I have recently set up three
accounts to evolve my technological resources: a weblog, twitter, and a Google doc’s
account. The benefit of having various
accounts online is the ability to access them from any device connected to the Internet. Setting up a virtual storage will be
beneficial to constantly have access to all files uploaded as well as confirmation
that they will not be lost if your computer crashes. Students today communicate virtually through
short snippets of text and images.
Having a twitter and using it educationally will gear my mind to the way
today’s students process thoughts. A
twitter will document process over time as well as a weblog.
People learn in all different ways
and it is important for me as a teacher to differentiate and provide an
environment to provide all learners an opportunity for success. I know I learn best visually which makes
sense because I am an artist. I like to
see the process and believe in modeling when teaching new techniques. This style of teaching may make the most
sense to me, but not all of my students will learn best this way. As teachers we need to be aware of this
possibility within our classroom and be ready to provide different insights of
learning the material.
According
to Wilks, Wilks, and Cutcher (2012) “the virtual world of cyberspace is the new
environment, the new tool and medium through which all activities and
transformations will occur” (p. 54). In
visual arts the medium is the material that you use to transfer ideas to
imagery. If more than one medium is
being used the term becomes media. Art
can be created on the Internet in many forms to include movies, graphic design,
3-D modeling, scanners and many more techniques (Wilks, Wilks, Cutcher, 2012,
p. 61).
Integrating a variety of technology into my lessons in the form of creating art as well as using it to take the class on virtual field trips or encourage internet use to learn new techniques could catch student’s attention and therefore drive them to be more attentive and engaged learning visual arts.
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| Integrating Technology into Teaching |
Wilks, J., Cutcher, A., & Wilks, S. (2012). Digital technology in the visual arts classroom: An [un]easy partnership. Studies in Art Education, 54(1), 54-65.
