Raheela Yasmeen

Dissertation Abstract

The study aims to understand the differences and similarities between the learning outcomes of a set of concepts taught through traditional and digital media. The research explores how teachers and their students (age 6-7 years) understand and experience digital art and traditional art. Weaving together personal experiences, art exercises, art and science teacher reflections, classroom observations and interviews, I investigate the possibilities of behavior and learning through traditional media and digital media in a grade one art classroom. The Beaconhouse School System in Pakistan has mandatory ICT (Information and Communications Technology) integration for many of its areas, subjects and levels of development, however there is a lack of understanding and initiative to introduce ICT in art classrooms. Therefore, this study begins to explore the potential of such integration for (early) primary education by conducting an experimental comparative case study with a selected set of (digital and traditional) mediums for a series of art lessons/ activities. Two groups of students were introduced to basic concepts shapes, texture and form through painting; one group worked with digital tools (on a tablet) and the other with manual tools (paint, brushes, pigment). The study reveals insightful similarities and differences in students’ approach, behavior and learning outcomes through the two mediums