Art is always evolving. From red clay on cave walls to oil paints to high resolution digital photography, artists since the beginning of time have been drawn to new mediums that will allow them to express their vision in an impactful way.
Joe Batt, an accomplished artist and professor at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC), is bringing this evolution into his classroom by incorporating iPad technology into his curriculum.
This option may be confusing for some traditionalists, especially when considering the fundamentally classical nature of art instruction. For Batt, however, this was a unique opportunity to experiment along with his summer Art Appreciation students.
“As an artist myself and someone who has taught for 12 years, how can I resist a great new tool? Naturally, there are amazing opportunities for creativity,” summarizes Batt.
During the ten-week summer course, Batt’s students transformed and catalogued their art creations using iPads. Projects could be completed using handy apps downloaded to the iPad or using traditional materials, snapping photographs and uploading the finished project to an online notebook.
“Students are mixing media – uploading a photograph and adding drawing and text, essentially creating a collage,” explains Batt when describing some of the instruction that would have otherwise been unavailable.
“The possibility of an amateur art student to create stunning art is becoming a reality with technology,” states SPSCC student Leah Carlson.
“I view the iPads in my art classroom as an additional tool – not a way to replace the use of brushes, charcoal, pencils and other traditional medium. My students really helped me understand that they want to learn both the classic method as well as how to incorporate technology into their work,” adds Batt.
Rick McKinnon, eLearning Support Manager at SPSCC, was responsible for initiating the project to buy 30 iPads. He notes that Batt’s art class was specifically selected to be the first course dedicated to using the new tool because of the visual nature of the class.
Beyond art classes, McKinnon adds that other faculty members have been experimenting and researching Apple applications. “Geology faculty use the atlases and some amazing solar system apps for planetary geology,” explains McKinnon.
“The trajectory in education is to include more technology,” adds McKinnon. “iPads are a particularly good platform. Students can have free access to open source textbooks.”
McKinnon projects a cost shift away from buying books to using low-cost applications or free downloads on the Apple platform. “I foresee that there will be a real economic benefit to students. Providing devices, such as iPads, could significantly reduce school costs to students, financial aid expenses and ultimately taxpayers,” comments McKinnon.
Beyond iPads, SPSCC classrooms have now also been equipped with Apple TV. “Anyone can walk into a classroom and use an iPad as a display device. Not only does it give the classroom essentially an endless white board, but the content can be recorded and distributed right from the iPad,” notes McKinnon.
For Batt’s students, integrating iPad technology was very seamless. Students checked out an iPad for the course’s full ten weeks and, in lieu of sketchbooks, all assignments were completed or uploaded to the iPad’s digital notebook. Batt reviewed the digital notebooks and graded work electronically. Since the notebook served as a digital journal, students could continue sketching and documenting art projects—not missing days waiting for assignments to be graded and notebooks returned.
“When we finished a project, say a clay vessel, we could take a picture of it and post it in our notebook on the iPad,” explains Carlson. “Then, we could type up a couple pages of reflection on the project on the same program and add anything we wanted to the pages, kind of like scrapbooking.”
“The iPads allow everyone to express themselves through art, regardless of experience. When we open the doors to everyone and allow them to make their vision come true through technology, we offer an incredible process for anyone to create,” reflects Carlson.
The digital notebook also reduced paper from unclaimed notebooks at the end of the term.
Beyond art projects, students used the iPads to take notes during classes, work on presentations, conduct research, record speakers, review course materials and communicate with the instructor.
Funding to purchase new technology is supported, in part, by Harvest Moon donors. To learn more about the Harvest Moon Celebration, click here.