3 Tech Tools Arts Teachers Can Use RIGHT NOW!

With so many tech tools out in the world, how's a teacher supposed to know where to look? Here are three of my favorites to kick off the 2016-2017 school year.

Google Arts & Culture

www.google.com/culturalinstitute/home

What it is...

This robust tool allows users to discover exhibits, artifacts and places in extraordinary detail. Teachers and students can make use of pre-curated digital exhibits or create their own gallery of images.

Students can go on virtual museum tours (read, view Starry Night in stunning detail then zoom out to see it hanging on display in the MOMA). Virtual tours are particularly great in preparing for a museum visit--get a sneak preview before viewing the real thing! Thinking more far away? With Google Arts & Culture, you can visit the Sphinx and view it from all angles! Is there an app for that?

Yes! iOS & Android

Pixel Press Floors

http://www.projectpixelpress.com/floors/

What it is...

Stop. The. Presses.

YOU CAN DRAW A VIDEOGAME AND THEN PLAY IT!!!!!

Students use a special graph paper to chart out a design for a register-based video game. Using the marking schema Floors has laid out, students can create terrain, coins, etc. Students then scan their drawings with the Floors app, choose a "skin" to apply to their games as well as coin and character types. Then...they get to play the game they designed!

Bonus feature! Pixel Press has lesson plans ready to go to help you roll out the use of this program in your classroom!

Is there and app for that?

Yes. You will need to download the Floors app in order to use this tool. Right now Floors is only available for iOS.

Planboard by Chalk.com

www.chalk.com or https://goo.gl/rfG3id

What it is...

Planboard is an online lesson-planning tool that allows you to write lessons, embed videos, images, worksheets and more so all of your lesson materials are in one place. You can also tap into lists of the standards you teach to track what was taught and when.

The best thing about Planboard? It allows you to fully customize your schedule! We art teachers have some of the wonkiest schedules around, and there is now finally a tool that deals with this!

You can also recycle lesson plans that you teach year after year and create lesson plan templates to make the process go even faster.

Is there an app for that?

Yes, just iOS for now.