Adriane Galea knows that the show must go on.
And the performance art educator and Class of 2017 graduate is open to new ideas to help prepare for it.
Galea said learning about new approaches and tools for teaching was why she enrolled in University of Michigan-Dearborn’s master’s degree program in educational technology.
She’s discovered that—even though she was just awarded her degree on Sunday—the knowledge gained through her UM-Dearborn experience has had an impact on her teaching and her students for some time.
“Technology research in arts education is very limited. But what I’ve learned in my classes, especially in the last six months, I’ve really started to understand how I can apply it in my studio,” said Galea, owner of Arts Detroit, a performance arts studio in Allen Park.
Through her graduate education, Galea said she’s learned methods of incorporating technology into her teaching space.
She said blended learning, which is where students participate in both class time learning and independent work at home with the use of technology, works well for her students’ needs and she’s started to use it in her studio.
Traditionally a paper-based teaching field, Galea—who teaches all ages, but has a student mean age of 15—said the use of digital learning tools in performance art education is beneficial for both students and educators.
For example, in class, Galea will provide instruction in person, which is typically once a week. But, by adding mobile technology, students are able have access to their technique and repertoire any time between lessons.
She’s also using technology at Arts Detroit by putting course materials into a Cloud so that the teachers at her studio—there are three— have can digital copies of lessons available whenever they are needed. Not only does it save time, it also allows for easily sharing documents through email, in case a student leaves behind a lesson or misplaces it.
Galea said the degree has taken something she has enjoyed all her life—she started taking performance classes at age 2 and started teaching them in middle school—and has given her ways to enhance it.
“I like working with students to see their development in things they love to do and for them to understand that there are so many opportunities to further themselves as a person or an artist,” she said. “And the technology can help with that growth.”
