Photo Credit: Wayan Vota via Compfight cc
As mobile technology becomes an important platform for education, many educators are now maximizing devices for learning processes inside the classroom. Based on a 2014 research by Ofcom, one in three children owns a tablet device and that figure is expected to double in the coming years. A good tool for subject discussion, mobile devices, particularly tablets, appear to be reliable gadgets in enhancing a student’s creativity at present.
Here are three effective ways on how you can maximize the device and enhance the creativity of children.
Watch videos of professionals online
The initial step is to get the students’ interest in art and creating art. How? With the help of tablets, you can start by allowing them to watch a documentary or an interview of some of the popular artists they know. There are an abundance of videos you can choose from on YouTube and Vimeo.
Here are a couple that you might want to present in your class:
David Hockney and his iPad Art and Victoria Ying and Mike Yamada
If you are unfamiliar with any famous local or international artists in your area, inviting them for a Skype or a Google Hangout video conversation with your class could be an interesting activity for your students. Encourage them to ask the artist questions after they have presented their work to your class.
It will also be helpful if you introduce your students to other kinds of art forms that they can focus on. Apart from painting and drawing, they might discover their passion is music, acting or theater, or even visual arts.
Maximize mobile features like a pro
With the help of mobile applications, it becomes easier for students to enjoy and enhance their passion for the arts by installing apps where they can draw and paint, edit photographs, color images, create videos and much more. For sketching and painting, there are apps such as Tayasui Sketches, SketchBook Pro, and Paper by Fiftythree. Music applications are also rife online, with popular apps such as Juno’s Piano, My First Classical Music App HD, and JoyTunes Recorder Master.
Art with children commonly involves painting, usually with the use of their hands. Although finger painting can be very therapeutic, as per various psychological studies, drawing with the use of a pen also has its own share of benefits such as relaxation of the mind. Even in the mobile age, you can still apply drawing via tablets with stylus pens. It can help create detailed drawings for those who love to doodle and sketch their artwork. However, not all tablets on the market come with a stylus. In the list presented by O2 of the top tabs on the market, only the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 comes with a pen. But, a stylus can now be bought separately online, too by consumers.
Art through lenses
Another form of art that you can introduce to your students is photography. With the help of their device’s cameras, you will be able to perform this activity a lot easier. It will be best to have a day out of the classroom, so that your students will be able to take pictures of a rural environment preferably with surrounding wildlife present. They can also take videos, if they prefer to, via their tablets or cameras.
After taking several photos outside, take your class inside and introduce them to various photo editing applications, such as VSCO Cam, Aviary, and Adobe Photoshop Touch/ Express. There is also an option to introduce them to image enhancing software such as Adobe by transferring their photos via their devices to a laptop or PC.
Although mobile devices have their benefits, it’s advisable to guarantee the safety of students when maximizing these gadgets. Since they will be installing applications, it’s best to introduce them to the various ways to keep themselves and their applications safe. And lastly, remember that mobile devices are only tools in harnessing the skills and knowledge of students. It’s best to spend time closely with students during this developmental phase of their lives.
Exclusively written for The Inspired Classroom
By Jen Birch
