Digital Story Telling

Digital Story Telling is a way to make video presentations. I used Photo Peach which I  thought was user friendly and a great resource. I feel that this can be used for education in many ways. I can use it in my art room to introduce lessons. Using it to introduce my lessons, students will be able to see examples and information that goes along with those images, as I am going over certian aspects of the lesson. I can also use it to show students different artists. I can create a weekly presentation on a certain artist and do a feature artist each week. This tool is also a great help for me when I am going over the steps of the lesson. I can have an image and the instructions up as I do a demonstration. It can even be an alternative to an altered book. Where they can use Digital Story Telling to create a "book" or just use it to create a story project. There are really an endless amount of possibilities.

My students can use this as a tool as well. They can make a presentation to share with the class about a certain topic. They could use it in place of a test to show me what they learned. I can have them use it for a project. They can use it to showcase their photos from a photo project. My students can use it to can also use it for their final project as their portfolio.This will show their progress throughout the year and showcase all their finished pieces. They have the ability to discuss their opinions on Photo Peach as well which would help them in talking about their portfolio. Photo Peach would be a great tool for the art classroom and my students.

Here is my example of how I used Photo Peach to introduce a lesson.


Sculptural Art on PhotoPeach

Twitter

Twitter is a site used mainly for entertainment purposes. However, some teachers find it to be a useful tool in the classroom. I think that teachers should use it. I feel that there are a lot of benefits to using twitter. Teachers should use it to reach students. Teachers should use what is relevant to students to reach them. Twitter can be used to do many thing for students. It can be used for reminders, important information, and other tools like research. It can be very beneficial for students and teachers. Teachers can use it to get help from fellow teachers on issues, figure out ways to help students, get helpful information or helpful tools from other teachers, get lesson plan ideas, and find people who can help their students learn. In art, teachers can twitter to benefit their students. The teacher can set up tweets with the artists to get an inside look into that artist's work. It can be used for students who are in art as a research tool. They can use it to look into contemporary artists, get opinions for a social justice art project, see what other students are making, and just to get inspiration. Other non-art students can use twitter for similar ideas as well. They can use it to hash tag to do research, get opinions from other students, and get other helpful educational information. Twitter does in fact have a place in learning. However, it must be used carefully because with out careful use then Twitter can become a destructive tool in the classroom. Twitter like all other internet related tools can be useful and dangerous as well. However, Twitter should be used in the classroom because its usefulness out ways its harmfulness.

Blogs and RSS Feeds for Education

There are numerous educational blogs and RSS feeds. I have found that many are helpful. As an art education teacher, I have found that it is somewhat difficult to find resources online. There are some but there are not as many as for other subjects. However, I have found that blogs and RSS feeds are incredibly useful.

I found one blog that is called Art is Messy. This blog is from a fellow art teacher. She uses this site to display artwork created by her students. I really like this site because it is a great site to get ideas from to use in my classroom. She is a teacher who is teaching at an American school in China. She has lessons and posts from her art 2 class as well as her graphic design class. There is another section called artists to know. All three of these are very helpful.

I find this teacher's blog so interesting because 1) she is in China and able to give a different view of art. 2) She has experience with graphic design and finally 3) because she also has some middle grade work on her site as well. These are also the main reasons that I find this site helpful to me as a fellow art teacher. It has given me new ideas and a different perspective to teaching.

The other site I found is an RSS feed site called The Art Newspaper. This site has soooo much information on it. It has exactly what the title says....news on art. This is helpful to me as a teacher because it keeps me up to date on what is happening in the art world. I am able to see what is happening in the contemporary world of art which is really important because as a teacher I have to keep art relevant to my students and looking into contemporary art is one way to do that. There is also museum information on the site as well. This helps keep me informed as to how the world is affecting art which also helps my students learn. The information on museums may be interesting to some of my students as well. I will mainly use this site to see what is relevant in the art world and find out any information that would be important and interesting for my students.

I hope this information on these two sites helps... 

Teaching in the 21st Century

Teaching has changed over the years. however, not until recently has it really been noticed. As a teacher today, I have access to so much more than I would have had if I taught where technology is not as advanced. I am able to teach so much more information to my students today because I have access to virtually anything I want because of the internet. As an art teacher, my approach to teaching art changes as well. I am now able to expand my students minds. I do not have to stick to traditional ways of teaching art. I am able to teach students how to use software like Photoshop and Light room to create pieces of art. I can also use websites like Art 21 to show students newer contemporary artists. I can have students use technology like Power Point to make presentations that inform the class about artists they find interesting. I as an art teacher have so much more of an opportunity to open and stretch my students minds. Teaching in the 21st century means that we now have so much more and because we have so much more, our students' will have so much more as well. As a teacher I aspire to let my students explore, create, and discover and with the help of technology; I can do that with ease. Students can chase after ideas or convictions they have. I can challenge students on different social issues related to art. I can help them discover their love for art. Because of technology, art is no longer stale, it becomes a rich and inviting topic that challenges students to grow. That is what teaching art in the 21st century is all about; letting our students grow.