1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

ISTE NETS-T #1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and CreativityTeachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.

Technology: There is a great iPad app called AudioBoo which allows for easy recording of voice and then easy sharing of that recording to blogs, social media, your own computer...etc. I would love to integrate AudioBoo with a blog I create about what is going on in the art room. 

Lesson/Activity: In regards to this standard, AudioBoo would be utilized to advance student learning, creativity and innovation through the use of Art Critique and Artist Statements. Typically, artist statements are written by the artist in regards to their work and often explain the types of materials and process used to create the work of art, explanation of the title, and reasoning behind the subject of the work. With younger students, writing a couple sentences about their work can prove to be very hard for a variety of reasons; elementary students do not have enough written language to create a cohesive paragraph, middle school and high school students are move concerned about grammar than content, or in general, it can be scary to write about art. Thus, AudioBoo allows students to speak about their work which is often much more free and easy to do as they do not have to think about how to transfer their thoughts onto paper. AudioBoo would be used by each individual student to spend 30 seconds to one minute talking about their work, or it could be used as an interview style where the teacher or another student asks the student artist a series of questions to help them talk about their work. Upon completing the recordings, I could listen to each recording as I grade student artwork and post the Boo's of select students alongside a picture of their work on the class blog so that anyone viewing the blog (parents, other teachers, district administrators...etc) would be able to hear what that student said about their work. This provides a more direct voice between the student and the viewer of the blog about their artwork and gives them a greater sense of ownership over their work.

As well, I can use AudioBoo in the classroom as a way to check understanding in doing assessments for Student Learning Objectives (SLO's). Students can be presented with an artwork along with a series of questions they have to answer about the artwork to demonstrate their understanding of topics covered in class such as color theory, and the elements and principles of art. These responses could be recorded on AudioBoo for me to play back when grading.

Reflection: 

In general, I believe AudioBoo can be a very useful tool in the classroom. Students in younger grades especially will enjoy recording themselves and hearing it back, while students in older grades will enjoy being able to talk about work rather than having to write as it is getting harder and harder to get school age children excited about writing. 

Example of AudioBoo Assessment Question Recording:

Piet Mondrian Painting

listen to ‘Piet Mondrian Critique ’ on Audioboo