As an art teacher, I love to watch the creative process in my students as they make their artwork. To see the gears turning as I challenge them to push beyond the easy and obvious make my day. The double edged sword of easy to access technology is that there is less emphasis on creating and more emphasis on 'just tell me what information I need and how to do it'. I challenge the students by being vague on purpose when asked a direct question.
Example:
Student: Mr. Witham, how do I draw zebra pattern?
Me: Well, what does a zebra look like?
Student: Well, they have stripes.
Me: What color are the stripes?
Student: Black and white.
(I know what you are thinking, but the debate over B&W over W&B is for another day)
Me: Good, straight or curvy?
Student: Mr. Witham, can I just go on Google Images and download one?
Uh-oh!
This is where I have the good art teacher on one shoulder, and the bad art teacher on the other. Imagine a cute little fella in a white smock with a clean paintbrush in his hand, little round glasses. Conversely, a scrubby looking dude, half shaven with a red smock and paint on his face. The brush is dripping colors down his shirt sleeves and onto his arm and the floor (don't tell the custodian please!)
Good: You should really make that student image the zebra frolicking through the savannah! What do they see, hear, or feel? What does the zebra want? Why does he run? Why does he have stripes?
Bad: Well kid, go get your google image of a zebra and get to work!
This is my dilemma.
Is allowing the kid get the images off of Google letting them off easy? Isn't it the same as trudging up to the library and spending hours looking through the stack for just the right picture? Am I as a teacher allowed to let the students use whatever source material they want to use an inspiration for their artwork?
Don't I as an artist and appreciator of art use the internet to look at, evaluate, research, and enjoy art?
Of course I do!!!
Here is the key... I do let the kid get the picture off of Google Images. I then process with them and ask them questions.
What are you going to do with this image?
How will you change it to make it your own?
Will you change the colors?
Will you change the perspective?
Can you change the where or when?
Can you adapt it to what you need?
Is it appropriate for the assignment?
Does it fill the lesson objectives?
Do you think it will work?
Is it more creative to look up ideas then change or develop them into something else? Or is more creative to sit for hours wracking your brains for the moment of inspiration?
Soapbox time!
I believe that we need to allow students full use of the internet to gather resources that they will use to create their writings, drawings, comics, videos, music, etc. Teach them to use these resources to create new and exciting ideas!!! "Real" artists, writers, designers, etc. do this everyday! At my school there are far too strict rules for student and teacher use of the internet. They should be allowed to use a search engine of their choice, not the only one they are allowed to use on the school's website. They are filtered to the best of the tech people's ability. I have heard many students say to their teachers "I will just the project at home so I can use Google. No wonder kids often feel that school is a waste of time!
Yours,
Aaron Witham
ArtRant
I agree with you 100%. What is missing in most schools I have encountered, is the understanding and the "teaching" of how to use the internet responsibly. If we are not teaching the children how to use the internet in school effectively and as an evaluative tool, we are not doing our jobs well. It is the way of the world. Google is something that is fixed in my life and I can not imagine my world without it. It also does not mean I do not question what I find, look for the best resources, make sure information is as accurate as I can, and always be questioning. I feel when we do not teach effective use of the internet in our schools, our children then go home to surf on their own. Parents are not informed either, and that is where the trouble can begin. It is great to use the pictures as a jumping off point. I think that is the same for using the dreaded wikipedia. It is just a jumping off point. We all need to start somewhere and I would prefer it be with the guidance of a teacher and hopefully internet savvy parents!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. Recently I was working with the Spanish teacher on a project she was doing with her students. They were supposed to get images for their presentations and of course came to the library. My first impulse was on how great it would be to weave in a lesson on copyright and continue with where to find images that people had released using creative commons and talk about creative commons as we hunted for the images they needed.
ReplyDeleteTurns out that as I was planning my lesson I was reminded why my students don't learn about such things. All of the websites that offer such images such as flickr... blocked. the students had no choice other than do it at home trying to figure it all out on their own with no support from the school... or rip off copyrighted images since that was all that was allowed through the schools content filter.
Just getting around to reading this blog... I guess I am a permissive parent in that I always say "go for it!" but I feel very strongly that it has to be with consideration and in the right way. I think we sort of have to throw our old ideas of "good and bad" away. I don't think that easy is always good but sometimes having an easier way of getting to one place opens the door to a more "worth it" challenge. So, if the kid starts with a google image, maybe his learning will happen later when he learns how to manipulate that image in some way or her learns about color or exposure or--- whatever! I saw the play, Doubt, a couple of months ago and one of the things that really struck me about it was it features this nun who believes that schools and education and the world was going bad because of modernization. She got particularly pissed about the use of ball point pens. She felt like the loss of pen and inkwells would be harmful because kids would lose the art of time and discipline. Ballpoint pens caught on.. but art and writing survived. They just changed. They always do.
ReplyDelete