Reflection on the value of EMDT 1 year later

The value of the EMDTMS to my teaching has been revolutionary, although somewhat challenging to my new administration's ability to evaluate my teaching performance. Without a printer, many of the things we create in PreK-8th grade Visual Arts are not displayed or preserved for future viewing within the school. Because we often work on the computer, we do not generate the volume of "Make and Take" projects students in traditional art classes would bring home or post on bulletin boards. Playing interactive Art games creates great classroom experiences, but not enough evidence of learning in 50 minutes, once a week. The cost of ink to print resulting products is beyond my budget, even if I did have a classroom printer. I intend to balance these fun activities with additional traditional ones next year, at least until a printer and ink are in the budget. Grants to come...
However, the introduction of Internet Arts sites and interactive learning to Visual Arts has created great interest in students who started the year saying they disliked Art. Exploring the careers now available in the visual arts with Computer Graphics expertise has opened the eyes of many bored students. Motivation is enhanced and focus is expanded when mixed media are introduced in any lesson, even in mixed classes of autistic and regular education students.
Researching new methods of teaching and use of video for instruction has been possible via the Mac Book tethered to the Smart Board and Blackberry with permission of the "Barrier Breakers." In a district with outdated hardware and software, and servers so slow that it takes most of a class period to access one site, the speed and ease of this method of accessing the Web resources is a lifesaver. Interesting to see that this years ETech Ohio teacher survey asked if we were using this method. I suspect not 100 teachers in all of the state are doing so. Thanks Full Sail Tech Support for teaching me how to turn in a product this way! Innovation keeps this old lady fresh and invigorated to become a better teacher!