One question I get asked quite often is: What is the ideal technology setup for the art room?
Of course, this is an individual preference type of thing. From my own experiences, and from talking to art teachers from around the country, I can say there are definitely many mix-and-match options to optimize technology in the art room. That is, if you’re lucky enough to have a budget to gradually build up your collection.
In my classroom, I did fairly well with the following setup:
- Laptop
- Projector
- Elmo (Document Camera)
- Digital Camera
If I could add something to this setup to make it perfectly ideal, I would add:
- iPad
- VGA Adaptor (to hook your iPad up to the projector)
- Apple TV (for wireless connection from your device to the screen)
You may be wondering why I didn’t include a SMART Board on my wish list. My reason is that an iPad can perform many of the same capabilities at a fraction of the cost, plus is more versatile. For example, there are Apps that allow you to draw over an image just like a SMART Board. This would be especially easy if you also purchased an inexpensive stylus to use with your iPad.
I personally feel that individual teachers are doing great things with their SMART Boards, but I often look to the future and ask myself, “In 5 years will this technology will be obsolete? Will iPads will replace the need for SMART Boards?”
What do you think? Are SMART Boards and similar devices going to become a thing of the past? Are there better alternatives?
What items would make up your ideal tech set up for the art room?
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.
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