Education = Bring Out

An excerpt from Serra Glia’s blog, Art is Everywhere, http://artiseverywhere.wordpress.com/  (scroll down to Sept. 16, 2010 entry “Education”):

*Education is derived from Latin “e-ducere”: “bring up”, “bring out”, “bring forth what is hidden”.

“Are students spending too much time in front of computer screens and not enough time learning with their hands, engaged in debate, and getting down and dirty?”

A very interesting conversation on Heritage Radio Network:
Burning Down The House

Changing Education Paradigms

An awesome animate of a talk given by a favourite speaker of mine, Sir Kenneth Robinson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

image credit: media.edusites.co.uk

Using Excel in the ART Room?

In today’s technology class, we looked at ways of using Microsoft Excel as teachers. I have to say, Excel is probably my least favourite piece of software – I’ve never been a math person, and the idea of putting information into little boxes and calculating things doesn’t appeal to me. However, I decided to give Excel a fair shot and see what sorts of creative uses I could find for the program, aside from spreadsheets.

One very practical possibility I discovered through teachertube.com is that Excel can be used to create classroom posters. http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=111 takes you step by step through how to do this. I can see myself trying this if I wanted a perfectly proportioned poster with lots of text, but I would probably use Photoshop otherwise as it allows for more artistic freedom. http://t4.jordan.k12.ut.us/professional_development/Excel/excel_classroom.html also provides a good .pdf about how make posters using Excel.

Another practical usage for Excel, which I’d never considered before, is calendar making. http://www.ehow.com/how_4452236_make-calendar-using-excel.html This could be useful for myself – to create and post a calendar of students’ artwork in the classroom.

I also discovered that, believe it or not, Excel can be used to create all kinds of art! Some strange and wonderful alternative uses for Excel can be found here: http://www.exceleverest.com/blog/category/Strange-Uses-of-Excel.aspx I am especially intrigued by the idea of making games using Excel, and I think students would be too.

A visual artist whose Excel work I found particularly exciting is Danielle Aubert (http://www.danielleaubert.com/) Some examples of her work:

image credit: ambientabode.com

image credit: http://weblog.bezembinder.nl/54.htm

Once Upon a School

dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html

I think this is a fantastic idea!

Accepting his 2008 TED Prize, author Dave Eggers asks the TED community to personally, creatively engage with local public schools. With spellbinding eagerness, he talks about his 826 Valencia tutoring center.

Roadsworth

Roadsworth began painting the streets of Montreal in the fall of 2001. Initially motivated by a desire for more bike paths in the city and a questioning of “car culture” in general, he continued to develop a language around street markings and other elements of the urban landscape using a primarily stencil based technique. In the fall of 2004, Roadsworth was arrested for his nocturnal activities and charged with 53 counts of mischief. Despite the threat of heavy fines and a criminal record he received a relatively lenient sentence which he attributes in part to the public support he received subsequent to his arrest. Since that time, Roadsworth has received various commissions for his work and continues to be active in both visual art and music.  (from:www.roadsworth.com)

Trailer for NFB Documentary “Roadsworth: Crossing the Line”

School Technology Observations

The high school I observed at over the past two weeks had adopted a blended ICT pathway. At the grade 9 level students have the option of taking a full-year programming course that includes Lego Robotics and Visual Basic. The mandatory Fine Arts program in grade 9 also includes technology components, including producing vectors using Corel draw, stage design using 3D modelling and rendering software, and web design. In grade 10, students take a full-year computer application course designed, as the school says, “to meet specific needs of various other subjects as well as furthering their technological capabilities. A unit of computer programming in the Visual Basic Language is also included in this course.” Beyond grade 10, computer courses are optional. A grade 11 computer graphics course is offered that introduces advanced computer techniques using bitmapped and vector image formats as well as 3D modelling, rendering and animation. Computer programming (Java) is also offered in grades 11, 12 and at AP levels. I also witnessed many AP visual arts students working with digital photography/Adobe photoshop as their chosen medium.

The benefits of using this sort of blended model is that something is offered for everyone. Grade 9 students get the basic computer skills that subject teachers will expect them to know in grades 10-12, but students aren’t forced to take any computer courses beyond that. Many do, though, and can choose whether they want to focus on digital media or programming.

A main disadvantage I see in this model is that video editing is not taught – something I think a lot of students are keen to do. Another disadvantage is that most of the programming work would need to be done at school, as most students will not have the eqiupment/software necessary at home. However, if they elect to take this course, I’m sure they are aware of that in advance.

Overall, I think my school has a pretty good handle on technology. At least one computer was in every classroom I visited. Two were available for visual arts students to use in the art room I was in, and a computer lab was just one floor down if those were being used. Students are encouraged to stay in close contact with their teachers through email, and receive daily messages about homework, attendance, notices, etc. through email as well.

The teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards ITC is a positive one. My school was an independent school, so the students come from a good socioeconomic background and therefore were quite up-to-date with ICT. Most had phones with email capability and many also brought laptops to class. Teachers also had a good attitude towards technology, even older ones I saw using presentation software in their classrooms.

Where good ideas come from

by Steven Johnson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU

Things I have learned in my life so far

http://www.thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com/

An inspiring blog based on art installations by Stefan Sagmeister. On his blog he extends these questions to us:

“What have you learned in your life so far? What is it that you are fairly sure about? What is it that you believe in by now?
Please do write it down beautifully. Design it digitally, photograph it, draw it, scan it and upload it. Use any media that works for you, paint, sculpture, film….”

Thinking life will be better in the future is stupid. I have to live now.

Image: http://designhistory2009.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

Online photo editing

For today’s technology class we were introduced to good design, how to create visually interesting presentations, and ways of photo editing. Our assignment was to edit an image using two online photo editing programs. I have done some previous photo editing in Adobe Photoshop, but never online.  I was pleasantly surprised to find these programs available for anyone to use (for free!), and am quite happy with the results, especially with picnik.

Original Photo:

Photo credit: x-ray delta one, Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/4157185542/

Edit No. 1:

Edited with picnik using the saturation and “auto colors” tools. I tried more adjustments, but preferred the image kept simple. I added the title “Case Study House #22” in the ever-popular helvetica font. To me, this now looks like one of David Hockney’s swimming pool paintings.

Editing in SplashUp using various filters. I chose “Enrich”, “Add Noise” and, once again, bumped up the saturation. The text, in this image, is Gill Sans.

After using both programs, I am by far more impressed with picnik for its simple design and overall user-friendliness. SplashUp offered many of the same tools, but was more complicated to use, especially when it came to creating different layers. For those not familiar with Adobe Photoshop, this site would be extremely confusing because it automatically creates a new layer every time you add something to your image. I eventually gave up on trying to make any further edits when I could no longer find my text layer among the many accidental layers I had somehow added.

Why our schools need the arts

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html