Using ICT in the Art Room
Introduction to this section
The purpose of this document is to set out some simple methods and techniques on how to use ICT to improve learning in the Art Room using cheap, easy to use software and peripherals that require the minimum amount of teacher expertise.
Many art rooms in school's throughout the UK are working with only limited ICT resources whilst some are rich in resources.
Some
schools might only have one or two computers per classroom. Often these
machines are older machines that are slow and cumbersome. Printing is
expensive and often printers are out of ink or are not working. Software
is often a luxury that many departments cannot afford. On top of all of
this, computers regularly break down and are sometimes hard to fix. It
is no surprise then that ICT in Art is not always as well employed as
it might be.
However, the most crucial factor in the application of ICT in the classroom is that teachers do not get the level of training and support that they need to constantly keep up with, and explore new innovations in computing that are constantly evolving. The staff that are keeping up are usually doing so in their own time, because of their own personal interest.
At the other end of the scale, where a school has excellent resources for ICT in Art it is usually the norm for Digital Art/Photography to be taught extensively and some lucky schools have site licenses for expensive software packages such as Adobe Photoshop or Creative Media Suite. Many Schools hold animation/film making classes and some are latching on to ICT within Art as GCSE options in areas such as Graphic Design or Film Making. Students can become versatile in producing sophisticated computer generated images that will prepare them for a career in ICT or a Vocational Pathway.
The real pressure here is for Teachers to try to keep up with the students who are becoming ever more familiar with the software. Even at University level, students of animation and film making using software such as 3D Studio Max complain bitterly that they do not have the experts on hand to help them. The truth is that the experts are taken up by Industry who are prepared to pay them much more handsomely.
So the present situation in Schools is that there is not a base level or a Hymn Sheet from which we are all singing. Hardware and Software is patchy and uneven, expertise is hard to come by and students are becoming more and more demanding.
