ERIC Number: ED402243
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1991
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Imagination Machines. An Explanation of the Role of Computer Technology in Arts Education and the Impact of the Arts on New Electronic Learning Tools. [Videotape.]
Narrated by actor Kadeem Hardison, this documentary videotape presents arguments and examples for using Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) in today's classroom. Experts in education examine how individuals currently use technology and suggest how people can use technology better in the future to augment and improve education. Many programs are reviewed, with an emphasis on two multimedia programs designed by Kathleen Wilson of the Bank Street College of Education in New York. The programs rely upon the innate curiosity and self-motivation of students to teach history, art history, archaeology, geology, ecology, art techniques and principles, and cultural history as it allows them to explore digitally an ancient Mayan temple and the studio and grounds of French Impressionist painter Claude Monet. Several programs written by students also are shown, demonstrating simple to very sophisticated techniques. The experts interviewed suggest people should use technology and exploit the following four inherent teaching advantages: (1) today's children are immersed in technology from earliest ages and do not have to be taught, per se, how to use those tools; (2) information can be broken into MTV-short-attention-span chunks for children; (3) multimedia exploration is a natural way to learn because it correlates to the way humans learn from life--through emotional response to new information and stimuli; and (4) computers are extensions of the human mind and, therefore, more easily help students visualize solutions to problems in any content area. Those interviewed also spoke about some of the problems that educators have to overcome in order to successfully implement CAI: (1) slow acceptance of technology by the community; (2) high dollar price of technology; (3) there are currently not enough talented teachers to teach with computers; and (4) teaching programs need a spine, or linear structure, rather like a story, in order to work well. In sum, it is the overall opinion of those interviewed that technology in art education allows individuals most easily to go beyond today's knowledge, create new visions, and incorporate that new knowledge in daily life. (DQE)
Descriptors: Art Education, Computer Assisted Instruction, Computers, Dance Education, Elementary Secondary Education, Interdisciplinary Approach, Music Education, Technology, Theater Arts, Visual Arts
Getty Center for Education in the Arts, 401 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 950, Santa Monica, CA 90401-1455.
Publication Type: Guides - Non-Classroom; Reports - Descriptive; Non-Print Media
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Teachers; Practitioners
Language: English
Sponsor: Getty Center for Education in the Arts, Los Angeles, CA.
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Running Time: One Hour.