Reflection 5: Didlr

Ahhh, as the final week of weekly blogging arrives I can’t be happier! At long last I can enjoy my weekend without the stress of thinking about what to write. Although, the relief cannot yet be enjoyed as I still have this last hurdle to jump. This week we’ve been tasked with writing about a technology of our choice. Living in a world surrounded by technology I thought this would be an easy feat. Well, for anyone else it would but just like my life outside of university I struggle at making decisions. Days later I got there. My focus for this week would be on artistic programs. These will include Didlr and Microsoft Fresh Paint.

Didlr and Microsofts in-house art program are both applications with various capabilities that could be accessed in a visual art classroom. The programs allow users to design, edit, and export art all on their I.T. devices. Didlr is a more simplistic app that allows the user more export options that include printing your work onto mugs, canvas, and so on, While Fresh Paint provides more artistic options. These include various equipment options (choose between pens to paint, and even crayon!), various editing options and more. Didlr is quite a social program about sharing your Didls (your art) however it is still quite a safe app. Fresh paint on the other hand is quite the opposite and may be seen more school friendly. Both programs are also quite easy to access.

When it comes to explaining learning outcomes sadly… I’m not your expert. With some added assistance this week in class about the subjects let’s give it a whirl and see how we go! On your marks, get set… go! Both programs make students think creatively as they have to make something. After the creation phase comes reflection and as such students could look at the principles and elements of design. This promotes content recall. Lastly, students gain more experience with a new technology. And with that it’s safe to say we might need to rehash, for a second time, what a ‘learning outcome is’!

Now it’s time to move onto the SAMR model and how these programs reach all four standards. Looking firstly at Substitution. Instead of creating a physical artwork students could now do so via one of the programs. At an Augmentation level these applications provide the ability to edit and make changes easily without ruining their final designs. This makes them functionally easier to use than that of tradition methods. The next level of SAMR is Modification. For this level students could be asked to create an artwork on the programs. After that had been complete students would then have to recreate the same work on a physical material. And lastly, Redefinition. Students could be asked to participate in a class activity. This activity asks students to create a simple piece of art and export it to the next person using either of the programs. Each student must share to the next for a total of three times. Each time students make additions to the artwork which is then followed by a reflection task of how this has altered the feeling of the design.

This week saw me make use of only one of the programs mentioned in this post – Didlr. Below is a very simple and rushed example created by yours truly!