Technology offers endless opportunities to expand and enrich the way students learn. While many of us grew up learning to draw with pencil and paper, shaping clay with our hands, or gluing stiff pieces of macaroni to construction paper, today, the ways in which students can learn are infinite—and decidedly less messy.
Beyond cutting down on cleanup time, using edtech to teach the arts offers other unexpected benefits. Technology allows students with disabilities new, more accessible ways of creating, evens the playing field for kids who believe they can’t draw a straight line, and increases engagement for learners who might otherwise be reluctant to learn the arts.
Below are a handful of impressive edtech tools that can be used for teaching the arts.
Google Arts & Culture
A quick scroll on Google Arts & Cultures reveals a multiverse of engaging content for curious kids—and adults, too. Curious students can explore art and art history by color, a time period, a culture or a theme.
The site provides virtual tours of faraway museums or galleries, as well as a collection of arts and culture-based games in addition to its deep dives on visual art.
Smarthistory
The result of a collaboration of more than 500 professionals in the art world, Smarthistory is another great resource for educators and students. The site hosts a variety of webinars, videos, courses and multimedia textbooks on topics of art history ranging from ancient Egyptian artifacts to modern art.
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts offers educators free lesson plans on subjects like visual art, theatre, opera, literary arts and more. Whether you’re prepping for a high school lesson plan on Shakespeare or an elementary school unit on the life cycle of sunflowers using Van Gogh’s paintings, the Kennedy Center offers a rich resource for educators. Eager learners can also view video-based art lessons from a roster of talented visiting teachers.
PlayART app
A fun app designed with younger children in mind, PlayArt allows kids to use existing elements from classic artwork and add their own touch, encouraging both artistic exploration with a pinch of art history.
Music Constructed
Music Constructed provides music teachers with a variety of lesson plans, teaching units and a wealth of ideas, as well as three tiers of professional development resources. The site also boasts an online forum where teachers can network, connect or ask questions of their peers.
Soundtrap
Students can collaborate on musical projects or podcasts through Soundtrap, a cloud-based app. Soundtrap lets students experiment with sound, recording, rhythm and more. Students and teachers can add tracks from home, allowing plenty of opportunities to collaborate, whether in the classroom or from home.
Book Creator
With Book Creator, students can create impressing, multimedia comic books, magazines or books. Designed to include reluctant writers and kids with learning differences, the app allows users to incorporate voice recordings, videos, icons, emojis and more as tools for expression.