Integrating Technology into the Art Curriculum
Harold Olejarz, Artist and Educator
About
Integrating Technology into the Art Curriculum Integrating Technology into the Art Curriculum Fall 1996 Introduction It was still snowing at 1:26 PM on Friday, February 16, 1996, in Maryland when John Royo posted the following message on the NAEA-EMIG (National Art Education Association - Electronic Media Interest Group) listserv: Hi everyone, To those of you in the mid-atlantic, U.S., happy snow ;) A question for all to ponder. As we merge more and more into the Digital Age, are "traditional materials" chalks, oils, etc, still relevant to teach with??? Why, once into the digital age, would we want to use clay, paint, etc that is analog and not digital with any art student except the BFA/MFA track, or them at all. Are these traditional materials essential to learning about art? Or are they a source of hazardous materials? Assume that you could put economics and art budgets aside, and everyone could be doing digital, why would we continue to use the "traditional" materials. Mind you, this is a devil's advocate type of question..... regards, john John's posting sparked a lively discussion of the growing impact of technology on art education among art education professors and K-12 art educators from Maryland to New York to Indiana to Tennessee to Minnesota. The responses ranged from "How could we possibly consider NOT teaching with the traditional materials" to "Traditional art can be transformed into digital art" to "In some courses (graphic design, for example) electronic media could replace traditional media." Technology has provided artists with new tools throughout history. As new technologies become available, artists learn to use them and traditional means of expression are transformed or entirely new means of expression are developed. The relatively recent developments of photography and cinema are examples of new technologies that gave birth to new art forms. Technology has and will continue to have an impact on how we live our lives. In art education, technology will continue to have a profound effect on the teaching of art. Art educators will continually be confronted with the challenge of integrating new information and technology into their art curriculum. How are art educators meeting the challenges today and how will they meet them in the future? In this paper I will look at the current impact of technology on art education and speculate on future trends. In looking at the impact of technology on my teaching and the teaching of my peers four major trends are apparent. The first is the use of technology as a creative tool, using a computer paint program, for example, to create an image. The second trend is the use of technology as a storage and presentation tool, using a laserdisk player to show a painting or sculpture on a TV monitor. The third trend, is the use of technology for Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI), an example of this is a HyperCard