Beginning in the Spring of 2018, The University of Texas Art and Art History Department will be offering a new digital literacy training in their UTeach Art/Visual Arts Studies courses. Partnering with the Texas Cultural Trust (TCT), this three-hour training will be integrated into upper level courses in UTeach Art/Visual Art Studies. Upon completion, UT students will receive a three-hour Digital Literacy Certificate from the Texas Cultural Trust.
More than ever, pre-college preparation for collegial academic careers in the arts require students to deeply integrate new technologies into their teaching process and practice. The TCT’s Digital Literacy Certificate prepares future arts educators to do just that in connection with course curricula in high school level Art and Media Communication courses. Working to give students experiential learning opportunities, the Arts and Digital Literacy Initiative is a project-based program integrates technology into the creative classroom, giving students all the benefits of an arts rich education while preparing students for the contemporary creative workplace.
“Since high schools in Texas now offer Art & Media Communications as a fine arts credit, it is increasingly important to integrate technology in university teacher training coursework so that new art teachers will be prepared to teach these types of innovative courses,” writes Assistant Chair of Art Education Christina Bain. “Art teachers will lead the way in helping students understand how technology is simply another tool which can be utilized for artistic expression.”
The history of the Arts & Digital Literacy Initiative began in 2011 as a collaboration between the Texas Cultural Trust and UT Austin’s College of Fine Arts. Since 2010, state standards-aligned curricula have been available online as a resource for Fine Arts teachers throughout Texas. Years later, high school fine arts teachers using these curricula were able to apply for grants that provide them with financial support to purchase resources to augment teaching of digital courses, including iPads, cameras, laptops and even drones.
During the 2016-2017 school year, Texas Education Agency (TEA) data showed that over 3400 students were enrolled in Arts and Digital Literacy courses throughout the state. Master’s candidate in Art Education, Claire Williamson, began her current internship with TCT Education Programs Specialist and UT Art Education master’s candidate Carrie Williams in the summer of 2017. Together, they have developed the 2017 Digital Pioneers Institute that helps prepare current art teachers to blend technology with art curriculum.
“The partnership between the Arts and Digital Literacy initiative and our Visual Arts Studies program at UT was spearheaded this year by Carrie Williams as a way to raise awareness about this free resource to pre-service art teachers and to provide new teachers with additional digital competency to bring into their classrooms that will support their careers going forward,” wrote Williamson. “The goal of this new collaboration is to provide pre-service art educators with a free online curriculum that integrates digital media and fine arts to help high schoolers build 21st century skills.”
The Arts and Digital Literacy Initiative is available to high school arts and media communication educators free of charge at the initiative's website. Built on the shared belief that the arts are a vital part of the Texas economy and an important part of preparing a 21st century workforce, this latest collaborative initiative between The University of Texas at Austin’s Art and Art History Department and the Texas Cultural Trust marks a new, exciting phase in the partnership between the university and its arts education partners in Texas.