This paper presents a model for preparing preservice artist/educators to integrate digital and analog
materials and methods in P–12 art studio/classrooms. Over the past 3 years, as part of a precertification art
education program, I redesigned and taught a course, Learning in Digital Visual Cultures (DVC). Art teacher
candidates with little to no previous knowledge of digital tools, circuits, or coding learn to adapt these new
methods and materials borrowed from maker education to suit the learning objectives of the art studio. This
approach flips the popular STEAM approach: Technology is put at the service of art education, rather than art’s being used to enhance STEM education. The arts prioritize conceptual and material exploration in the service of personal meaning making and aesthetic expression. In DVC, staples of the maker movement, such as simple circuits, Arduino, and Scratch coding, are used to expand students’ personal engagement, arts learning, and connections across the curriculum. Preservice artist/educators study the history and current potential of digital visual cultures in art and education. They research and present on contemporary artists who incorporate digital technology in their work, and they design lesson plans that use these artists as mentors.
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