TPACK Lesson

Art Elements: Line

Grade Level: 3^rd Grade

      Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this lesson, the students will be able to identify and name the different types of lines. They will also be able to use this knowledge of the different types of lines in future artworks.

Procedures:

1.    Introduction -

      Remind the students that they’ve been learning the elements of art for the last two weeks and that they learned about the element line the day before. Explain to them that today’s lesson will be a review of the element line and that they will be able to create an artwork using the element line at the end of class.

2.    Instructional Process –
1. Ask the students to give the definition of a line. If they’re struggling, call on a few students before revealing the definition on the smart board. 
2. Go to the next two slides contains the examples of the different types of lines and read the definitions to them.
3. On the next slide call one student at a time to come and draw the type of line under the correct line name.
4. Go to the next slide which contains a drawing of a house and two different paintings. On the drawing of the house model to them how to find and indicate the different types of lines in drawings.
5. Call one student to the front at a time to indicate which line they noticed on the painting and ask them to tell you the type of line they indicated. Continue until all the students have had a chance to indicate a line.
6. Tell the students that they will now get to demonstrate how they use lines in art by each drawing a picture. Instruct the students to go get their tablets, go sit at their tables and to go into their Class Dojo apps. (In the micro teaching lesson they won’t be using tablets since we don’t have enough in class for the students.)

Assessment:
1.    Explain to the students that they will each use their tablets to draw a picture of their choice on the Class Dojo app.
2.    Demonstrate to them where to go on Class Dojo to draw.
3.    Explain to them that these drawings each need to contain at least four different types of lines.
4.    Advise them to look at the picture on the Smartboard if they need inspiration.
5.    Instruct them to write the names of the lines they used next to the picture and draw arrows to the corresponding lines after they’re finished drawing.

Reflection:

1. Using technology, specifically the smart board and tablets, greatly increased the efficiency of my teaching. By using the smart board I was able to give them more of a visual learning experience and demonstrate perfectly what I want the students to do.  I could draw on the board for all of the students to see. I was also able to look up examples of the lines and artworks online. Technology allowed me to quickly and easily give students more real life examples of what I was teaching about by finding examples to show them online. The smart board also enabled me to call students to the front of the classroom so that they can demonstrate their understanding of what I was teaching them. This way they can have fun by drawing on the board and I can quickly assess whether they understand what I'm teaching them or not.

Through the use of technology I am also able to stay in contact with the students, and their parents, and they are able to upload their work online so I can easily assess and evaluate their work. By them doing the drawings online and then just saving them on Class Dojo makes the drawings easier for me to grade. There is a much smaller risk of the pictures getting lost or messed up. It also allows me to share those drawings with the rest of the class or with the parents of the students so that they are more aware of what their children are doing in my class.

2. Using technology effectively can greatly enhance students’ understanding in all classes. For one thing, it makes the teaching methods more visual, as well as kinesthetic, which really helps visual or kinesthetic learners. Technology can also make the work seem more important by linking the work to real life experiences through the use of the internet.  By having the students evaluate the lines in famous paintings they were able to better understand how artists use lines for various effects in their artworks. 

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3D printing in the classroom

3D printing will be an incredibly helpful tool to have in my classroom. The uses of a 3D printer in a classroom is practically endless. Not only does it help the teacher by being able to create and use more precise and helpful tools, it’ll help students learn certain things more easily by having the object of discussion at hand. Two programs that are useful to have if there is a 3D printer in the classroom are Thingiverse and Tinkercad.

Thingiverse is a website with many great ideas and designs ready to be printer on a 3d printer. Students can use this website to print many great projects, especially if they are unable to come up with something they want to design. It might also give them some ideas on what they would like to design. I think this website might be more helpful for the teacher than for the students. There are many great ideas and projects that the teacher can print out to make teaching easier on them. The website even has some lesson plans for the teachers under the education tab. It’s also easy to find appropriate material for your class because you can search for projects by subject or age group.

On the other hand, Tinkercad is a great tool for the students, or teacher, to create and print out their own designs and projects. This site definitely sparks children’s creativity and opens a whole new world for the students. It is also a very helpful tool for the teacher. Teachers can create and print out exactly what they need to make a specific lesson more teachable.

3D printed objects makes learning a lot easier and definitely more fun for the students. It will reach more students since the lessons are more hands on. It’s certainly easier to learn by touching the objects than just looking at pictures of the objects online or on PowerPoints. Sometimes classes aren’t able to go on trips and see the actual objects, like in museums, so having a 3D printer can still make these experiences possible for the students. 

TPACK article reviews

For my article reviews I was assigned to read “Teaching and Technology: The Hidden Effects of Computers on Teachers and Students” and “Teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Learning Activity Types: Curriculum-based Technology Integration Reframed.” Both of these articles helped me to better understand TPACK and how to use it correctly in the classroom.

The article “Teaching and Technology: The Hidden Effects of Computers on Teachers and Students” begins by talking about how the western nations are struggling economically, with authority relations and in values. It then goes on to say how many people believe that the main problems causing these issues are in our education system. It states that the solution to these problems is by focusing more on the technology in the classroom and that computers should be introduced in all schools and emphasized greatly. After all, learning how to use technology is a skillset that all students will need when they eventually compete for jobs. Furthermore, the article explains how technology can make teaching easier for the teacher as well as more fun for the students.

However, this article also talks about the dangers of implementing computers into every content area. Although computers are a great aid for teachers to use, it should not be the main educator and should only be used as an aid when it will add to instruction instead of distracting from it. Finally, this article explains that merely placing computers in all of the schools will not solve our problems. Also, teachers will have to learn how to use technology. Even if they don’t like technology, students will need to know how to use technology efficiently in the future and it is our job as educators to help them learn.

The article “Teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Learning Activity Types: Curriculum-based Technology Integration Reframed” discusses the uses of TPACK in the classroom. It also gives teachers advice on how to use it and many examples or activities for the teachers to use to better integrate it into the classroom. TPACK is described as the combination of Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), Technological Knowledge (TK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPK), and Technological Content Knowledge (TCK). This article goes over each of these areas of TPACK in detail. The article also explains that at this moment teachers are not integrating technology into the classroom efficiently. It further explains that many teachers use "technocentric" methods when using technology in their classrooms which means the lessons are centered around the technology and no other factors. However, the advice and examples in this article aren’t technocentric strategies and they instead emphasize the importance of helping teachers develop and apply a true understanding of technology, pedagogy, content, and context in their lessons.

Unfortunately since technology and our understanding of technology are constantly changing, it is hard to come up with specific ways of integrating technology into the classroom. The constant evolution of technology warrants the constant grows in our use and understanding of technology in the classroom. Another reason why it is difficult to fully integrate technology into the classroom is because there isn’t just one right way to do it. The lesson; area of study; knowledge, attitude and beliefs of the teacher; as well as everything about the students will determine how to correctly integrate technology into that one lesson alone. 

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People often say that technology is advancing to fast for people to keep up. I think realizing this was the first step to being able to keep up with it. Not only has technology helped us share what we learn about and from technology, we have also learned that technology can do just as much harm as good. Although there are still people out there who are trying to do too much with technology, or going too far with it, many people have noticed the dangers and are using technology to try to better the world with each new discovery or invention.

In the two articles, The 25 best inventions of 2015 and 2016, there are many examples of how people are using technology to not only improve our lifestyles, or lives, but also the world. People are also trying to fix the damage that has been created through technology in the past. Only some examples of these are the solar panels that don't stick out, sweet potatoes that could save lives, the meanest greenest driving machine, and many more. 

However, even though technology have improved our lives dramatically and have helped us do things no one thought possible many years ago, it also seems to be making people have to do less and therefore become less productive. After reading the article "The home of the future Summon the comfy chairs," I'm worried about people becoming too lazy. We already have machines doing our chores for us, but now they're taking it even further. Even if we don't become more lazy from the machines doing our work, it will certainly cause major problems. We will either have to spend longer hours at work or we'll find other ways to stay very busy. For many people doing chores is a stress reliever so if this happens it will just cause more stress with less time to de-stress.

It also seems like technology is taking over the most important aspects of being human. In the article "teaching robots right from wrong," they even wish to go so far as to teach the robots some morals. The author mentions that some people encourage this, whereas others are weary of this new development. This can either add to the safety and security to human lives, or it could be going to far.

After all, since technology has so much to offer, but can also take away some of the treasures that life has to offer us, it is neither "bad" or "good." It all depends on what we do with it and how we chose to proceed with what we've learned with and from technology.