As an afterthought and as is part and parcel to the
implementation of technology in the classroom, this course has provided my with
an increased knowledge and appreciation of the ways in which we as educators
can bridge the digital divide and reach out to our students with a more effective nuanced approach. Provided the essential hurdles to my own
comfort level with technology ( although I am getting better at it), I believe this to be essential to connecting
with the modern student and providing some instant schema vies a vie technology. I have tried to assimilate myself to this
process of scaffolding with full faith that these new modes of education are in
fact necessary and valid.
I was raised in the generation of in-betweens, that is to
say we had computers but the impact of technology was yet to be harnessed and
the scope of its productivity at my high school was little more than typing
class and some odd word processing programs.
This was pre-internet stuff, mostly Iron Age technology at best. I didn’t even know email existed until late
2001. And I bought my first cell phone
in 2007. I had a set of Encyclopedia Britannica’s
in my basement and a Library card. I had
a C.D. collection and made mix tapes. I
played an 8 bit Nintendo. When I was
talking about a scene from a movie or a painting or something someone said, I
had to tell an actual story describe an actual painting or remember the actual
quote. So you can imagine I’ve had some catching up
to do.
As an art educator sites like The Google art project, Wikipedia, Art Blogs
and even You Tube can be used to supplement my lesson plans and help me deliver
content that develops a student’s overall appreciation and immersion in
the art’s while aiding in the creation of their own work. During my Undergrad I took a course in art
tech and my professor Naomi Brown told me something that stay’s with me as I
work towards educating myself with these new technological tools. As point of fact, he said “Computers are just
fancy pencils.” Now I know he said it to
alleviate the obvious anxiety many of us formally trained artists had about
using computers to help generate new work.
However, I also believe that he meant it. And as I grow older I see that to the newer
generations, a computer is their pencil and their portal to self-
discovery. My Job as an educator will
hopefully forever be about the process of helping to encourage my students
learning, giving them the skills they need to be successful and using every
means at my disposal to reach their individual goals.
