Classroom Technologies

The major technology I use in my classroom is the Internet. I like to provide my students with a PowerPoint for each project with a lot of examples. Most of the time, surfing the web comes up with more than enough images and information that I have to cut slides to save time. It’s much easier and quicker to whip up a presentation using the Internet than organizing slides or writing an elaborate written explanation. I’ve been lucky that I’ve had access to a digital projector in classrooms I’ve worked in, and I really hope that I have one in my future classroom. A projector is pretty essential for viewing presentations as a group rather than individually on computers.

I think students respond well to PowerPoint presentations. I try to provide a lot of diverse examples to get the students thinking, trying to show a wide variety of abilities, styles and techniques. Without the Internet, I have to rely on textbooks and examples I have made. This can really limit student’s understanding of their options, because too often students try to copy elements from the examples.

The Internet is a great resource for students too because they can quickly research reference images, textures, techniques and information about other artists and movements. Sometimes students abuse this ability and trace or copy an image from the Internet exactly. This is probably the biggest problem with the Internet, other than students wasting time. But if the student is struggling to find a specific photo or piece of information, as long as they’re still searching, they’re filtering a lot of information. Filtering out bad info versus good or helpful info can be just as much of a learning process as rendering an image.

I was also recently introduced to Artsonia.com, where teachers can upload images of student work that anyone can access online. Combined with email, this is a great way to reach out to parents, faculty and the community and share the great work the students are doing. Students can also look at work from other schools and get ideas of what other students are doing and what artists their age are capable of.