Two Takeaways from Readings #3

Chapter 4: New Media Artists, The Do-It-Yourself Movement, and the Importance of Making
In this reading, there were many examples of how people were learning outside of the classroom and teaching themselves because of the access they have to technology. According to the chapter, because of these advancements in technology, it provides the opportunity to learn on your own, work collaboratively, and learn from others. This idea changes the way that teachers should consider learning in their classroom.
Each section of the reading touches on a different aspect of technology, in different mediums and subject. They also mention the idea that technology presents the idea that all of these subjects have the potential for collaborative projects. This also presents more ideas of how teachers can collaborate with each other in learning. For example, I have done this in my own teaching experience while teaching studio art at Centenary University Summer Scholars Program. I collaborated with the creative writing teacher to teach composition, cinematography, mise-en-scene, sound, color, and character design, while the creative writing teacher would teach dialogue, screen writing, and plot. For class, we would go to a movie and then have a dialogue about what the students noticed in the film. It was entertaining for everyone, and I think that it made our students have a bigger appreciation for the film.
At the end of the reading, there are a list of resources that tell the reader collaborative communities that exist for certain mediums and subjects. These can be used in a classroom to share student work, experiences, and knowledge. In terms of teaching, these resources can present the opportunity for the students to take learning into their own hands. Because of the sharing and communicative aspect of the resources, a teacher can let students investigate something that they are interested in and then apply what they learn on their own with projects in class.

A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change; Chapter 1: Arc-Of-Life Learning
This chapter offered interesting points to consider when working with new media in an art classroom. In the beginning of the reading, it is explained how learning is changing because of advancements in technology. Because of the new things that technology can accomplish, people are able to use them in different contexts in life. This aspect of new technology also presents the opportunity for "playing" with technology, in other words, people are experimenting with what they can do. As I have learned in Judy Burton's artistic development class, people learn best when it is through their own interests and when playing with material. This chapter proves that notion.
Throughout the reading, there are stories about people who have learned in day-to-day situations by using different kinds of technology. The technologies that were featured were entertainment and communicative. Each of the stories presented an idea enforced the idea that learning takes place outside of the traditional classroom situation.
What stuck out to me most was the story about a teacher who was using game play in his lectures. He would have students read articles and content related to the academic concepts in class to prepare for a lecture. After the lecture, he would host a show and tell of what the students experienced during the game play and how that relates to the readings. Throughout the experimental project and lessons, he felt as if the learning was getting away from him because of the students enthusiasm with the game aspect. But, when reading the essays, he found that the students were providing rich examples from their own experience and relating it to the content and readings of the class. He also found that they were referencing each other's experiences, which showed him that they are open and were collaborating with each other's game play experience. What was most interesting for me was how he was able to get the students to stay relevant with the aims of the course. I wished that they had gone into more detail about how he actually conducted the class, taught the students for true understanding, and assessed their learning. It seems that the concept could work in theory, but could be harder in practice.
In my own teaching, I would try to use more communicative technologies, unless I was working with a character design/game design lesson where a game play focused lesson would work congruently with the aim of my class. I think that it is important to remember that technology is only useful when it is relevant to the content. Using technology for technology's sake is not going to beneficial for students, and could get them off topic.