Today the students from LA19 buddied up with the young pre-primary kids from EC2 to do some work with the iPads. We worked with the Brushes app to give the students experience with using the iPad and developing the types of skills and control needed to use them. The students from LA19 first created pictures of the names of the Pre-Primary students and uploaded them to Dropbox. They then connected the iPads to Dropbox, downloaded the pictures, opened them in Brushes and used the tools and layers to colour the names. The students from LA19 were absolutely fabulous and were so patient with their buddies, while the PP students couldn’t wait to tell their parents what they’d done after school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the past few weeks the students have been creating art masterpieces using iPads. We looked at the art of Julian Opie (famous for the Blur album cover that people as old as me may remember) and have tried creating our own versions of our own faces using the Brushes app. We first took photos and uploaded them to Dropbox. Next, we connected to Dropbox on the iPads and downloaded the photo’s so we could work on them. We opened the photo’s in Brushes and away we went.

This activity had many learning opportunities attached to it. The obvious one is that we learned to use a new app on the iPads and developed our skills in working with the technology. We learnt the concept of using layers in art applications, the same types of skills which are used in Photoshop and other design programmes. We also developed our understanding of working in “the cloud”, of how we can store and retrieve work external from the device we are using. Finally, as I’m sure you’ll agree, we made some amazing art.