Technology Integration Plan

I am integrating the use of technology into a lesson plan about Wayne Thiebaud. In this lesson students will study the work of Thiebaud and produce their own artwork based on his components. I am not just to adding in the technology, but incorporating the technology so it “enriches and transforms” the way the students are learning. I found integrating the technology to work out effectively and enhance the goals of this lesson plan.

The first technology that I incorporated into this lesson is a PLAYground canvas. We were acquainted with this technological tool just recently, and I thought it was a great way to introduce students to a new lesson. The students would be assigned to explore the canvas prior to starting this lesson plan. The canvas would include images of Thiebaud’s work, a short video about the painter and a video that would explain the Pop Art movement. I would ask the students to comment on the canvas. Their comment could consist of a question they have or what they particularly did or did not like about Thiebaud’s work. I think giving the students prior information about Thiebaud will better prepare them for the lesson and class discussion the next day. The student comments can also be used as a formative assessment.

For the first class, we would use the internet to connect to the PLAYground canvas. We would analyze the images and have a group discussion about the information the students discovered about Wayne Thiebaud. We also would talk about the students comments and questions from the “What do you think?” widget.

Since Wayne Thiebaud’s style of painting consisted of creating texture from using a lot of paint, another technology that I would incorporate into this lesson is showing the class a video about how to add texture to a painting. I would also do a demonstration, but I think showing a video will provide them with various ways of achieving texture in a painting which may include a method that may take many steps. Watching the way different people paint and the techniques they use will give students the chance to experiment with the many ways they may want to approach their painting.

An additional technology that I added to this lesson is to have the students do research on the computer for an image of a “sweet” that they would like to use in their painting. It is very important to have references when painting. Allowing the students to use the computer to find this reference is needed to successfully complete their painting. While they are researching images, they may come across a particular candy or dessert that they would have never thought to paint. Using the computer gives them a vast selection to choose from. I believe that this opens the door to creativity and will help them think “out of the box.”

I also added a class blog. The blog would not only just serve this individual lesson, but is a technology that can be used throughout the year. When the students complete their artwork, they would have to take a picture of their piece and download it to the blog. This could be done at school or at home.  Each student would have their own portfolio of work on the blog. Parents would also have access to this blog. This would give them the opportunity to see what their child and other students are working on in art class. Homework assignments, reminders and contact information regarding the teacher would be posted on the blog as well.

On the class blog I would have the students write a short paragraph about their work, such as the inspiration, technique and medium used, along with the image. They also would be assigned another classmate’s artwork to comment on. The students would be informed on how to comment respectively to one another. I believe that this is important because during class critiques, not all students like to give their opinions. This would give all students the opportunity and experience to analyze artwork. This also can be used as formative assessment. It gives the teacher an opportunity to evaluate what the students understand about the lesson through the paragraphs they wrote regarding their artwork as well as their peer critiques.

For the class critique, I would log on to the class blog and as each student presented their finished painting to the class, we would review the comment that was posted pertaining to their artwork. This would give a starting point in conversation for the class as well as give all the students a voice in the critiquing process. 

You can find my Technology Integration Matrix for this lesson plan HERE.

My Integrating Technology Class

         I decide to write my last blog post about some thoughts I have about this class. I created this blog specifically for my Integrating Technology Class, which is a required, 1 credit class for the Art Education program at Montclair State University. The integration of technology in teaching is something that is important in today's education because it allows teachers to use different, innovative tools in the process of educating their students. I think the two major things I can take away from this class is learning about the creation and use of the canvases on PLAYground  and our last assignment, which was to integrate technologies into a lesson that did not previously have any included in its original plan. I wish we were assigned more projects like these throughout this class, instead of having to blog and comment on three classmates blogs every week, which I believe was nothing more than time consuming. I did find some of the blogs posted by my fellow classmates insightful, however, I personally thought for this class to be more beneficial to future teachers, we could have been introduced to more technologies that we would be able to incorporate into our teaching, such as the PLAYground canvas. In addition, I consider that this last assignment, integrating technology into a lesson plan, did force us to think of incorporating technologies in a way that would enhance student learning. I believe this assignment prepared me to be more conscious of how I will use technology in my lesson planning in the future.  

Art Education 2.0

Art Education 2.0 is an online professional learning community of art educators. to join, all you have to do is sign up for a free account by filling out the profile information,upload a profile picture, and verify your email address. Once your registration has been approved, you can participate in forums, groups, blogging, photo and video sharing.
Just reading over some of the blogs and forums listed on the home page made me realize that this website can be an extremely helpful tool for art educators. Not only do they have blogs written by fellow art educators that share their personal work, art projects and opinions, but they have a list of current projects that teachers along with their students are invited to participate in. Some that I thought were interesting are the Memory Project, Rock Thoughts and Connected Classroom. Memory Project is where students create portraits for children and teens around the world who have been orphaned, abandoned, neglected or otherwise disadvantaged. Rock Thoughts has students paint rocks to resemble monsters and hide them in public spaces for others to find. Connected Classroom connects a teacher on this site with another teacher in a different city, state or country. 
Being connected to art educators around the globe is amazing. I'm curious to see what methods and lessons they are teaching their students. I think this site would be beneficial for any art educator and I personally can't wait to join so I can learn more.

Websites For Students To Create Artwork

There are so many great, free websites that students can use to create artwork. Some are probably more known than others.  Many are limited in options, but are still fun to explore and play around with. I thought I would share some of the ones that I have stumbled across over the years.  

I’m sure many have heard of Kerpoof.. This website offers a variety of selections for kids, such as creating movies, cards and stories. It also provides lesson plans for teachers that coincide with using their website.

Bomomo Interactive Art Creator is a fun site to create abstract digital art. When I was experimenting and creating my artwork, it reminded me of a Kandinsky painting. The art creator has really unique tools that produce several cool effects.  

Build Your Wild Self is a website where you can make a part human- part animal creation. Some of the choices are limited, but I think students can have fun mixing the different animal features they offer together. It could be used to introduce students to some of the possibilities and give them ideas for a lesson plan where they will have to create a “mixed creature.”

A website that might inspire future architects is, Architect Studio 3D:Design Studio. On this site you can choose from various floor plans and add interior, exterior, and landscape designs. You can then take a virtual tour of the home you created. I think this site might help give students a taste of what architects, interior designers, builders and landscapers’ jobs entail.

I just recently came across Make Beliefs Comix. Many students love to read comics, so I think they would enjoy this website. They also include lesson plans for teachers, many concentrating on ELL students.

Like I stated before, many of the options that these websites offer are limited, but I still think they are worth checking out, especially because they are free.