Reflections on CURR 316

Looking back on what I learned this semester I am happy to say that I have expanded my knowledge on how to incorporate technology into a classroom setting. The group activity where we listed technologies used in our subject area, our lesson plan, and our matrix are very helpful tools that we can use in our future careers. Before taking this class I was leaning towards not trying to use technology as much in a classroom because I have seen many teachers teach boring lessons using power points. After learning all the different types of technologies I can use in an art setting I am happy to report that I have changed my opinion of technology in a lesson. I hope to incorporate many of the technological tools learned in this class in my future lessons.

i-Pad's and how they can help students with learning disabilities

I find this topic very interesting, so I thought I would share with the rest of you how the i-Pad can help students with learning disabilities. The i-Pad can build upon problems with reading, and math and many things in-between. This article gives a list of tried i-Pad applications by a high school teacher with students who have disabilities. It is definitely worth looking at!

Here is the Article.

Final Project

My Matrix

The lesson plan that I decided to incorporate technology into that effectively works with student learning is the lesson plan for CURR 310 I created last semester to accommodate a student with a learning disability. My lesson is for grades 5-7 art and it is teaching students how to talk about art, and using art language while making monochromatic paintings. It also provokes imagination by creating a visualization activity where students have to close their eyes and envision

In the first row of my lesson plan matrix I have my standard that corresponds with the goals of demonstrating and applying an understanding of arts philosophies and analysis to works of art that the students are viewing. I added the NETS-S idea of communicating information and ideas to an audience using a variety of media because this standard entails the teacher’s introduction, and lecture on monochromatic painting and emotions through color. The lecture and presentation would be managed by implementing two technologies from interactivity #3. Smart boards and a power point will be effective in showing the students artwork in which emotions are represented through colors. PowerPoint’s can be very effective in showing students artwork and demonstrations of what they are going to be doing later in the activity. After the PowerPoint I would start the visualization activity in which students close their eyes and imagine feelings and explain the types of colors that represent that emotion.

In the second row of my matrix is the production aspect of the lesson where students will choose a color to express an emotion and make a monochromatic art piece with it. The visual art standard is students will individually or collaboratively create 2D or 3D work using the elements and principles of art. The NETS-S standard that goes along with that is that students will think critically, solve problems, and make decisions about the art piece they make. The strategies implemented into this portion of the lesson are individual work which benefits students, group work which again benefits all students, student collaboration, and art making which is a strategy for students and teachers because teachers can assess how well they understand the lesson, and what they were supposed to be doing. The technology from the group interactivity that I integrated into this portion is the computer, Adobe illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Students can create this artwork on these computer programs instead of completely with paint and paper. These are great technologies to add to many art-making processes because the skills you learn in Adobe can be used in students’ real life.

In the third row of the matrix I have the standard that goes along with the final part of my lesson. Students will be creating an online gallery of their artwork on Flickr, and describe their color and emotion underneath it in an artist’s statement. The performance standard states that students will synthesize technologies appropriate to creating visual art. The NETS-Standard goes hand in hand with this standard stating that students will demonstrate creative thinking using technology. The strategies implemented in this part of the lesson are display of student work, which is student and teacher because it helps the teacher assess the students knowledge and understanding. It also includes peer assessment because each student will be looking at the other students work and have to talk about their artwork in a classroom critique, which helps students talk about art. The technologies implemented here are computers, internet, and Flickr where the student will be putting his or her artwork.

I think the technology I integrated into this lesson will definitely enhance students learning of monochromatic painting, and how to display work and constructively criticize classmates to help them with their artwork. With all of these technologies students can analyze artworks, communicate about art, and produce their own piece. Technology is just another medium for art students to use in their creative process.

Are PowerPoint Presentations Effective or Boring?

PowerPoint presentations are used in many lessons, but how useful are they? I feel that in many subject areas they can be implemented easily and seamlessly, but I have had classes where the whole class is set up by PowerPoint presentations which I find extremely boring. I feel that some professors use PowerPoint as a go to because they do not want to take the time to find other more effective methods. Using PowerPoint's to start a lesson or showing a demonstration for students is a positive way to use them in a classroom. It is important to have a good design, and a hook to get students attention.

Here is an article that gives you tips for better PowerPoint presentations.

"Using Technology in the Elementary Art Class"

-Ways to Integrate Technology in Your Art Lessons-

I wanted to show this article to my fellow future art teachers. These are suggestions on how to integrate technology into your elementary classroom. Sometimes it is hard to easily implement technology into a lesson, but in this article they give specific examples of how to use several technologies. From typing up artist statements to visiting art galleries online, they are really great tips. Also the last one on the list, "Creating artwork about technology", may seem obvious but it is very true! Most students' are so used to using technology everyday and it is a huge part of their lives, so why not pull some inspiration from it? Hope you guys take a look at this and find some strategies for the future!

Reflection on Interactivity #5

Interactivity #5

The adjustments I made to my lesson was adding computer software: adobe photoshop, as a technology and placing it under student centered strategies: Production. I am accommodating my lesson for copyright and fair use in a few ways. For digital cameras there is really no copyright materials besides making sure to get permission while taking photos of people. That is not even a law, that is just to avoid conflict and arguments. Another way to deal with this is distributing a paper to the class that they can show whoever is around while they are taking pictures. The paper can be a written statement that this is for a class assignment and not for a social website like facebook. For computers and Internet there are a few guidelines students must follow to ensure no copyright infringement. As an educator you must make sure that the photographs and images students are using are not in a copyright collection. Students' also cannot take more than five images from one artist. This will take a time adjustment for the lesson because the teacher will have to go through all the students images to make sure that there is no copyright ownership on any images. When students are on the internet they may download images for a project, so there are no adjustments there. For computer software such as adobe photoshop that the students are using there will be a need for extra time to make sure all the computers attached are allowed to have photoshop distributed. Students can also copyright their own photos to make sure that others do not steal their work. This will also take time to show each student how to do this. The amount of media used will have to fall in the fair use guidelines because students will only be able to use five images from one artist, and they have to make sure they other images they use are not copyrighted. The Artsonia website has many rules to follow when creating a portfolio for your students. Photographs of children under the age of 18 are not allowed to be posted even if it is of yourself. Students under the age of 18 will not be able to use any of their photos for the Artsonia portfolio. I may have to alter this part of the lesson for them. I will most likely ask the class as a group if they want to include pictures of people in their collage? If so they cannot make a online portfolio. They will have the option of presenting it to the class in person instead.

Although the lesson I used was not modified to an extreme there are a few important things that teachers must make sure they do after reviewing the fair use for educators. These guidelines were very useful to me because a lot of technologies used in art class have to do with viewing images on the internet. Copyrighted images can be a huge problem if you don't look to make sure that they are not in a copyright collection. It is a simple thing you can do to make sure you are not doing anything illegal. I think the lesson I chose is instructionally creative because it gives students' the chance to express a place that means a lot to them, and they can take their own photos or use images that they find on the internet. After reviewing what I need to do to make sure my lesson falls in the fair use category, I realize that a lot of time will need to be spent going over what my students are finding on the internet and what they are putting on the Artsonia website.

"Art can Heal"

Computers In Art Class Bring Success to Students with Learning Disabilities

I was so excited to find this article because it has to do with my last experience at fieldwork (which I wrote about in my last blog). This is an article about a teacher who believes that art is a great class to incorporate technology into, specifically computers. He works at a school that is designed to teach to students' with disabilities. This article includes lesson plans used with some aspect of technology. His hope is to introduce some students' to a career path having to do with technology. He really has some great ideas!

Technology in an Art Lesson

During fieldwork last week my co-op teacher asked me to take over her General Art class, which includes students with special needs. They previously made a paper mache sculpture of their initials the week before and they were going to be either collaging the outside, or using other mixed media to cover the paper mache. During the class that I was helping with I took the students to the media lab and told them that they had to use the internet to find different fonts, and then write their name in a word document multiple times but make sure that each one was written in a different font, and size. Their names would eventually be cut out and collaged to their initial sculture. The students really enjoyed working in the computer lab as a change of pace, and I was pleasantly surprised with how creative they were with this project even though it was just looking up different fonts and adding them to their names.

Originally I thought art was a hard subject to incorporate technology into but after observing lesson plans, and also reading articles for this class as well as for Read 411 I am starting to see how easily it can be to incorporate technology into my lessons. I am also noticing how well the students respond to technology. The students in the general art class loved working with computers and the internet for the day. Although some of the students may have disabilities more severe than others they are still teenagers that love technology just as much as any other. I was really happy with the way they worked that day, and noticed that they stayed on task more than any other day in the art room.

Reflection on Interactivity #4

My Spreadsheet

I chose this lesson plan because I thought the idea of picking a place that was meaningful to the students to represent in a collage would make them really interested in the activity. I also liked how it incorporates many types of technologies and the student can pick and choose a technology they are more comfortable with, or maybe one they have not used and would like to try. By giving students the option of choosing images and text from either the internet, their own photos or magazine photos that can be scanned I feel that each student can identify with a chosen technology and create a successful art piece.

I thought that the lesson plan’s, goals, strategies, and technologies worked together pretty seamlessly. I did add the strategies that I thought corresponded with the lesson because the author did not have any attached with the lesson plan. I also added displaying student work as a student-centered strategy that was not in the lesson plan. I think it is important to show students knew ways of displaying their work, and websites like Artsonia and Flickr can do that.

Digital cameras, Adobe Photoshop, Scanners, and Computers all helped in this lesson to achieve the curriculum goals mentioned. These technologies are essential in students learning to produce artwork in new mediums, and they are also appropriate methods for this lesson in creating visual art.

Interesting Article: A school that does not use technology

TECHNOLOGY

A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

By MATT RICHTEL

Published: October 22, 2011

The Waldorf School’s computer-free environment has become a draw for parents at high-tech companies like Google

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html

Reflection on Interactivity #3

This activity was a great way for all of us to learn about some new technologies that other students find important for learning. My group posted technologies that I have never heard of like "Create your own Jackson Pollock", and glaze softwares which could be very helpful for a future ceramics classroom. Im really happy that I can now use this sheet to come up with lesson plans that include new technologies that students will be able to associate with.

We all added technologies that we thought were important, and it was collaborative because we each posted a few of them on the spreadsheet. As more of our group added things we started moving things into better categories, and putting them into art fields that they could be beneficial in. We have technologies for jewelry design, ceramics, drawing, and more. This spreadsheet can really help us in the future when we want to include a technology successfully into a lesson.

"Teachers explore digital age" with Edscape conferences

Matthew McGrath discusses in The Record article "Teachers explore digital age", how over 300 educators from seven different states came to New Milford High School last Saturday for sessions on how to use technology in their classrooms more effectively. It is called an Edscape technology conference. Classes on digital storytelling, iPads, podcasting, SMART boards, and cyber-bullying brought teachers who are not as tech-savvy as their students up to date. One example of a positive learning experience by a student using these technologies is how a tablet computer application can record a student reading and they can play back and hear the actual mistakes they are making. Many teachers feel that it is necessary to know exactly what their students know about computers, and other technologies.

I thought this article was really interesting because it explains how important it is to use technology in the classroom in an effective way. Most of us will know how to use recent technologies but we will need to get to know future technologies just as well. I like the idea of conferences for teachers to learn new strategies on using technology. I would definitely attend a conference like Edscape. To learn more about this you can visit the website at http://edscapeconference.com/.

Technology Image- sorry first one did not show up

Television can kill the creative and imaginative processes.

Technology Image

Television can kill the creative and imaginative processes.

Interactivity #2

The technology that I think influenced education in my content area the most throughout history is the television. In 1966 television was introduced to schools as an educational tool. In the 1970’s and 1980’s educational shows like Sesame Street, and Channel One were brought into the classroom as well. While I do think that some shows on television may help students become more familiar with cultural diversity and thinking outside their own world, I believe that it has hindered the creativity process a student goes through when making art. Television can disrupt concentration, while creativity requires no distractions. This technology has impacted students time outside of school and has taken away from imagination, play, and thinking of creative solutions. If this ability is held back in a students daily life it will also effect the students participation in the classroom.

During the interview Grace talks about how the television shows aesthetically caught students attention but there was no way to incorporate them into her lessons. It seems to me that the only reason the shows were played for the students was so the school could receive the free equipment that apparently no one used. Although I feel that television ultimately has had a bad impact on art classrooms because it can interrupt original ideas, I do see the positive use for them in rare instances. Every student has a specific way they learn new information, and if the television helps just one student find inspiration for an art activity it is worth using in a few lesson plans.

Interactivity #1

While watching Olivia’s Story I saw a normal teenage girl and her love for technology. As a future teacher I think it is important for me to know Olivia’s relationship with technology and her use of it. She did not always have access to a computer and the one she used was a community computer in her building. Although we may assume that everyone has a laptop these days, it is simply not true and the fact is that many of our students will not have access to a computer at all, unless they use a friends or go to their town library. As an art teacher many of my assignments given will be handmade and not computer based, but if I do give my students a written assignment that needs to be typed I feel that it is important to give them time in a computer lab at school, or make sure to discuss with them alternatives to getting the work done. I also think it is important as teachers to talk to our students about abbreviations in texting and in e-mails. Replacing you with U becomes a very bad habit and some students may start writing this in homework assignments or on essays for class.

My three most influential communications technologies are my iPhone, Internet, and Skype. My iPhone is a great way to stay connected to my professors and classmates with e-mailing. It also gives me Montclair weather updates, which is so convenient since I am a commuter and need to know when classes are cancelled. I do not text often because I feel that hearing someone’s voice is much more personable. I feel that the Internet has impacted the way I learn new information. The Internet impacts my learning every day because it is so easy to go online and Google something that I want to know more information about. As an example one of my professors assigned a reading that I struggled with, so I went online to look up the author’s background. This gave the reading context, and when I re-read the article I understood more of it. I feel that this is a great tool for students when not understanding a word or wanting to know a definition. I recently started using Skype, and it has become such a useful communication technology! My brother, sister-in-law and niece moved to Colorado this summer and I use this to speak with them. It feels like they are right there in person, and I get to watch my niece grow instead of seeing her in a few months and not even recognizing her.

After viewing both videos I realize that I use technology similarly and differently than the people on them. Olivia seems to use the computer and phone for personal reasons, where as I think that I use the computer mostly for schoolwork. I think that has a lot to do with that she is still in high school. She did say that she also used it to stay connected to others and that is similar to why I use social networks at all. The other students seemed to use technology in many different ways that I also use technology for. E-mail, and taking pictures on their phones were ones that stood out to me as being similar. I also agreed with the one girls thought about texting and how annoying it gets when people abbreviate words. Texting does not translate feelings as well as talking in person does, and many sentences get taken out of context.