Learning something in 2013 for your resolutions?

Have you thought about how technology will impact upon that learning process?

When I first started learning French, some twenty years ago I had access to a teacher during lesson time, books in the library and cassettes for listening comprehension. Some tv programmes were available but were difficult to get hold of. Maybe I could have video taped them and watched them at some other time, but let's face it, this was a faff on.

Leap forward to 2013 and we can see how learning has changed. Essa Academy is at the forefront of student interaction technology, having issued every child and teacher with an ipad. The upshot? No heavy books for the kids to lug around, instant feedback from teachers during the lessons and a reduction in the photocopying bill of some £65,000.

See the BBC video here ...

…and an older but more comprehensive video showing the school's 'enabling' ethos headed by the Principal, Showk Badat.

David Hockney pushes boundaries of art creation

It's wonderful to see an established artist tinkering at the edges of technology to create their art. David Hockney's ipad exhibition shows off his ipad created 'paintings' and talks intelligently about how he feels that throughout art history embracing new media has always been the case.

The following video shows a different exhibition in Canada, still by Hockney, but this time using screens to display the artwork which calls for a different appreciation. The gallery is dark and the artwork is lit and as Hockney says offers a different "luminosity" to the work.



Here's the ROM's Hockney exhibition link: http://www.rom.on.ca/hockney/

After seeing this series of videos I wondered what the technology was like and what level of detail it could actually achieve. Here is a painting by a different artist showing a high level of detail using the 'Brushes' app…




In addition there's a whole suite of brushes and stylus pens to use with this sort of program:
http://thenextweb.com/apple/2011/02/26/5-stylus-pens-and-brushes-perfect-for-ipad-artists/

I need to get painting again. Now, though, with light!