[Year 12 Its] OT-Design and IT

Thu May 11 18:18:27 EST 2006

Hello Frank
I too think you are on the right track - the technology is being used to
create artwork in the same way as paint and brush technology is. And
presumably the point of the subject is to teach something about Art, not
just about using the technology.

I see it as an old question in our discipline: when teaching application
software, where is the dividing line between teaching it as part of the
discipline of IT and teaching it as part of the application itself? eg word
processing v office work; excel v mathematics; photoshop v photographic art;
CAD v architecture and so on.

Wherever that dividing line is, I believe that once it has been crossed the
subject is no longer IT.

Regards
Robert T-A
Brighton SC

----- Original Message -----
From: "Russell Woodford" <rwood at shc.melb.catholic.edu.au>
To: "Year 12 Information Technology Systems Teachers' Mailing List"
<is at edulists.com.au>
Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 6:53 PM
Subject: Re: [Year 12 Its] OT-Design and IT

> Hi Frank
>
> It sound like it fits perfectly into the VELS model for an Arts
> subject - in fact "technology" becomes an integral part of every
> other subject/domain under VELS.  But you know that - you just have
> to convince your art person!
>
> We have a Yr 9/10 subject here called "Computer Aided Design"  which
> has usually been an arts subject taught by arts staff who have the
> necessary skills and inclination - they use tools like Photoshop and
> Illustrator to produce "art works".  On the other hand, we have a
> similar unit called "Desktop Publishing" that is clearly an  IT unit
> - again it uses Photoshop for the first half, and we do a small
> amount of "digital art" but the main focus is the Design Cycle.  We
> then move to InDesign to do real DTP stuff once they have the
> Photoshop skills and a better understanding of the Design Cycle.
>
> You are correct - it's the PURPOSE of the unit that should determine
> which faculty writes it, runs it, and refines it.  If the main
> purpose is to teach IT skills and an understanding of the design
> process, then it's a technology unit.  If the main purpose is
> producing artistic works, then to me it's an Arts subject.  The VELS
> structure is a useful guide here:
>
> Arts is broken into 2 dimensions - Creating and making  -  Exploring
> and responding
>
> The unit you describe seems to fit neatly into "creating and making"
> - the use of  ICT tools also meets the requirement of addressing  the
> Interdisciplinary domains of Design, Creativity and Technology
> [Investigating & Designing] and  ICT [Creating].
>
> Cheers
>
>
> Russell Woodford
>
> rwood at shc.melb.catholic.edu.au
> Learning Technologies Coordinator
> Sacred Heart College Geelong
> http://www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/
>
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> On 10/05/2006, at 6:05 PM, Frank Merlino wrote:
>
> >
> > Hello All,
> > I have a dilemma...we are reviewing our unit offering for 2007, we
> > being the Technology Faculty. Currently there is a cross KLA (Arts/
> > Tech) unit that is largely based on using PhotoShop to design a
> > chocolate box and then the students make it. Along the way they
> > learn how to use PhotoShop and they learn about design, the unit
> > being largely designed by a graphics teacher.
> >
> > With VELS, we have decided that the Technology faculty will become
> > the provider of IT units with a technical flavour, eg. rather than
> > concentrating on the product, we would design units that teach
> > stdents the basic skills required for the use of software, as well
> > as teaching them how the required hardware operates, effective
> > selection of file types for saving work, how files can be
> > compressed for example, implicatiions of use of the technology in
> > society. We would teach students the basics, how other KLAs use the
> > ICT skills we teach the student is up to them, but at least they
> > will know that the basics have been taught by IT staff. On the
> > other hand I suggest that the Arts people would focus more on the
> > prioduct and how to "get there".
> >
> > I am having a hard time explaining to the arts co-ord. why they
> > should take over the unit as we no longer see it as an IT unit. Any
> > ideas on what I have missed in terms of my reasoning?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Frank Merlino
> > Technology (IT and Systems) Co-ordinator
> > Web Site Manager
> > St. Joseph's College
> > 135 Aphrasia St, Newtown
> > Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 3219
> > Phone: 03 52 268100
> >
> >
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