Uppeldi og menntun - 01.01.2009, Page 96

Uppeldi og menntUn/icelandic JoUrnal of edUcation 18(1)/200996
„Þetta er spennandi... og gefUr mikla mögUleika“
“this is intErEsting... and giVEs grEat oPPortunitiEs...”.
thE usE of information tEchnology in art
Education in ElEmEntary schools
abstract
The national curriculum published in 1999 assumes more use of information techno-
logy (ICT) in elementary schools, not only in specified subjects, but in every part of
student and teacher work in compulsory schools. This research is supposed to ill-
uminate the use of computers and information technology in visual arts. My intention
was to find out how teachers and students use computers in the classroom. The re-
search is based on interviews with six art teachers who use information technology in
the classroom. The interviews were carried out in a period from March to December
2005. Besides analysing the interviews I studied the aims of the national curriculum
and the school curricula of the six specific schools, regarding the use of the inform-
ation technology and its influence in teaching. One conclusion states that the art teac-
hers use computers and information technology mainly when preparing their own
teaching, such as seeking information, or to present a task at the beginning of a lesson.
Students’ use of computers and information technology in the art classroom was on
the other hand very limited, despite the teachers’ beliefs about the students extensive
computer use after school, both for entertainment and communications.
about thE author
Aðalbjörg María Ólafsdóttir (adda@unak.is, adda@akmennt.is) is an art and ICT teacher
at Glerárskóli, primary school in Akureyri, but has been working for one year now as
an adjunct at the University of Akureyri, Faculty of Humanities and Social Science. She
completed an M.Ed. degree in Pedagogy and the use of ICT in Learning and Teaching
from the Iceland University of Education in 2007. She graduated from the The School
of Visual Arts, Faculty of Visual Arts in Akureyri in 1985. Her main research interests
are in the areas of art, pedagogy and information technology.