Implementation of Project

In general, this project cannot happen without a classroom set of iPads which my school does not currently have. Grants would need to be written to receive enough money to purchase the iPads and then all of the applications would need to be loaded as well. Some of these applications cost money so there would be more funding necessary there. After receiving the appropriate amount of funds, purchasing and loading iPads and setting students up with individual ways to logon to the iPads, students would be able to begin work on them.

The second step of the project would be surveying all students to find out will find out who is already familiar with using iPads, their level of interest in the subject of art, whether or not they feel art can be done successfully as well as their level of interest in completing art on iPads and finally whether or not having the iPad to complete art would increase their interest.

After the survey, students would begin working through tutorials of the various applications both as a class using the application NearPod which would allow students to see what I am doing on my iPad directly on theirs, as well as using QR codes to look up specific tutorials students would be able to work on individually. Through these tutorials, students would complete small mini projects, which could be shared directly through the apps to my email for grading. These mini projects would be less about completing long projects and more about assessing the student’s level of understanding of the apps. Some apps that would be used would be Brushes, Auryn Ink, Sketchbook Pro, and Art Studio to name a few. Upon successful completion of the tutorials – success will be based upon a rubric – students will be presented with their first completely digital iPad portrait painting. Prior to beginning the iPads, students will have completed a traditional portrait painting that they will end up comparing to their iPad painting after completion. This will be the biggest assessment as to whether or not they will be able to complete quality artwork with the iPads.

In addition to the painting, students will complete projects related to Graphic Design and Photography using their iPads. These works of art will be graded on the typical grading rubric and assessed with the same degree of difficulty as traditional projects. Some students will perform differently – better or worse – than they would with traditional projects while some will perform as well as they normally would.

At the end of the semester, student’s grades will be compared with that of students grades in semesters previous. All projects will be graded with the same rubric to ensure they are being graded in the same manner and all projects will be developmentally appropriate to the grade level, and based upon state of Ohio Visual Art Content Standards (Ohio Department of Education, 2012) which will keep projects at the same degree of difficulty. As well, students will be resurveyed regarding their experience in a mixed digital/traditional art class. Students will be asked about their interest levels of each of the projects, interest levels of projects traditional verse iPad, difficulty of projects (individual and digital verse traditional) and whether or not they felt the iPad made any part of the art curriculum better for them or stayed the same.