Art Tech Task #1

The tool that I chose was Pixar Express. With this tool, I was able to create a photo collage for all sorts of designs and picture sizes. I can use two pictures or I can use sixteen. I can alter the color of a picture, edit it in many ways. There are also more options such as using the webcam to create a picture or I can just browse on the internet through the application to find what I need.

I can leverage this tool to create integrated art experiences in my classroom by giving my students the opportunity to freely choose what they would like to create. I explored the options, but I chose to make a collage with pictures that I feel passionate about. You could create a collage with anything you wanted, but I chose to include my animals, teaching and learning, music, and nature because those are some of the things that I love. Students have the option to personalize their collages however they want.

I would use this tool in the classroom to learn about what my students enjoy in their lives, what they feel passionate about, what they surround themselves with, and what is going on inside their heads. I like to figure out what my students are thinking and this would give me an opportunity to find out more about my students and I also get to see their creativity in the process.

Students can use this app to create their own digital media artifacts. On the home screen of the website, there are simple pictures and words to help guide users to where they want to go. From there, you either browse, take a picture, or add pictures from your library or save them from the Internet. It is simple. You can then edit the pictures that you choose in nearly any way you want to with a few clicks.

Students might challenge with the placing of the pictures. When a picture is added, it is not placed centered in the frame and it is not automatically re-sized to fit in the frame. Each time I tried to drag the picture over, it would leave that frame and enter into the frame next to it. The way around that is moving the picture slowly with several clicks rather than moving it in one motion. I also struggled with the middle picture because my entire picture is not in it. I tried editing the picture to make it fit better, but it did not work. It would be nice to be able to resize the picture while it is in the frame so I know exactly what it will look like, but I had to edit the picture from a different page and then it was added back into the frame.This is what the picture is supposed to look like. I thought if I cropped the picture enough that I could fit the entire picture in it, but it just made the picture blow up to fit the entire frame.