I blogged about my school’s BTG Conference this weekend here where Chris Toy and Kim Cofino are also presenting (I’ll hopefully post that soon). I myself presented on Essential 2.0 Tools for Teachers and Students. It was kind of tough to narrow the list down as everyone is coming from a different place and are at different IT stages. Most of the tools I suggest are not new and if you are a regular reader of this blog, you have probably encountered them already. I presented using this wiki which I encourage you to look at if interested. Embedded below is the document version provided as a faster reference (also included in the wiki). In my opinion, most of these tools should be standard in classrooms now.
It inspired me to give it a try as I can see this as something my grade 6 or 7 students would enjoy. At times I wish I was still an elementary classroom teacher as I would use this to inspire creative writing (do the art first and then look at it to see what story comes to them).
First create a line doodle and then start looking for images to fill in. My first photo is the original doodle and the second is the completed piece. Click it to take you to the larger Flickr image. I used B2 sized paper (500mm x 707mm) and marker. There’s also a simple video below showing the stages of development.
Livebrush is a free drawing application but a download and install is required. My abstract image above was created in about 3 minutes.
It employs an easy-to-use brush tool that reacts to your gesture. By combining simple motion controls with brush styles, Livebrush offers a fun and unique way to create graphics.
At times I felt like I wasn’t in control but I must admit it was pretty fun. Here’s an introductory video below.
(special thanks to this amazing guy for the find!)
My school hosts a yearly educational conference called “Bridging the Gap” (Nov. 19-21), which is open to all staff and parents. Several teachers from the local area will be presenting as well as Kim Cofino. Now in it’s 8th year, the school has also included unconferences and BarCamps. The theme this year is on education and technology with an emphasis on, What does 21st century education look like? I’m not sure if it looks like anything, but I do know that processes and ways to present sure have changed.
I’ll be presenting on essential 2.0 tools for teachers and students. I had a very long list and managed to narrow it down to about 15. I was speaking to some teachers though and was surprised to hear that some still do not know what RSS is, see the relevancy of blogs or even know they can create their own wiki. There still seems to be some divide. I may need to revisit this list so as not to info-whelm everyone and cater to some of those entry-level teachers. (Hey, at least they are showing up to learn. That’s the first step.) Once done, I’ll post all the resources here. If you feel you have a kicker of a resource/essential app tool, please do drop me a line to share.
UPDATE: My list now has 25 essential tools. I thought I should include some more basic stuff for the beginners.
This is not my personal art blog, not my personal art blog, not my personal art blog. There. Apologies to readers awaiting IT info. This is not my personal art blog. I think I mentioned that.
All this recent artwork posting is due to several of my units finishing simultaneously and me making the conscious decision to try and do more art. Next year I’ll start that personal art blog.
In the meantime, allow me to indulge in sharing this quick painting/ink sketch of my dad and I in a photo booth when I was approximately 5 or 6 years old. He regrettably passed away this year.
My grade 9 Art Foundation students recently finished their unit on observational drawing. It’s a ten week project where they receive instruction for one 80 minute lesson a week. You can view the unit breakdown week by week here on the wiki if you wish.
The application area for their assessment consists of measurements, proportions, value/tone gradation and composition. The class is varied by both gender and ability. Overall, the majority of students showed improvement both in accuracy and in speed. The slideshow below (or via Flickr here) includes both warm-up work as well as their final pieces. All work is either A4 or A3 in size. Feel free to leave them some comments.
I’ve been having a look at Scribblar. My verdict is still out on it. It is tagged as “simple, effective online collaboration.” Basically you create a room that has a real-time whiteboard that multi-viewers can participate in. Draw, edit, write and/or exchange ideas. The video below is a basic introduction to it.
Thoughts? It could be useful for my art classes but I am a big fan of VoiceThread already. The pro with Scribblar is that it is done in real time.
I loved the following 
My grade 9 Art Foundation students recently finished their unit on observational drawing. It’s a ten week project where they receive instruction for one 80 minute lesson a week. You can view the unit breakdown week by week 
