Danielle Davidson

Introduction
Iwanttocreateaneffectivedigitalartscenterinmychoicebased
classroom.Ihavenoticedthatmydigitalartscenterhasbeen
limitedtothetwoiPadsIhaveinmyroom.Iwouldliketolook
intowhatotherdigitalartsoptionsIcangivestudents,andhowto
usetheiPadsIhavemoreeffectively.Ivebeenconsideringusing
astopmotionanimationappformyexpertapp,sothiscouldhelp
withthattoo.Iwouldalsoliketoincorporatetheonetoone
Chromebooksthatmythird,fourth,andfifthgradershave.Iplan
toaskmyadministratorifthereareanyextradesktopcomputersin
thedistrict,sothatIcouldhavethatasanoptionaswell.

Research Question
MRQ: How can a choice-based art educator give elementary
students a broader range of digital art experience?
SRQ1: How can an art educator incorporate more digital art, while
still being mindful of SAMR level?

Purpose
This is important because, at the elementary level, many students
are either not exposed to digital art making, or are only doing
lessons at the substitution level. This investigation will give the
information I need to tech digital art effectively at an elementary
level. I will use this information to set up a digital art center where
my students will be engaged and successful.

Review
Ive spent a lot of time researching choice-based art and rewriting
my curriculum the past year. A lot of my information came from
the eBook Choice without Chaos. I also got a lot of information
from talking with my classmates in our summer curriculum class,
and watching their presentations.

Investigative Techniques
I plan to reread the digital center section in Choice without Chaos.
Im also going to read Engaging Learners Through Art Making,
which is another choice-based book. I would also like to observe
my students to see how proficient are with the technology we are
using. I will also talk to classroom teachers to see what kind of
technology students are using in the classroom. I also plan to
gather information online from other elementary art teachers who
teach digital art.

Bias
I feel like younger children will be less proficient with technology,
and I may spend too much time trying to teach how to use the

technology before students will be able to produce their work

independently. I hope to remedy this by providing online tutorials
for them by screen casting and posting them to YouTube. This way
they will have a quick way to find more information.

Timeline
Reading Choice-Based books: November-January
Observing students: November-February
Gathering information from educators: November-February
Analyzing information: February-March
Gathering more digital tools: Ongoing
Plans for findings: March-May

Reference
1.Bedrick,A.(2012).ChoiceWithoutChaos.iTunes.
ThisbookhasasectionondigitalartthatIneedtoreview.
2.Douglas,K.M.,&Jaquith,D.B.(2009).Engaginglearnersthroughartmaking:
Choicebasedarteducationintheclassroom.NewYork:TeachersCollegePress.
ThisisanotherchoicebasedbookthatIwasplanningtoreadbuthaventgottento.Ithas
asectionondigitalartaswell.
3.Lowenfeld,V.,&Brittain,W.L.(1964).Creativeandmentalgrowth.NewYork:
Macmillan.
AnotherbookIboughtandhaventgottento.Thisisaboutthedevelopmentally
appropriatestagesofartmaking.Itsabitold,butImhopingtheinformationcanbe
translatedintodigitalartmaking.

4.D.(2015).DigitalNetworkingasaCreativeResourceandPlatform.VisualArts
Research,41(2),43.doi:10.5406/visuartsrese.41.2.0043
Thisisajournalfromclassthatremindsusofthedifferencesbetweentheyounger
generationandus.
5.SAMR.(n.d.).RetrievedOctober15,2016,from
http://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html
IreallywanttomakesurethatwhatImteachingisatthemodificationorredefinition
level,andthiswebsitehasalotofgreatinfo.
6. Duncum, P. (2015). Digital Networking as a Creative Resource and
Platform. Visual Arts Research, 41(2), 43.
doi:10.5406/visuartsrese.41.2.0043
7. Jocius, R. (2016). Telling Unexpected Stories: Students as Multimodal
Artists. English Journal, 16-22. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
8. Schmertz, J. (2016). Textual Intervention and Film Literacy. English
Journal, 48-52. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
All three of these articles provide rationale for why we should be
teaching students to use digital tools for creation.