Through research online and discussing findings with my fellow pre-service teachers, I have come across a huge range of relevant ICT resources to fuse into the curriculum. Once you have access to all the resources available it is easy to overload units and in turn overwhelm students, leading to ineffective use of ICT.  To prevent this from occurring I have designed ICT to work in with my set learning outcomes and use them as enhancers and different ways of presenting information for students to build understanding. This approach is recommended by Harper & Moulds (2009) who state, 'technology will be most effective if used in the context of meaningful tasks connected to the curriculum-they don't become the curriculum...' In my method of scaffolding that leads to students own constructive cognitive processes, I will provideskills that can be used to create collaborative works, capture works, give ownership over works and distribute works. These are all a part of the artmaking process in the real life context, giving the unit relevance and teaching twenty-first century skills, instead of producing throw-away rushed images. This is supported by Lloyd & Wesley's (2004) research, highlighting that, 'collaboration itself is seen to bring aspects of real-world interconnection into the classrooms.' 

Teaching And Learning Activities...

Resources to be used:

Conduct Inquires and Gains an Understanding:

To introduce Elements and Principles of Design for students to conduct inquires and an understanding over the subject I will use an online resource, the Artist’s Toolkit on a smartboard. I chose to use the smartboard as it enables visibility and interactive participation of all students. I chose the artist toolkit for it is highly visual in exploring the elements and principle of design. Each component has three levels of interaction, firstly students watch a detailed animated demonstration. Secondly they find examples of the concepts in other artist’s works, dragging and dropping descriptors onto the image. Finally they have the chance to create a composition using the concepts established. This program was selected from the vast array of resources available, as it is an excellent introductory ICT tool. It scaffolds the students in developing skills, then steps away and lets them creatively explore and construct their own approach to using the elements. It also provides theory behind the concepts and illustrates how artists use them in other parts of the toolkit.

I envision running through the Artist’s toolkit with the students as a whole class and getting them to take turns in coming to the smartboard and having a chance to interact with the program. A problem in using this program on the smartboard is access. I will have to arrange with a teacher to swap classrooms, or book the one in the library. This then creates a disruption to class routine, leaving an opening for undesirable behaviour to occur. To overcome this, clear instructions of how the lesson will take place need to be announced at the beginning of the lesson so students know what to expect and how to behave accordingly. Another issue that could arise is the smartboard not working. On an observational rolling day, this problem did occur, if it does for me I will be prepared with a backup introductory lesson.

Create:

Students have the chance to create in the Artist’s toolkit but this introduction to working with design elements will be expanded with other activities. During the first two weeks I will be conducting small groups of activities. Each activity will be a different approach in creating works of art around the design elements and principles. For example, exploring the different effects of mediums from graphite, pastel, paint to computer effects. When exploring on the computer, I will use resources such as Crayola Digi Colour and ArtRage. These were selected for they use a range of mediums from palette knives to templates, which aren’t available in the class’ physical resources. They are also suitable for a Year 7 level, not needing detailed instruction, instead offering an easy interface of icons to click on and explore how they can be used. These programs enable open access to all mediums and illustrates how they can be translated to creating works on the computer.

Interactive games will also be encompassed. For instance, after explaining a new concept such as perspective. I will get students to use an ICT device, the online game, ‘Exploring Perspective’ to provide an engaging and relevant opportunity to gain full understanding over the principle. The game involves levels of increasingly complexity where objects are placed into a scene to create a sense of perspective, again scaffolding the students. After this students can then complete drawing activities in their visual diaries, applying their new knowledge and create original works.

Communicate and Collaborate:

Visual arts is a social discipline which encourages communication and collaboration, whether this is constructive critique, chatter whilst creating and project work. I will implement ICT directed collaborative work where communication is focused on the act of creativity rather then discussion on what students are doing on the weekend. In weeks 3 and 4 I will direct the students in their groups they were in for the previous small group activities to produce a series of 8 works. I have chosen to do group work as research has shown resulting characteristics within students that I aim to develop. Bryant (2010) has shown that peer interaction  promotes  achievement in '...their mastery of symbolic expression, their acquisition of role taking and communication skills and their development of creative and critical thinking.'  Four works will be completed on paper and four on the compute,r demonstrating their understanding of the design elements and principles, as well as demonstrating how they are able to apply them in creating art using various mediums, tools and techniques. Each group will be assigned a mood and elements as a foundational base to create the works. They will design their works as a group and assign roles, so each student contribute two pieces of work, one on paper, the other on computer so they can compare the contrast between online and paper imagery.

  • Group 1: Calm Lines and Colours
  • Group 2: Angry Colours and Lines
  • Group 3: Energized Shapes in Repeat Pattern
  • Group 4: Happy Colours and Shapes
  • Group 5: Silly Lines and Texture

These artworks will be compiled through the scanning/photographing works on paper to upload into the computer. The free program Image Blender can be used to edit the images if required. This program works similar to Photoshop but I intend to use it as it is much simpler to work, being more suited for Year 7 capabilities. After images are compiled, the groups will then use the program, Comic Life to place images and informative text within this format. Text can be worked out in their visual diaries as a group then typed in, outlining their ideas, information on the elements and what they learnt form doing the activity. Comic Life is appropriate for their technological ability and is a style they can relate to and hopefully engage with. Once this is done I can print the comic off and distribute so each student has a copy of the entire classes work. This shared finished project gives students a sense of ownership and works on building communicative and collaborative skills, necessary in twenty-first century learning. A problem to overcome in doing this project is access to computers. I will need to know well in advance when to book a computer lab and have access to scanners/digital cameras.

Risk Management:

While using the internet there is risk that students may attempt to enter other online sites then those they are directed to. Filters are in place at the school and students to should not be at risk of reaching offensive material.

I had considered using a blog to compile artworks within and share, but issues of privacy and accessibility outside of the school came up. I decided to overcome this problem and develop a comic using Comic Life.                 

Another issue that could arise is the inappropriate use of the digital camera. I will outline proper technical use of the camera as well as camera etiquette, putting emphasis on what the the purpose of camera use is for this class: to take photos of artworks. This avoids privacy and unethical practices.             

 

 References:

Bryant, C. (2010). A 21st-Century Art Room: The Remix of creativity and Technology, Art Education, 43-48.

Harper, L. & Moulds, P. What implication do learning spaces and ICT have for curriculum? MYSA, 9(1), 10-13. Retrieved from www.mysa.org.au

Wesley, I. & Lloyd, E. (2003). "Not Another Lesson Plan!" Building a collaborative curriculum survival pack for future art teachers, Australian Art Education, 27(2), 51-68.