Episode 2 Kaylee Ashlyn

In this episode, Ashley and Kaylee discuss the difference between creative content and standards in art education. They talk about using creative thinking skills and personal experiences to create art. They also discuss the integration of technology in the classroom, highlighting the benefits and challenges it brings. They mention how technology can sometimes fail, but also how it can enhance learning experiences. They both agree that technology is important in today's world but acknowledge the need for hands-on learning as well. They invite listeners to tune in to Episode 3 for more discussion. So today, I am Ashley, I'm Kaylee, and welcome back to Episode 2. I want to continue with the Creative Content and Standards. Although they kind of seem the same, they are different, just a tad bit. We did the official standard of applying creative skill and thinking skills to that artistic expression. We gave that creative art through a process that includes generating ideas, finding those solutions, and producing arts, as we talked about in the first episode. We also chose another North Carolina essential standard that was apply creative thinking skills and artistic skills as an expression. So it's the same essential standards, but the clarifying objective is different. So we use that personal point of view and experiences as sources for creating art, which me and Kaylee have experienced. We also wanted to clarify this last North Carolina essential standard with the use of technology and skills to reinforce classroom concept and activities, but we changed it up with that objective to use a variety of technology tools, like we talked about in the previous episode of me using Google Slides. OK, for our theory and practice part of this podcast, we are going to start by sharing our thoughts as we go through art and technology integration. So what are your thoughts on art integration? So my thoughts, Kaylee, on art integration is it's a way for a child to be creative, a way for them to express maybe your personality or your characteristics skills, a way that I have seen during my observation time, a child is very happy-go-lucky when they're in art. You have all these different kinds of colors, all different kinds of tools or different ideas you can generate. It's not a right or wrong answer when it comes to art, like it could be in technology. But Kaylee, how could it be a right or wrong answer when you get into technology? There is the aspects of the technology not working, and that comes from, say, you have a whole lesson planned around technology, and then you get there that day to do that, and it is not working. There is a way of getting around the technology not working, but also it can be good and bad for that part. So one thing, Kaylee, that I want to illustrate, and I don't know if you've seen this in your observation, is but due to technology sometimes not always working as it should, as we have seen in making this podcast, I have seen my teacher that was instructing and pulling, you know, real-life pictures from Google, that doesn't only incorporate art, but it's well-incorporated technology due to her smart board access that she had. She was able to also pull up videos and let the children draw, but there was this one day in my art class where her smart board wasn't accessible. So she wasn't able to use it, and I kind of, in my mind, I don't know how you would process that, but I was kind of like, what are you going to do next? So, I mean, what do you think she did? Because she allowed the students to draw by hand, but if you were in that situation and you were the teacher and your board or your access wasn't available, what would you do? I would make the kids do more hands-on stuff. It would be more beneficial for them because I would be able to illustrate it and show them right then and there, like, firsthand and not from the technology. Right. And to me, hands-on is very wonderful. I am a visual hands-on learner, so in that aspect, I 100% support that, and I would do that in my classroom. But there is challenges and benefits to whether you're hands-on or whether you're using technology in the classroom, such as the children in the classroom can get that visual idea due to the technology that has been provided. Such as that lady or that art teacher specifically pulling out that video and the children was able to draw following along the man in the video. This can also be a challenge due to, you know, what if it doesn't work, which we've already clarified and asked, you know, what would I do? What would you do? But the benefit that would help the children not only be visual by the instructor's example, but like we just illustrated, they would be hands-on, which to me is a bigger technique. How do you feel about being hands-on? Are you that visual type learner or what? Personally, I am a visual learner. It is hard to kind of figure out like, hey, like, is the technology going to work today? Should I do my lesson plan around this technology? Because you never know with technology. But I think it is very beneficial for the kids to learn through technology as it is starting to become. Nowadays, technology is everywhere and everyone uses it for everything. Right. And I have to wholeheartedly agree with you, Kelly, technology is our world today and it's only going to progress to get bigger and better at times even that can be a struggle to deal with. But you have to come back to Episode 3 and see what else we're going to talk about.