Original Linkhttp://mwestplace.blogspot.com/2009/12/3-new-tools.html
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2009
BP12_2009123_Tool#4_VoiceThread_Gimp
http://artjunction.org/blog/?page_id=1024
This site gives me hope for the arts on the web. Altho
ugh it still contains
a lot of what the rest have as far as text-based apps. It also gives direction for the web in the classroom.
Voicethreads
How can a person use this tool in the art classroom? First an understanding of a VoiceThread is. It is an online media album. So how does that apply to an art classroom? First, the art student is creating a portfolio all year long. Each created piece of work must be saved and will to be graded as a complete body of work. The works therefore must stored some where. So this means that an art teacher will have at least one hundred fifty in that year with eight major projects, which equals at least twelve hundred projects to be stored. Wow that’s a lot to be placed some where in a thirty by thirty room where the students work. It can be a real problem because it is not only the space needed but it is the lack of respect an adolescent has toward other peoples work also. With VoiceThread the students can create an album that can be evaluated at the end of the year. Students can finis
h their work and take it home. Major storage problem taken care of.
Second is that the student must critique each of these projects. This is where they will explain how and why they did what they did. VoiceThread has 5 different ways for the student the student can comment on their art work. By using voice (with a microphone or telephone), text, audio file, or video the y can describe, analyze, interpret, and judge their work inside the program. This program also allows classmates to also give feedback on the artwork and the comments.
The third thing that I like about it is that the teacher can place historical works of art for the students to go in and share their critiques of the masters to then be graded. All in all some great applications.
GIMP
The first art web site that I would like to share with you is a site called GIMP. One of the problems in education is having the budget to provide e-tools for the classroom. Licensure for products can run into the thousands and thousands of dollars. Adobe Photoshop costs approximately $700.00 per copy. When you multiply that by 35 copies, the number of student quite often in an art classroom, you have an expenditure of over $24,000.00. In a typical school budget the administration would laugh and tell you to find a grant. Well hope is on the web! This program, although not as powerful or sophisticated as Adobe, has the ability for the classroom teacher to teach a very strong web based tool. It in many ways mimics Adobe Photoshop. The tools are very similar and even have some useful tools that PS does not have. This would be good for private schools considering their budgets are even smaller than public schools.
The Art teacher can use this tool for any computer generated drawing project. The additional tool that I find exciting is the perspective tool. This tool allows you to manipulate the image plane into plane that fit the desired lines of angle. What else is nice is that any image that is on that plain also changes with that plane. This will be a great asset in perspective units.
2 COMMENTS:
Mark,
Voicethread is an awesome resource. Your explanation on how storage problems can be relieved puts images of thousands of art teachers standing next to empty racks and smiling (because of those empty racks). I really enjoy reading that Voicethread allows students to critique each others artwork. Having students begin constructive critiques at a young age allows them to develop interpersonal skills that will benefit them throughout life. Thank you again, Sir!