Digital Learning Spaces

Week Eight

After a recent lecture and researching resources on digital learning spaces, I can't help thinking to myself what the art classroom may look like in the next decade. Most K-12 art rooms are becoming increasingly modernized with smart-boards, projectors, and some may even have computers. The art classroom has been using David Thornburg's model of Primordial Metaphors in the 21st Century since the beginning of their existence. Here the campfire has been a demonstration table where students crowded around, but now may be converted to an Elmo or projector. The watering hole is the small group tables where students work and peer critique or sinks where they may congregate to clean out their brushes. In a digital design class this might be an online discussion board. Caves may be their sketchbook or reflective journal, which could now become their online blog or growth portfolio. Computer technology should be used to enhance learning outcomes and can connect students to the world to solve real world problems. By using the internet, one is immediately connected to the world and has access to all the real world problems to solve at one's finger tips.

So what should the digital learning spaces for an art classroom look like?

Many art classrooms have always been flexible, interconnected and adaptive. Whether they are technological depends on the school funding and resources. Many schools now have a 1:1 computer to student ratio. Most have media centers with computers or even makerspaces with 3D printers. These resources can aid instruction delivery and provide more direct instruction time for the teachers. I really never thought about it until I visited a local city school for my classroom observation. The teacher had student class sizes of up to 30 primary school students. Observing one class, I really felt there was a need for a room monitor or instructional aide. During her largest class, she used a video tutorial of someone drawing for the students to follow. This improved her instruction because she could make her way around the classroom to make sure the students were staying on task while supporting their learning with direct instruction with instant feedback.

Upon reviewing Oblinger's 446 page Learning Spaces, my key takeaway is that technology should be used to enhance and individualize a student's experience by improving instruction, allowing students to progress at their own pace, while getting the personalized attention they need. Technology can also facilitate students in gaining other valuable real-world skills beyond the standard course content. When students are provided instant feedback with one-on-one direct instruction, they have improved performance. This improved performance helps them stay engaged as active and responsible participants in their own learning.