Technology is Not a Separate Lesson...

During the course of the year, students in my classroom have learned how to integrate technology within their classwork.  At this point of the year, students know how to use several tools and can integrate the use of them, on their own, as they are in various stages of work on their projects. However, it took some time and training to get there.  In the beginning of the year, I taught them lessons in Digital Citizenship.  Then, throughout the year, I have been teaching them how to use new tools and Web Sites.  As I am teaching students about these tools and sites, I am constantly reminding them of the AUP and how to be a good Digital Citizen.  I feel it is important to review this each time the students access sites on the Web.  I also think it is the responsibility of every teacher, who uses technology in their classroom, to teach students how to use technology appropriately.

In my classroom, we use technology in many ways.  Technology isn't the lesson in itself.  Technology is embedded within the art lesson.  A sample lesson in my classroom might look something like this:

1.  The student is introduced to an artist, movement, or idea. Students learn the goals and objectives of the lesson.

2.  Students work on their lesson.  Technology devices may be used as a means for researching ideas or in aiding in the completion process.

3.  When students complete the lesson, and the work is assessed (rubric, critique, etc.), they have the ability to scan their artwork with a classroom scanner or photograph their artwork using an iPod Touch, iPad, or Digital Camera.  On some occasions, if time is limited, I will photograph the work and place it in my dropbox.  Students will either upload the photos of their artwork to their laptop or retrieve the photos of the artwork from my dropbox.

4.  Students will edit the photograph of the work in iPhoto, ipiccy.com, pixlr.com, picmonkey.com, image tricks lite, etc. if necessary.

5.  Students will place a photo of their edited artwork in their Art PowerPoint.  At this point, they will type a reflection about their work of art.

6.  Students will transfer the photo of their artwork to iMovie where they will record a video or audio reflection about their work of art.

7.  Student will place the photo of their artwork in a folder on their desktop.  This folder of work will be submitted to me via my dropbox near the end of the course.  I will upload all of the works of art to each student's Artsonia.com portfolio page.

***At any time, students may choose to redo a project.  When students learned that all their artwork was being used during student led conferences, I was so thrilled to hear a student ask if they could redo one of their assignments because they knew they could do a better job.  I was thrilled to hear they wanted to do it over and happily allowed them to redo it.

We have been on a learning curve this year.  The goal is to have my students become more independent in preparing their work for show, in school and online. Because we just received many of the technology devices this year, we are not quite where I want to be, yet,  I am proud of the way students are adapting to the changes. I am even more proud of their patience and willingness to help me learn how to use the new technology tools.

It has been exciting integrating technology in my lessons.  I want others to see that technology doesn't have to be something that is only taught and used in the computer lab.  When technology is interwoven into lessons in classes outside of the computer room, the results can be pretty powerful.

Photography "Zone" Where Students Can Photograph Their Artwork