14.3 Digital Steward Presentation

14.2 Self Evaluation

Learning Objectives

Learning Objective 1: Learn and/or gain deeper understanding of digital processes and applications in order to be a confident teacher and varied practicing artist

Develop new skills in Illustrator, Photoshop and Indesign

I practiced and developed new skills in these programs through the photography, digital painting, stop motion, Impact 25, scanography and final projects. New Skills included new keyboard shortcuts, stop motion animation techniques on photoshop and gaining a better understanding of vector files. 

Develop new skills in digital drawing & stop motion

I learned how to take my digital drawings and get them printed on fabric. I also learned how to animate using the Stop Motion application on my phone. 

Learn how to laser cut

I took thorough notes on the laser cut demonstration and completed an ambitious multimedia project for the assignment that week. 

Understand basics of remaining process structures within class and surprise myself with new found appreciation and interest in many

I really enjoyed learning about TinkerCad and simple circuits. I gained skills in these areas that I can take with me to my future classroom. 

Learning Objective 2: Expand repertoire of historical and contemporary artists that produce work that excites me and/or I think might be relevant for teaching purposes

Post about artists on blog to solidify learning and be able to refer back to

I learned about so many artists through the digital stewardship presentations and am grateful that we are sharing our presentations on our blogs so I can refer back to my classmates work for artist references. 

Learning Objective 3: Create work that I am proud of that pushes personal boundaries of art making

Make animation

I am really proud of the animation I created for the stop motion week. I was able to explore so many different materials and also utilize my sound piece which is something I have never done before. 

Create painted piece upon laser cut material

I spent two weeks creating a series of three paintings on lasercut material inspired by work that I created in my scanography assignment. I am really proud of these works as well. It has inspired me to continue creating paintings on irregularly shaped canvases. 

Or none of the above as I learn new and exciting process that I wish to explore and create within

I surprised myself with digitally printing fabric and creating dolls for the final assignment! 

Learning Objective 4: Learn about digital media relationship to art education 

Read about history of digital media in art classrooms

Through the readings, I gained a deeper understanding of the history of digital media in the art classroom. I learned how schools funding and arts advocacy impacts the presence of digital media in schools. 

Learn about myriad of impacts of digital media on art students and their engagement in the classroom

Through the readings and personal experience of coursework, I learned so many new ways to engage students in learning through digital media. 

Gain insight about projections of the role of digital media in art education

The exposure to online and free coding materials or 3D modeling websites, gave me insight to the increasing accessibility of digital media in art education. 

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Showed my Process 

I thoroughly documented my process through photos and descriptions throughout the entirety of this course. 

Explained my Outcome 

Through my blog and through classroom discussions, I explained my outcomes and hopes for future projects. 

Linked to Vocabulary 

I learned new vocabulary in this class but could have used it more in my blog work. 

I persevered through the work 

While I found Scratch and simple circuits difficult, I created projects that felt personally exciting and relevant. I also persevered in projects that I enjoyed making but were difficult such as the stop motion, laser cut paintings and dolls. 

Eliminated Carelessness

I never treated any project in this class as a "throwaway" project. It is deeply important to me as an artist, learner and educator that I treat every assignment in school with care and with a goal of growth. Every project I created in this class, was thoughtful and thoroughly pursued. I leave this class with so many pieces that I am proud of and wish to share with others.

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As I was reminded while researching Escif in the beginning of the semester, children’s voices are often unheard. Access to digital media has given power to youth and allowed them to amplify their thoughts, ideas and concerns. 

Digital media is important and unique for art educators to use in their classroom. As I learned through this course, technology allows for highly creative activities without a mess, engage students in multi-step digital processes, allow students to make creative work in a form that feels more relevant, allows student to make creative work without being “good drawers” and create work that has an immediacy component. Digital media in the art classroom expands the traditional definition of what it means to be good at art in school and increases points of access to making and learning through creative work.

In one of our readings, Peppler recognizes that young people are content creators and have the ability to impact others far beyond the art classroom. With digital media they have power, based in their creativity, to influence industry, culture and public policy. I hope that I inspire my future students to do just this. Take their learning inside the classroom and continue learning and sharing their work as a life long quest.  

14.1 Final Project

For my final project I created three dolls inspired by a trip I took to Arizona last year. I used digitally printed fabric with my own design, fabric that I painted myself, terra cotta sculpey clay, felt, embroidery thread and paint marker. I printed my fabric through a site called Spoonflower. 

I didn't thoroughly plan the design of each doll. Instead, I let the process and my natural understanding of the materials guide each design. As I made the dolls, I learned more about the materials that informed my construction. I originally wanted to create a single soft sculpture that mimicked the form of canyons, but quickly became more interested in making smaller and figure based works. 

My final three dolls include a circular sitting cactus man, a felted butterfly and a tall old lady. My favorite part of the process was stuffing the dolls and watching them come to life. I also enjoyed creating texture on the clay. My least favorite part of the process was sewing and figuring out how to reinforce the dolls. I really enjoyed seeing my digital design on a tactile object. It was so easy to do and is inspiring for future creative endeavors. 

I think the format of this final assignment is one that really ignites creative thinking. I could see myself using this format in my future classroom. Also, I think there is so much potential with digitally printed fabric through spoonflower. I could see creating a collaborative class design and printing products for students to use in their own projects for classroom decoration. 

13.3 Process for Final

13.2 Reading Takeaways

1. In the piece, 'Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering and Engineering in the Classroom' author Sylvia Lebow Martinez and Gary Stager, provide a history of makers who laid the foundation for the "Maker Movement" we currently see in schools and other learning institutions today. While contributions  from people such as Seymour Papert or Neil Gershenfeld were important, there seems to be a huge neglect on the authors part to mention any female contributors to this movement. Both education and making things by hand, has been historically recognized as female-based work. Yet according to this article, the Maker Movement seems to be made by men entirely. The fields of mathematics and engineering do not have a strong history of being inclusive for women. This makes me wonder if this "Maker Movement" has created maker spaces that are built to inspire and include all genders to make, play and invent or do they cater more to young males.

2.

I resonate with this line from 'Making is the Universal Infrastructure of of Production' by Daniel Charney. I have always found issues with hierarchy of making. The more educators emphasize the multiplicity of reasons to make, I think the better. This is because it opens up more points of access for students to create. They don't have to make things to "express their emotions" they can make stuff simply because it makes them think in a different way. This is my goal as an educator- help students find their own way and reason to make that is a sustainable practice that serves their needs/growth.

Reading Takeaways from Week 8

1. The resource list at the end of Chapter 4 in New Opportunities for Interest-Driven Arts Learning in a Digital Age is amazing. When I worked in an elementary school as a Art Integrator, teachers were highly interested in resources they could refer to, to integrate arts learning into their classrooms. I remember spending a lot of time researching and compiling my own list of resources. However, this list is totally comprehensive and covers a wide range of topics that any teacher could be interested in. I know going forward, as an arts educator, other teachers will be interested in similar resources. I am glad to have found this resource to share with others!

2. This article also brings up the DIY communities. I'm curious about the difference between DIY communities and the Maker Movement. This makes me think of the gendered language we use to describe creative thinking and making. What is the difference between DIY and Making? In my opinion, DIY has crafty connotations which is usually a term allocated to feminine art forms. This supports my feeling that Maker Spaces were designed to serve more male dominated forms of making. I am curious about what people in the field would say.

13.1 Circuit Process