their work, document their progress, and document their thoughts and reflections.
9. Wix Website Maker- Wix is an online program similar to Weebly that allows you to create a personalized website through the use of combined templates. I will definitely use this website maker again because the layout is easy to understand but also very customizable. I think I will create more short webquests to keep on hand in case of my absence. I would like to just leave my substitute with a URL and some behavioral guidelines and be confident that my students are still learning and exploring during my absence instead of wasting art time as free time. (Which sounds harsh but many of these students may only have 40 minutes a day two days a week for art, and I would like them to get the most out of that time they have).
10. Lino- Lino was actually my favorite of the new technologies I learned this semester. It is an online program free to anyone who makes an account, and it is essentially a virtual bulletin board. You can post pictures or text in the form of sticky notes, and you can set the accounts to private, public, or you can share it with specific people. I think that I will definitely use Lino in my future classrooms. I think it is a great place to organize your thoughts and inspirations without taking up any classroom space or budget. I think I would have my students brainstorm on Lino and post in-progress pictures and updates on Lino and comment on others’ work through Lino. As an avid organizer and list maker, I think that there are so many uses for this program and I can’t wait to see how it can be integrated into my classes.
Though ideally I would like to try all of these programs in my classrooms, there are definitely some setbacks and challenges that need to be taken into account. First of all, I don’t know where I will be teaching or what kinds of resources they may have there. I know there are still schools that don’t have computers for their students which would definitely put a damper on almost all of my plans. I think that budget is also a concern. If there are computers, what kind are they? Are they Macs that can use I-Movie? Are they connected to the Adobe Cloud? Are there enough of them to successfully integrate them into a class of students? Then there are also problems of privacy. There are permissions that must be granted by parents to allow their students to have an online presence, and strict privacy rules that must be followed in regards to what information about the students and their work may be shared online. At least I can keep all these technologies in mind to do what I can with the resources given to me in my future career.