[ISEA2013] Panel: Isabel Cristina Restrepo Acevedo – Digital Imaging and Artistic Education: A Pedagogical Model With Free Software GIMP

Panel Statement

Panel: Latin American Forum #2

Key words: digital art, free software, GIMP, digital literacy, multimedia Líneas digitales.

This paper describes the results of the investigation “Digital Imaging and Artistic Education: A Pedagogical Model” developed by the research group Hipertrópico, Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia. The text contributes to the development of a pedagogy that not only integrates the teaching of digital art in secondary education by using the free software GIMP but also promotes digital literacy in the city of Medellín. The text describes how the research methodology promotes the integration of practical work with conceptual reflections on the examination, testing and design of the multimedia tutorial Líneas digitales: Una Introducción a la enseñanza y la creación gráfica digital con GIMP.

From the analysis of Colombia´s legislation in terms of the insertion of technology into the academic system and from the analysis of the educational realities of the city of Medellín, the paper suggests a space for reflection that contributes to the development of pedagogical practices that integrate the teaching of digital art into the artistic curriculum in Medellín’s secondary education. Although this article highlights the difficulties in terms of provision and acquisition of software and the obstacles that educational institutions face in terms of digital education, it is not the intention of the article to study these aspects in depth. This article primarily attempts to summarize the results of explorations performed with the free software GIMP; the article also depicts the manner in which the inquiries were performed and the training that was conducted for teachers in the Artistic area of the school INEM José Félix de Restrepo. Complementing the work done in INEM, some investigations were conducted and training given to teachers attending the workshops at La Escuela del Maestro. The paper shows how the methodology implemented in the research allowed the integration of practical work for examination, training and multimedia design, with conceptual reflection. The result of this methodology allowed the realization of the multimedia presentation called Líneas digitales. Una Introducción a la enseñanza y la creación gráfica digital con GIMP. The manner in which the interface was designed, simulating the workshops of a school of art, facilitated the integration of technical elements of GIMP with artistic and conceptual reflection, which is necessary for every process of creation and learning in graphic digital art.

  • Isabel Cristina Restrepo Acevedo, Associate Professor, Facultad de Artes, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia

Full text (PDF) p.  322-326