Gamifying Education

This will revolutionise education. I have never played a video game in my life, but this video has made me think of so many good uses for concepts in games to be applied to the classroom. 

The link below is to a short clip that outlines how education can use some of the positive aspects of games to engage and extend students in the classroom in the 21st century. 

Concepts explained and justified in this video include: achievement levels and skills being counted from the bottom up rather than top down grading systems; classroom fairness and collegiality built into lessons;  pairing school lessons with building games for after-school extensions that encourage students to build links between ideas; as well as a host of other associated skills. 

If you want to use ICT in a way that empowers students and builds positive classrooms, I suggest you broaden your horizons and think about implementing some of the positive aspects of video games.

Watch the link. You won't be disappointed.

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/gamifying-education

Google Sketch Up

In the past, ICT has been excluded from the art classroom in favour of more traditional hands-on techniques. Although this remains the most important medium in the contemporary artroom, the integration of ICT not only fulfils an important role, but is also integral to students’ learning. In circumstances I’ve witnessed, schools and teachers have been hesitant to embrace new technology. To address this, we are going to introduce a few new techniques that can be achieved with computers that not only teach students new skills for the 21^st century, but also assist with extending the learning possibilities of the students beyond what can be achieved with traditional materials and techniques.

ICT, when integrated into the curriculum successfully, brings a host of advantages to the learning of the students, both in the technical aspects of learning ICT skills that can be applied to industries such as web design, architecture, media design, advertising and any other creative profession, and also to the learning process itself, where ICT can give students an authentic audience, and a contemporary, relevant connection to their work and the works of other students around the globe.

Many of you will be familiar with the advantages of using ICT in schools [in other discipline areas]. We are going to focus on some specific examples of how to use interactive technology in the art classroom. Many of these examples can also be applied to other areas, and would work well in open learning areas or cross-discipline curriculums.

As an initial foray into the world of interactive ICT drawing programs, I have some examples of Google Sketchup to show you. Programs such as Sketchup are the perfect platform to ease students into more complex programs such as CAD or Illustrator, as they introduce basic principles relatively simply.

In art classes in early high school, students spend some considerable time drawing concept designs for 3D objects, and many students struggle to understand concepts such as plan views, perspective, and subsequent angle differences in their drawings.

Grappling with how to translate a 2D image into a 3D image is perfectly facilitated by Google Sketchup in 2 ways:

• 1.     Introducing the concept of planes and allowing students to easily maneuver around 3 dimensions
• 2.     Allowing the students to use reduction methods

These two principles can actually assist learning in other learning areas. You can build them into your unit plans, students can use reductive methods to work out sculpture preparations, and present possible outcomes for folios

http://www.shift2future.com/2010/11/technology-enabled-choices-for-students.html

This blog (Link above) is an excellent of ICT used in the classroom for a real life context and not just an add-on. In this situation the teacher invites the students to use Google Sketch-Up to redesign their own classroom, but this is no ordinary exercise! The students are getting a say in a real life redesign, and the architects and teachers are going to take account of their opinions and suggestions when they start designing. This teacher has also used ICT to facilitate group work and has students allocated to monitoring discussion boards and invites comment threads.

ICT works in a way that doesn’t use expensive materials, can be easily started over, doesn’t use as much time, and can be a safe way of manipulating finished works of art, such as filling in colour samples or transitioning drawings from 2d to 3d.

This would speed up the cognitive development of students understanding the jump between the 2d and 3d plane, which is often conceptually difficult for students in younger years to develop.

Google Docs

I had the delight of recently attending a fellow student teacher's talk on ICT use in the classroom that focused on the use of Google Docs. Personally, I find Google Docs one of the most accessible and user friendly programs available, and I use it every day when doing my assignments and sharing information.

Google Docs is part of the new generation of internet programs that use cloud computing. The term "In The Cloud" means that everything you do, whether that be writing, uploading images, movies or sound files, the information is stored on the internet and available to be accessed from any computer at any time. This is of great advantage to students as it does away with the need for memory sticks that could be lost. The other great advantage of Google Docs is that the program automatically saves all the work you do every few seconds. This means that there will be no more excuses for any students who lose their work due to computer failings etc. This feature will no doubt save someone's life in the future.

I use Google Docs for collaboration, where tracking Group work by using colours for individual contributions is a useful way of monitoring and encouraging good work. Additions such as chat boxes and Google's version of Powerpoint and Excel also mean sharing or creating presentations and spreadsheets are a breeze!

Here is a link to the original authors of the wonderful video on the top ten uses of Google Docs in the classroom:

http://erikssupermegaict.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html

and here is the video on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5UXkPDSW1Cs

http://pinterest.com/
Pinterest is a community of bloggers who post photos of things they like onto a virtual pinboard. The designers intended this space to be used to spread artworks and photographs to inspire and educate their members.

A visual interest pinboard in a virtual space.

This is a wonderful opportunity to get students working on annotating visual inspiration pages online! All students doing art in Victoria are assessed on their ability to locate and comment on visual aspects of artwork that they take influence from. By using a application such as Pinterest, students are able to immediately select and annotate artworks that visually inspire them. I have set up a Pinterest to arrange artworks into disciplines so that I can use it in the classroom. It works as an instant access to a variety of artists to send struggling students to for inspiration, and I can also suggest that my VCE students create one for themselves to assist with their portfolio.

The link to my Pinterest is:
http://pinterest.com/misslouisa/

Prezi: The new presentation facilitator

My friend LJN has written a blog that includes the reference to Prezi; an interactive presentation maker free for students to use. LJN states in his blog http://ljn-wouldyoukindly.blogspot.com/ that Prezi allows students to imbed information in a fun and dynamic way, and I couldn't agree more! I have poked around in Prezi for some time now, and discovered that the flow of information is more organic and easy to follow. The downside is that I sometimes get dizzy with so much sideways work, but I think this new platform will encourage students to engage with the task. Even if the presentations are not extremely different from Powerpoint, I believe that students will have fun. I can see so many possible uses, especially concerning VisCom. The design principles and layouts are strong and can be applied in the classroom. It also has quick instructions on the website, so students can teach themselves in an enquiry based method where they either have a go, or check out the instructions and tips when they get stuck. All round great idea! Check out the website: http://prezi.com

The Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) stipulate the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in all Victorian classrooms. I’m going to outline for you, some of the more important and relevant uses of ICT in the artroom, according to VELS.

VELS states that students need to use ICT to:

• ·      Express themselves in contemporary and socially relevant ways.
• ·      Develop new thinking and learning skills that produce creative and innovative insights.
• ·      Communicate locally and globally to solve problems and to share knowledge.

This is not so far removed from what we are already teaching in our classroom:

• ·      We teach our students to express themselves through their artwork.
• ·      We teach our students to constantly challenge ways of thinking, to look outside the box, to create solutions to problems, to be innovative.
• ·      We teach our students to always think about the audiences to whom we are speaking through our artworks.

As the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) states: The Arts provide an arena where ICT can be creatively used, explored and integrated into the curriculum, including their usage for visualising thinking, creating and communicating. 

ICT provides students with the tools and strategies to be able to independently learn problem-solving skills in ways other media cannot. When used to its full potential, as outlined in the VELS, ICT becomes an interdisciplinary domain that not only supports disciplines such as Art, but provides the foundation for transforming personal learning.

As the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (2008) states, the introduction and proliferation of digital technology in schools has drastically changed the opportunities for pedagogy and created new ways of engaging students in ways not previously possible. These include, but are by no means limited to, collaboration, personalized learning, innovation, multimodality and meaning making.

In the Art classroom, ICT provides a rich and flexible learner-centred environment. Students can experiment and take risks when developing new understanding. Take VCE as an example; One of my students, having completed a physical artwork, felt that she wanted to explore and take risks to develop it further. ICT allowed her to manipulate her artwork in a safe environment that afforded her more flexibility without destroying the original. It is this ability to be self-directed, to take risks and manipulate media that makes ICT in the artroom so crucial.

For More Information, Visit

http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/ict/intro.html

http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/arts/relationships.html

http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/mceecdya/publications,11582.html#Information%20and%20communications%20technologies

MCEETYA. (2008). Learning Spaces Framework: Learning in an online world. Australia, Nz: Author

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gvOVWKKxmo

Here is a great example of how an artist has used the medium of stop motion photography to produce an art movie. I have shown this to many students in the classroom and always get the same reaction. "Totally impressed". This form of art is both exciting and achievable with just a still camera, a movie making program (such as iMovie) and a LOT of patience! VCE students love the idea, but do be careful to impress upon them the time demand of making so many drawings. And again, these clips bring meaning and an audience to their works of art, so make sure they know they can upload them to the web!

Movie making is an underused artform that uses ICT in the classroom. As an example, here is a little movie I made using still images. It shows how simple and easy it is to incorporate the use of ICT in a creative way. Students could complete a video for an art project and upload it onto youtube. Giving the students a real audience for their work makes their work worthwhile, and helps to motivate them. It also shows them how to use computers to create something, rather than just for information gathering. It is also a great medium to work with to build confidence in the students' use of technology. Movie making technology such as iMovie ensures images are easy to manipulate or edit and things such as sound clips can be easily added. An art teacher who doesn't feel comfortable with technology, or who hasn't tried making movies before can simply give it a go before teaching it. Also keep in mind the students will be able to control the technology through experimentation and it also teaches them the skills of investigation and persistence.

Youtube as a teaching tool

I recently employed the use of youtube in my classroom to show my students some examples of artists' work. This was the first time they had been exposed to youtube as a teaching tool. Although they had unrestricted access for personal research, They were very interested to see what I had to show them. As the above webcomic shows, the internet belongs to everyone, and although youtube may lead to some awkward social occasions, it is the perfect teaching tool to get your students interested in your task, and a format that they can interact with.

ICT in the learning and teaching cycle

The classroom is changing, the introduction of the computer into the artroom has met with some resistance with traditional teachers, but it is to the benefit of the students. As new teachers we have a responsibility to use technology to aid learning. The computer has the power to empower learners to negotiate their own curriculum, to provide purpose to tasks otherwise meaningless and engage students who would otherwise be left out in traditional teaching situations. ICT is levelling the playing field, letting students become the teachers and learning more from the experience. The computer's presence in the classroom is more than just Google, more than just Spellcheck and more than just Word. If it is up to us to lead the revolution in education, we all have to be open to each new technology, and strive to continuously learn the best way we can use it in the classroom to the betterment of our students' learning.