As the host of a website whose roots are firmly planted in arts education and integration, one may find it odd to have focused a blog series on Technology in the Classroom.  BUT, the truth is that I love both tech and the arts, I embrace both and I strive to use both in my teaching in order to inspire my students to be creative, motivated learners.

On my journey as an educator of youth and adults, I have seen the power both the

arts and technology can have on one’s learning.  It is through the arts that one learns how to express himself, develop ideas, draw conclusions and exercise creativity and innovation.  Technology does the same – if you let it.  You can’t get stuck on Powerpoint and say you effectively integrate tech into your teaching.  Instead, using technology is as much of a process as that of using the arts.

In my journey thus far, I have used technology as a tool for reflection (blogging), learning (Twitter), connecting (Social Media), expression (Audacity, Animoto, Wordle, Prezi) and voice (blogging, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook).  The arts serve as a tool for all of these as well. Through the creative process in visual art and music creation, for example, you are constantly learning, reflecting and finding your own voice to express yourself to others.

Can tech be creative?  SURE!  From Doodling Apps such as Jackson Pollock or Bomomo to Presentation Apps such as Glogster, Vimeo and SlideRocket, and of course video editing apps such as Motionbox.  Let’s face it, one cannot take the place of the other, but they can live in harmony.  I am le

arning everyday the possibilities there are for tech in my classroom as a means to enrich my students’ learning and expand my own!   I am still an artist, (in my own amateur way), a poet, a storyteller, a musician, a dancer but now I am also equipped with the technology to take these arts to a new dimension.

In what ways do you integrate technology with the arts?

~EMP