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Throughout this semester we have used a wide range of technologies, all of which that can be incorporated into the art classroom in one way or another. After recalling my experiences within our class, I’ve created a list of the top 10 technologies that I thought most enjoyable, or that were new to me.
Flash animation
Before this class I have never used a program like this before, so at first I was a little overwhelmed. However, once we were able to explore the program for ourselves, I found to really enjoy digitally drawing on a canvas, and turning my images into animations. I think this would be a great tool to use in the art classrooms and I believe that students will easily be able to personalize their pieces with this program.
Photoshop
Again, before this class I never used this program before, but I knew what it was. I did not like Photoshop as much as flash because I found it to be less forgiving. It would only allow me to undo my most recent action and it seemed that it was harder to navigate. I also think this would be useful in a classroom because it can create really beautiful images, I would just need to be more familiar with it so that I could be assistance to others when creating and editing.
Wordle
Wordle is an easier and simple website to use. I enjoyed creating my word map about creativity with this tool and again, I think it would be great for a classroom. Educators can use it to map out cite words, or even allow students to create their own pieces of artwork through key words found in that lesson. It does not take up a lot of time, but it seems like a great way to get students accustomed to important words or phrases.
NAEA Interactive Café
This was a new technology introduced to me that I really enjoyed. I think it is a great way to network with other art educators and get new ideas for the classroom. The idea that we are able to have a community founded on art education is very uplifting, especially for a lot of newer teachers who may need help along the way.
Lino
Lino is also a site that was introduced to me this semester. It is an online poster board that allows you to post sticky notes, photos, videos, and links. I think this is another useful technology that can be used by educators and students. It is an effective way for everyone to collaborate their thoughts together, or for a way for someone to brainstorm and organize by themselves. One part of this site that I don't like is that some of the symbols can be confusing. For example, if you want to get rid of a sticky note, you must hit a check mark instead of an 'x'.
Wix/Blogs
This whole semester introduced me to technologies I had never used before. When we were assigned to create a blog site, I found wix to be very user friendly and it had a lot of great layouts to use. Again, this tool can be used for both educators and students. The only thing I do not like about WIX is that there is always an ad at the bottom of the page since it is a free website. I also do not like that it sometimes lags and is kind of slow when you are trying to quickly get something done.
Soundcloud
I was a little familiar with what soundcloud was prior to this semester. I knew that many people could share and create music through this site. However, I did not know how to add comments into sections of audio, and I really enjoyed doing that. It’s like having a conversation while the video is actually talking and allows you to get a better sense of what you’re talking about and what you ‘re trying to say.
iMovie
I have used iMovie before in a previous studio class where were to create an illustrated stop motion animation. I found the project to be really enjoyable and I think it would be a great project to implement in the classroom, given students have the accessibility to the right equipment. iMovie was rather simple to use and the tutorials helped a lot when things weren’t as easy to figure out on my own.
3D Printing
3D Printing is a whole new world to me and I am sure students would love to work with it. The idea that you can create models through melting small pieces of material together is truly amazing. Again, I am not very familiar with digital mediums but this tool seems that it has a lot of room to grow and become much easier to use in the future.
What is Missing? Map
I found this technology to be a beautiful piece of artwork within itself and I think it was one of my favorite maps to explore. The auditory portion of the map is amazing with all of the different animal sounds, and the ability for others to contribute memories and facts is great. This would be a great resource if students wanted to do research for a specific area, or even if they wanted to go virtually exploring.