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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 370 594 IR 055 047 AUTHOR Dana, Ann S. TITLE Introduction of Technology into the Art Curriculum. PUB DATE 93 NOTE 12p.; In: Visual Literacy in the Digital Age: Selected Readings from the Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association (25th, Rochester, New York, October 13-17, 1993); see IR 055 055. PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141) Reports Evaluative/Feasibility (142) Speeches/Conference Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Animation; *Art Education; *Computer Assisted Instruction; Computer Graphics; *Curriculum Development; Editing; Educational Objectives; *Educational Technology; Elementary School Students; Elementary Secondary Education; Film Production; Grade 3; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Program Evaluation; School Districts; *Technological Advancement; Videotape Recordings; *Visual Arts; Visual Literacy IDENTIFIERS Middle School Students ABSTRACT Two initiatives to introduce technology into the art curriculum of a school district are described. The initiatives gave permission for money to be spent on third-grade and middle-school programs. Both were designed around the existing art curriculum and attempted to take advantage of hardware the district already owned. In the third-grade program, the educational objective was to introduce students to computers and software as tools and media for creating art through computer graphics. Students completed the five lessons and were videotaped as they presented their art work to an audience. The middle school initiative gave advanced students an experience that was relevant to the commercial uses of art. Students learned to create and alter computer images and to create animation. Evaluation found the third-grade initiative successful because of excellent communication and cooperation, and expansion to the district's other schools was recommended. An increased level of art literacy was seen in middle school students, and the continuation of the program was recommended. A concept map is attached. (Contains 10 references.) (SLD) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Rimeerch and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 0 This document hall boon rept:faxed 11S received horn the moon or orsenashon originating it 0 Minor changes have been made to improve raproduCtiOQ Quality Pants of view or opiniOns Stated in this doar mint do not necessarily represent official OERI posibon or polio, Introduction of Technology into the Art Curriculum by Ann Dana Northern Illinois Univesrity Hindsdale Middle School P.C) Box 209 Hindsdale, IL 60522-0209 "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE TI-IIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Alice Walker 2 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." BEST COPY AVAILABLE Introduction of Technology into the Art Curriculum Ann S. Dana Integration of technology into the School districts have a financial burden, curriculum is necessary for a better under- feeling the pressure of the public to be ac- standing of its importance to the students These two factors helped to countable. of today (DeMichiell, 1990; Gibbons, influence the development of initiatives to 1991). According to 1988; Goodson, put the into technology curriculum. Hunter (1989) there is a need for students Historically the school district felt justified to be capable of visual patterning. By in- to be equitable in the distribution of fund- corporating this training into the curricula a ing and in the purchasing of technological greater awareness will be the result (p. tools, hardware and software. Thornburg (1991) stated that the 236). classroom computer has become an ex- pressive tool for discovery and true learn- Background ing, only limited by the extent of one's Nancy Scali (1989) re- imagination. marked that a child's visual expression Planning the Initiative supports healthy self-esteem. Scali pro- posed that computers and art provide the The initiatives gave permission by extension for a child to develop creative the school board to spend money differ- powers and positive visual communica- ently, favoring one class or one school i: Ragan and Rezabek (1987) ex- tion. stead of equitable distribution over the pressed that as the computer allowed the eight district schools. An initiative starts user to adjust and revise, engage in preci- with an idea for using technology as a tool sion activities, duplicate images, zctivate to help to present or support curriculum. memory capabilities, and manipulate im- The initiative presents a methodology for ages, it was a tool for use in visual literacy change. A requirement is that the tradi- worth exploring. Gunderson (1993) tional methods must be evaluated and stated that students can be taught art criti- compared to an evaluation of the newer cism, aesthetics, art history and studio method, including costs, time spent, as projects using many different media in- well as assessment of the learning. A Metallinos (1993) cluding technology. format was generated for teachers to use to stated that art created by a particular soci- help in The the planning. district ety serves at least three major purposes. technology specialists acted as guides in These are to illustrate the basic values and the process, helped refine the plans, beliefs of the society, to promote the soci- suggested the best technology to use, and ety's basic philosophies, and to fulfill the well costed out the plan. When the plan needs, aspirations, and desires of the was refined, it was presented to the Board people of the society (p. 456). of Education who approved or suggested the need for refinement. Technology will have a bearing on the future careers of the children of today. Curriculum g Instructional Goal Objectivas Objactivas Traditional Technology Media Benefits Assessment Assossment Benefits Costs Evaluation Costs Conclusions & Recommendations Fund & Train Reevaluation to incroase or Use only Participation Mothod A Concept Map: Plan of an Initiative 4 COPY AVAILABLE Costs Criteria The cost of the art initiative at the The district developed form pro- third glade level at its inception was zero. vided the outline. Applicants filled in the There were ten mouse units available to be instructional goal, the objectives, itemized borrowed and the school also boirowed a costs, and listed the benefits of both the lab pack of the software that was not being traditional method (Method A) and the Due to the used at the Middle School. planned method (Method B). thty added success of the initiative, the PTO pur- what would be different using technology. chased mouse units, lab packs of the soft- The procedure for assessment of both ware and color ribbons to be able to con- methods had to be outlined An important tinue to use the graphics program after the criteria in the initiative was what was or If the initiative initiative was concluded. what would be the benefit to the students. were to be a district program the total cost The costs of the technology component would be $4154, a cost of $11.87 per stu- were added by the technology specialists dent. who also projected the costs to the district that could be expected if the initiative The cost of the Middle School Art proved to be of greater benefit to the Initiative included the cost of the software, students than the traditional method. the color printer with additional color car- tridges, and the scanner. The Macintosh Curriculum LC II's were already in place. It amounted If a separate lab to $22.49 per student. Two of the initiatives that were ap- with 15 computers were to be purchased, proved involved the art curriculum. The the cost would be $72.36 per student. district's art coordinator designed the initiatives with involvement of the middle Hardware school art teacher and the director of technology. Computer aides were also trained The district consist computers to oversee the labs. Both art initiatives mainly of the Apple LI family. Most of were designed around the existing art cur- the eight schools labs of 12 to 24 systems. riculum that emphasizes the elements and The offices are all Macintosh and a ircent principles of art. addition was a writing lab of 15 Macintosh computers at the Middle School. Nine of lnservice the computers are LC's and were selected for the Middle School Art initiative. The Inservice plans were considered in Middle School initiative also involved the Planning time, costing out the initiative. acquisition of a scanner and a color training of staff, software, reviewing printer. hiring substitutes were all considered. The district has a negotiated hourly amount that The writing lab is equipped with a is paid for time spent over and above the Macintosh Quadra 950 that networks all of school day. Some of the training was con- the computers and a laser printer. Because ducted by the technology specialists with- of the Quadra and the network, students' out any additional costs. art files could be stored, retrieved, edited, Projects of more than one and refined. session could be accomplished. Elements of Art Other hardware in the middle school lab included a laser disc player with a monitor. The educational objective for the elementary project was to introduce stu- Software dents to computers and computer software as tools and media for creating art. These Dazzle Draw by Broderbund, for were in additico to the traditional art tools the Apple Ile or Apple Ilgs with a color and media, brushes, pencils and so forth monitor and a mouse, was used in the to create drawings, watercolors, sculp- It was to provide an third grade art initiative. The software has tures, and others. opportunity for the students to practice the capability of using 16 colors plus color patterns that can be edited. There are four artistic skill and concepts through com- brush sizes and shapes. Shapes can be puter graphics. outlines or solid. Tools include Mirror, At the time of ihe planning there Shapes, Fill, Zoom, Spray Paint, and was no sequential curriculum based studio Text. There is an undo feature and draw- for elementary experience computer ings can be printed in color with an graphics. The experience would be an op- Imagewriter II printer with a colored rib- portunity to assess the feasibility and place bon. of computer graphics in the art curriculum. EZ-Color Paint by MECC, for the Reinforced Curriculum Macintosh, has 256 colors, many palettes of colors depicting differences such as The art curriculum as introduced winter, earth tones, rainbow. The tools by the art teacher involved media and color are more sophisticated but easy to learn. theory such as warm, cold, complemen- The graphic interface of the Macintosh tary, elements of art such as balance, and gives easy access to all of the capabilities. principles of art such as rhythm. Students It is possible to edit tints of colors. used a variety of media including cray pas, poster paint, water colors, crayons, and clay to create individual art works. The Third Grade benefit of adding the computer as a media was to add more diversity in approaches The elementary initiative involved students use. Experimentation would be two third grade classes and their teachers, favored over the acceptance of a first ef- the art teacher, the district's technology di- fort. The computer allowed for the rein- rector, and the computer lab aide. Lessons forcement of learned elements and principles in an arena that encouragtx1 the were developed coordinating the principles and elements of art as taught in the art cur- practicing of artistic skills. riculum for that grade level. The software used was Dazzle Draw by Broderbund on The series of lessons in this initia- Apple He computers equipped with a tive were desigrad to give students several mouse and color monitor. This initiative experiences with the technology (hordware lasted six weeks, including the presenta- and software) and to reinforce the lessons tion of the students' projects to their previously experienced in the art room. parents. The first lesson introduced the mouse and Using the text tool they the software. The computer assign- choice of media. learned to click and select varioui choices. ment also had an element of choice of The final project was to type the words cityscape subject matter and use of graph- tiny, huge, round, and happy and change the size and style of a font to have the ics media. displayed. words appropriately Extension of the Curriculum Experimentation came from those students who discovered how to color the background or build boxes around their words. The students' art work was printed In this software the letters can only be and compared with work done in the art white. When students returned to their Computer graphics assignments room. gave students opportuaities to use con- classes, they filled out an evaluation sheet that briefly asked them what they had cepts introduced in art in a different con- text. The graphics pictures were simpler learned or were able to do. and less detailed than art room work. The second lesson, a lesson on Computer graphic tools and capabilities for symmetry was a follow-up to an off-line color and texture manipulation resulted in art period experience. The minor tool was richer and more sophisticated use of these used and students were introduced to the elements than possible with art class me- color possibilities. They were to choose dia. On the computer, as in the art room, either warm or cod colors. A discussion students appreciated the opportunity for took place before the computer experience "learning to make their own things." on color theory with students reviewing the differences between warm, cool, and Students were videotaped as they complementary colors. A color wheel was introduced their art work to an audience, explaining what it represented. The stu- on display. dents completed a written evaluation of the The third lesson reinforced shapes initiative projects from their point of view The and balance composition concepts. in preparation for a public speaking presentation of the for computer experience introduced the shapes project parents. and the fill tools. They also learned they Evaluation questions related to attitude to- wards the project, what graphics tools could edit the designs that could be used to were used most successfully, interpreta- fill the shapes. tion of process and meaning of pictures, The next experience was a review and how lessons connected with understanding principles and elements of art. of complementary colors that they were to use in the creation of a background to Most students comfortably participated in which they would add a figure or figures Students were the public presentation. in a bright color to show contrast. vay articulate and confident in communi- cating the meaning of their work, what The final lesson was a Cityscape, a they had learned, and their opinion about lesson on perception of things that could the initiative. This cul- be drawn to represent the city. Middle School minating project was assigned in coordi- nation with an art/social studies emphasis on Chicago. In art class, students depicted The art initiative at the Middle a Chicago place, person or event in their School was designed to give advanced art Learning to use the software began students an experience that was relevant to with an extension of the art class curricu- art as used in more of a commercial atmo- lum by having the students do a modified sphere. 75 seventh and eighth grade in- contour drawing of a jars or bottles that troductory and advanced art students ro- were set up as still life models between tated out of the 6th and 8th period art each two computers. They experimented classes into the Macintosh lab. Computer with line size, shading, shadows, and light graphics are familiar to them in their expo- source. For many this was a true learning sure to commercials, MTV, Nintendo, and experience with using the mozase as an ex- It was important to give them some film. tension of their hand and mind. They understanding of the talents and tools be- quickly learned the tools that could help hind these innovations. them edit Written evaluations were used to help them to think about this experience Nine colcr Macintosh LCII com- Although and relate it to something else. puters were available for two periods dur- most related it to the art class experience, ing the day. The lab was equipped with a some reflected that "it was like the first Macintosh Quadra 950 which allowed all time they learned to draw" or "drawing of the students' computers to be net- with my left hand." These black and white worked to the Quadra and the laser and drawings were printed on the laser printer The color printer imagewriter printers. The software in gray scale. was not on the network. used was EZ-Color Paint by MECC. in The second lesson was designed our research, this was the most economical around shape. It was also a black and for the capabilities. All of the computers white experience and the experimentation also had HyperCard on the hard drive. involved creating optical illusions with lines and shapes. The two art classes were divided It was planned to give all into 4 groups. The third lesson began as a black students at least 2-two to three week expe- and white but changed to the first color riences in the Macintosh lab. It was impor- experience. There are many choices of tant that all students stay in the art class- palettes in EZ-Color Paint. The goal was room for the first three weeks to be intro- to create a three dimensional model by us- duced to all the elements and principles of ing different tints of the same color. They art plus lessons on contour and on right found that changing palettes completely brain drawing. changed their model, usually not for the It was necessary to change the Discoverers found they could re- better. peat the shape in a different tint instead of computer graphics lessons as the semester using the paint brush. A later group found progressed and students came to the lab the blending tool and the fill bucket that with different exposure to art media. would shade the shape almost instantly. By teaching each other, these ideas were All students needed a lesson on the quickly passed from one to another. use of the lab and the software. Learning However, as in most things, the purist how to save and retrieve using the network They could kept to the original task. was a necessity. Art graphics take up so choose their best to be printed on the HP much memory, it was a decision not to color printer. have students use floppy disks. Animation Scenes and Color Change The National Gallery of Art laser A final experience in the Macintosh to using lab animation create was disc gave students a background in how an HyperCard. This is one experience that is artist using the same scene will paint it at impossible in the art mom. Malting flip different times of the day or at different books was a homework assignment so seasons. Monet and the Rouen Cathedral they could understand what HyperCard series was one example. The assignment was really doing. This also helped them to for the students involved creating a blaek and white scene, saving it as a template, plan how each image had to be slightly different than the one before it. Students and experimenting with a minimum of two learned how to create a background for Many students different color palettes. their image and put navigation tools in related the scenes to a personal experience place. They learned to cut and paste and or an interest. They might chose pastel for one and bright hues for the other, or place their image from card to card. The experiment with warm and cool colors. goal was 10 cards but some became so involved 30 was not unusual. One student During the Art Fair, the three were hung had such an extensive image, it was better together to show the effects of color. to keep the image on the background and change the scenery on each card. The ef- Xap-Shot Camera Portraits fect was the same. When all of their cards were completed they finished the title Students' portraits were taken with screen with the name of their animation the district's xap-shot camera. Using and added a button with a special script Computer-Eyes these digitized portraits that when clicked would automatically were moved into EZ-Color Paint. Before show all their cards putting the animation experimenting with changing their image, to work. It would return to the first card two artists known for their experimenta- when completed. They printed out their tion with photographs and portraits, Andy cards, 8 to a page. Warhol and Ed Paschke, were viewed and discussed. During the HMS Art Fest '93, these images plus many of their other Using the same idea of having a Pix put into Kid were products template, the students renamed the portrait Companion and presented as a continuous so they could experiment They learned to slide show for the parents to view. 99 im- cut and paste, to resize, to experiment with ages can be stored in one show. The im- a variety of color tools with the goal of ages had to come from the Quadra as disks presenting themselves differently. They hold only a few and even the hard drive had to be able to explain what they did and would fill up. why they chose to do so. They presented art class. to total the their portraits Time Although most eventually felt to free change their images, some only added to The timeline for development of an the periphery, not willing to appear differ- initiative to its approval and implementa- ently to their peers. tion maybe as long as 6 to 12 weeks or longer. This is due to taking the idea written evaluations, the computer graph- through the development stages. The plan is designed and refined, the costs of im- ics, and the feedback from the computer plementation are gathered, and approval aide, proved to be an excellent evaluation finalized. Once the initiative is approved, of how well students understood concepts it is necessary to obtain the hardware and taught in class. start to gather the data on software, It was concluded that this model Method A, inservice any staff that will be involved and set-up a timeline for imple- should be replicated ik elementary build- If a pretest is to be adminis- ings at third grade for a six to eight week mentation. tered that must be done at the onset. session in the same basic format as the initiative, including the public presentation Continuous data must be collected during The Art Curriculum Committee the implementation. piece. should consider using technology as one Evaluation means of assessment for third-grade art curriculum outcomes, based on the initiative evaluation format, benefits, and re- Evaluation of all initifeaves had to sults. be based on the effectiveness of meeting the goals and objectives. There could be a The school board was very recep- combination of qualitative and quantitative tive to the continuance of this initiative. data. A pre-test/ post-test format could be Student work could be collected The art curriculum committee is research- used. ing how this would affect each of their from Method A and compared to student schools. At the present time it has been work from Method B. Attitude surveys to decided that the same students, now in the staff and students might be administered. fourth grade, will combine art and social New initiatives for the 1993-1994 school year must have some quantifiable data in studies to use Dazzle Draw to create Native order to follow the district's In their study of the American designs. strategic Native American cultures they are discov- planning guidelines. ering that the colors, designs, and symbols used depended upon the location of the Third Grade Initiative Evaluation various cultures in North America. system. The third art grade initiative worked as a mod:l because of excellent Art School Middle Initiative communication and cooperation, between Evaluation classroom teachers, art teacher, computer aide, and the Direc.or of technology. The middle school art initiative Homerooms were divided into two groups per class for graphics instruction so all followed a similar evaluation procedure. students had their own computer. Use of The students filled out evaluation sheets designated homeroom computer the following each project. Art room projects period, the computer aide reinforcing art and computer graphic portfolios represent- room concepts pre-computer in ing exceptional, above average, and aver- discussion, and opportunity for on-line age ability students in art and computer learning, provided students a loop for graphics respectively, were selected for application and transfer of art curriculum comparison of student achievement based concepts outside of the art room. Student on abilities in art and computer graphics. 10