Art meets Technology

A kindergarten student learns to paint by driving a Sphero with an iPad.

Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist.”  I wonder what Picasso would think if he stepped into Tiffany Boyle’s art room at Linn-Grove Elementary.  He might find every child using something different than a paintbrush.

Students watch a short video about painting and coding on the left.
On the right Tiffany Boyle gets a students ready to paint with an iPad and a Sphero ball.

This week art teacher, Tiffany Boyle, found a fresh way to help her students create art.  She met with her Technology Integration Coach, Jessica Zimmerman and discussed ways to integrate technology into her art room.  Jessica had recently seen the use of Spheros in Art from Twitter posts and hoped to find a teacher willing to jump on board.

Technology Integration Coach, Jessica Zimmerman, gets ready for second graders and painting with Spheros.

Jessica and Tiffany met, collaborated, and planned to test this concept with a first grade classroom, but quickly found that all students craved the opportunity to learn about coding and Spheros.  They decided to punt and try it with all classes in all grade levels.  Tiffany teaches nearly 578 students PK-5^th grade.  This goal was ambitious, but the two agreed to tackle it together.

A Sphero moves around the tray painting a student drives the ball with an iPad.

Jessica and Tiffany had some hunches about how the project might go.  After the first day they found they needed to make some adjustments.  The discovered which paint and materials worked best, how to incorporate the right painting project into the curriculum at each grade level, the number of Spheros they could manage during class, and how best to keep the equipment clean. After reflecting and more planning, Jessica and Tiffany found day two to be more manageable, and successful.  Students thrived with the technology.  Tiffany has quickly caught on with Jessica’s coaching and support and the students have had several opportunities to be self-directed learners.  

Second grade students paint with Spheros with the help of older students and Tiffany Boyle- Linn Grove art teacher.

Coding and art truly is for everyone.  Tiffany and Jessica have big ideas for future work and they will share their project and learning with the Linn-Mar School Board at an upcoming visit.