At one time, the notion of art school was an education afforded only to the wealthy. After all, art supplies were expensive and out of reach for most. Technology in arts education environments has changed that.
These days, attending an arts-integrated middle school and high school is completely within reach for an expansive array of students. Such schools can now offer traditional art materials and methods in tandem with tech integration to provide the full arts education experience.
And there are more than a few ways that technology is changing how art is taught and learned.
Transforming Art Through Apps Smashing
A variety of art apps have allowed students to transform the face of traditional art into something new.
Through what’s known as apps smashing, students can utilize multiple apps to play with their creations. For example, they could take a picture of a drawing and edit it with one app, then add other interesting elements through another app. These are equally effective with photography projects.
While students can also create art on apps, these same apps can help to teach art fundaments including depth and space, color value, three-dimensionality, and perspective.
At a more advanced level, VR (virtual reality) programs utilize headsets and motion-control hand sensors that enable students to create a 360-degree universe all around them – and in real-time.
Encouraging Research
Once upon a time, researching art and artists required a trip to the library or the microfiche. Okay, that was quite some time ago. Even so, the extra time and effort involved didn’t always compel scholars to do research.
Today, everything is available at the touch of a screen on a smartphone, tablet, and/or laptop. For the current crop of digital natives (kids who grew up with this sort of technology), researching in this way feels 100% natural.
Another huge benefit of technology is that it allows students to take virtual tours of many different art museums around the world, or experience music and dance performances around the globe.
Producing Digital Portfolios
The image of the haggard artist carrying around his or her heavy black portfolio is no longer relevant.
Digital portfolios are now the norm. They allow for students and teachers alike to witness progress while organizing all of their work. And since a digital portfolio takes up no space, it’s easy to transport and absolutely essential for those pursuing art careers.
Advances in Filmmaking and Animation
If you watch a movie made even just ten years ago, you’ll see how much technology has advanced in that short time. And it continues to rapidly evolve in terms of filmmaking and animation.
Creating a short film in an arts academy high school is one of the quintessential projects in that it involves actors, writers, visual artists, musicians, and possibly even dancers.
It’s an equal opportunity for every sort of creative person to experience the latest in technology.
What Are Some Benefits of Technology in Arts Education?
At the end of the day, schools that integrate technology into their arts curriculum have discovered that the arts continually engage students who might otherwise find conventional learning challenging.
Incorporating technology into the arts results in the following:
1. Increased Confidence
For students who are easily bored or frustrated with the old-school art methods, art-tech tools can help them make art more quickly and easily. This allows them a creative outlet that they formerly couldn’t access and success in making art.
Such success, in turn, builds confidence.
2. More Collaboration and Engagement
Creating art can be a lonely business. But there are also plenty of occasions where it requires collaboration. Through tech, students are more easily able to show their projects, share their ideas, and collaborate on their work. Especially as they share it out of the classroom and across platforms.
3. Creates New Art Forms
Over the years, technology has created new art forms. Consider 3D printing, for instance. It once seemed the stuff of science fiction.
Plus, a smartphone with a good camera has made everyone a potential photographer or filmmaker.
4. Makes Art Far More Accessible
As we talked about at the very beginning of this post, the arts were once considered something in which only the wealthy could partake.
Technology has effectively leveled the playing field. It allows students to view and create art at a much lower cost. And it also gives students with disabilities the opportunity to explore creative work in a way that wasn’t available to them before.
What it all breaks down to is this – combining tech with the arts allows for exciting and new ways to keep ALL students motivated and engaged in the learning process and the world around them.
It’s impossible to put a price on that.
Could an Arts-Integrated Education Benefit Your Child?
If you’re interested in seeing the benefits of technology in arts education firsthand, contact us to take a tour of our school.
We work to engage students through the analytical and constructive processes of art and art history while offering hands-on interactivity with modern tools.
This is all in an effort to give students the technological skills which will contribute to their success as an artist in the modern age.