Browsing by Author "Motake, Siphesihle"

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    Examining how integrating digital technology with traditional media impacts the process of Artmaking in the art classroom : a case study of Grade 6 class in an independent girls school in Gauteng
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03) Motake, Siphesihle; Alexander, Neeske; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The 21st-century classroom is experiencing global changes that require digital technology to be integrated in the curriculum of each subject offered in schools. Digital technology is shaping and forming identities, accelerating information transfer, communication and development of school curriculums in the foundation, primary and high school phases. This research study was aimed at examining how integrating digital technology with traditional media impacts the process of artmaking in the art classroom, in a grade 6 class in an independent girls’ school. Art, as a subject that deals with topics of identity, society and belonging, seeks to find ways in which it can reflect the direction young global citizens are navigating through the spaces of their everyday lives. The noted ‘digital divide’ in South African schools requires the art teacher to embrace the use of digital technology in the most advantageous and ideal manner without drifting away from traditional mediums that have grounded the practice for many centuries. This research study was designed to use both qualitative and quantitative data collection tools. As a case study, it also used an art-based and an interpretive approach. The Grade 6 learners from the specific independent school had to create a collage using traditional mediums such as paint, charcoal, pencil and pasting strips torn from newspapers and magazines. They then had to make use of digital technology such as offered through Apple MacBook and iPads to enhance their collages in order to present complete artworks to be printed out. The use of digital technology was found to affect the learners’ ability to create quality artworks. The learners’ perceptions and understanding of art after having used digital technology did not change drastically, but they came to understand that art can be created with the use of different mediums including technology. Learners were able to identify the role digital technology could play in making art and how using digital technology furthered the representation of work created in traditional mediums. The conclusion was that many learners demonstrate a positive attitude towards using digital technology to enhance their artworks. Using digital technology had the effect of making learners’ artwork seem to be of better quality than the original works. The learners gained a solid understanding of what art is. Young female Grade 6 learners were able to grapple with issues of identity construction through the making of collages using both traditional and digital media. The learners were able to engage with both mediums in a critical, experiential manner. Active learning took place while using both traditional and digital technology and learners were enabled to embrace creating artworks in environments other than the art classroom. Their high engagement with both digital and traditional mediums demonstrated the usefulness of both media in the art classroom to Grade 6 learners.