Read & React

Manning & Johnson’s chapter on Voice Over Internet Protocol was interesting to me because it sparked ideas for a lot of applications for the art classroom. One way that I could use this resource involves interviewing people who work in creative industries to show my students the many number of professions there are in creative fields. Another application could be interviewing artists around the world, a tactic we were planning to use just last semester in my studio thinking course. While I was teaching this summer in South Korea, I learned that the Korean government has begun hiring individuals around the world to teach English, via the Internet, students who go to school on remote islands. Clearly, this tool is very important for a variety of education purposes around the world.

I must admit that prior to reading this chapter I did not see much benefit to making yourself available to chat with your students. However, I began thinking about the many times I have used a form of chatting when involved in group projects, and in that case I have found the tool to be very useful. I am not sure that I would want to be “on chat” at all times of the day as I believe it is important to create some boundaries between work and the rest of your life.

When it comes to social networking and the classroom, I am hesitant to intertwine the two, at least from a personal perspective. I have known teachers who have created public teacher pages or classroom pages, and I think this is a much better strategy. As an art teacher, you could create a classroom page showing images of students’ work, project ideas, information about the curriculum and more. The concept of the page would be similar to the format of a blog, but could appear directly on the newsfeed of students and parents. I think the social networking component would work best if it were used to highlight the importance of a strong art program and how it relates to the community.

The Brooks-Young article made me again arrive at the same conclusion regarding social networking in the classroom. Social media and technology in the classroom does not typically work successfully when it is a free for all. I believe that technology should be a structured tool to use in education. Too many times I have seen students using ipads randomly throughout class, often watching music videos and checking Twitter. I think it is the teacher’s responsibility to create a measurable objective when using technology and monitor, to her best possible ability, the way the technology is being used. Perhaps, if the students had to show some type of product after using technology, would be one way to provide evidence. A screen shot or link could be enough to ensure students are using technology appropriately.