Media in the Classroom

In today's world, the term media covers a lot of ground.  In the art classroom, the term can be narrowed down to several different forms of art making.  I have seen schools where there is only one art teacher, and this teacher has to include some types of media art into their curriculum.  I have also seen schools where there are several art teachers, each focusing on one or two types of art making.  Typically, when there are multiple teachers, one teacher is set aside solely for the media arts.  He or she will teach digital photography, animation, video/movie making, etc., and the students at the school will rotate between teachers throughout the school year.

I am ready to be a part of a school where I am part of a group of art teachers.  However, I wouldn't consider myself prepared just yet to be a single art teacher who teaches everything that the standards require.  In this blog, I will be discussing several projects that I have seen, or designed myself, that can be used as media arts lessons.

When it comes to media arts, there are several computer programs that are necessary to have; the first being Adobe Photoshop.  I can imagine that most of my students will have experience using this program at some point in their lives, and they will likely feel comfortable using it in the classroom.  Another program that I am familiar with is Adobe iMovie, this is a great and easy to use program that just about anybody can use to create a movie or short film.

Some Project Ideas

Using a digital camera, or cell phone (not preferred), and a tripod, the student will place the camera in a single point and will not move it at all.  The student will take several photos of themselves posing in front of the camera in several positions.  In Adobe Photoshop, the images can be layered so that the student will appear in all of these positions in one picture.

This is a great way to get the students to learn the basics of using Photoshop, or any kind of photo editing software.  It can be more about the different poses as well, compositional strategies can be used here, and the students can even try to tell a narrative with their images.

Online Example

Online Example

Another project that I have seen before is for the students to make a stop animation film using various techniques.  They can use modeling clay, wire sculpture, cartoon/photograph cutouts, etc.  Anything that can be easily and efficiently manipulated between frames.  This project works very well with iMovie.  They can include music, sound effects, and learn the basics of cutting and transitioning.

Online example:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByGq-EdQ2L0

Online example:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSzCLf8tjP4

My Class

Depending upon the situation of the school, whether there are several specialized art teachers or one, these projects and many others can be included into the curriculum.  If I were to be the only art teacher, I would most certainly include these projects, or ones similar.  My media arts background isn't as in depth as some other's, but I am always willing to learn about different technology so that my students will learn as much as possible.

Even if I was a part of a team of teachers, I would still include media art lessons in my curriculum.  These lessons would likely include different mediums and would be combined with media arts to create a sort of hybrid lesson.