Do you feel some subject areas have less space for tech integration than others? While some subjects tend to incorporate computers and gadgets more easily than others, all subjects can benefit from small or large-scale digital innovations in the classroom. Even within the area of Pottery and Ceramics, there’s room to explore! We have compiled a list of apps, lesson plans, and tutorials to try out with students. Some can be used as a brief introduction or hook to the lessons, while others integrate with other subjects such as science, math, and graphic design, giving Ceramics a refreshing perspective.
Realistically speaking, while not all students will become artists, art allows students to express themselves in other media and teaches them life skills. The ability to sketch, model objects in clay, and do basic photo editing are useful skills to develop, especially in cross curricular applications. When students can create connections between subjects, new doors in learning are opened, new relationships between concepts are built, all of which make activities more appealing.
- Pottery HD Lite App: With this app, anyone can try out the process of making and selling pottery without getting one’s hands dirty. This game has different levels and challenges to complete. While it’s not the real thing, the 3D designs can encourage those who don’t feel very creative to get into the world of Pottery. If enough students are interested, a digital pottery contest can be promoted after they’re familiar with the basics of gameplay.
- Sculpture – Made Monumental Lesson Plan: You will find this lesson plan in the middle of this page. In this lesson, students will create sculptures and digitally place them as a monument in another environment. They should develop their clay modelling, photography, and digital editing skills.
- Adding decals to glazed ware and Ink transfers on Clay: Both of these lessons use graphics programs and printers to create images to add to ceramics projects.
- Claymation: How about trying out digital storytelling using clay? Follow this lesson plan to organize the students into different roles. The Stop Motion Studio App can be used to edit the photos and turn them into animation.
- Making Sounds with Clay: This lesson plan teaches students about the rudiments of wind instruments such as flutes, ocarinas, and whistles. The purpose is to investigate and experiment with clay and sound properties.
- Mocha Diffusion: This tutorial experiments with acid-base reactions to instantly create dendritic fractal patterns on clay. With this activity, students can explore chemistry, math, and bio.
- Symbolic Self-Portrait Ceramic Lamps: With this lesson plan, students will not only learn about the internal setup of lamps and basic circuitry, but create a ceramic base that mirrors their interests and personalities.
- Build your own ceramic 3D printer: While ordinary 3D printers have become more accessible to schools, 3D printers for ceramics is still working its way into the market. But for those tech savvy teachers out there, here’s a tutorial that will teach you to build your own printer using an Arduino as the controller. 3D ceramics allow for intricate designs that would not be possible to be done by hand.
- Decorating USB Flash Drives with Polymer Clay Tutorial: This artsy and practical tutorial teaches how to turn that boring Flash Drive into something a little more exciting. There’s a video tutorial below with other design ideas.
Materials may include conductive copper tape, conductive thread, insulated wires, paper clips, bulldog clips, pencil lead, virtually anything that allows electricity to flow. Combining these with 3V lithium batteries, LED lights, buzzers, etc. creates endless possibilities of circuits. Projects include light up badges, origami, greeting cards, bookmarks, you name it! We’ve even made origami paper circuit creations!