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