In recent years, technology has advanced so rapidly that teachers are able to be creative in many ways to stimulate creativity and promote learning in the classroom (Brindha & Kamatchi, 2022). One great example of such tools is Photoshop. It is a commonly used software that allows
users to edit and create image digitally. Students are able to experiment with numerous tactics and design layouts to create imaginative and visually appealing work of art. This blog touches on positive and implications of using Photoshop as well as how students are able to use it for creativity, innovation and artistic expression.
Positive benefits
Photoshop assists in enhancing visual literacy skills in students. It enhances students' ability to design, analyse and modify drawings which will generally improve their perception of colour and perspective of composition (Bedard, 2018).
It also provides a vast variety of tools, filters and effects that assist in fuelling imagination. It offers multiple features such as adding special effects, colouring, drawing, etc. that assists students in making their imaginative ideas reality. It provides students a sense of control and return creates an empowering and motivating environment (Harbach, 2003).
Since Photoshop as a wide variety of editing features, students encounter various challenges whilst going through the application. This encourages them to find solutions by themselves, as a result, this fosters problem-solving skills for students (VanAlstine, 2019).
Another benefit of using Photoshop is encouraging collaboration among students. Within the application, students are able to create and share their work with their peers and collaborate with them in different tasks (VanAlstine, 2019). This teaches them to communicate their ideas and collaboratively work towards achieving common goals.
Photoshop and real world application
Photoshop enhances skills in graphic designing and photography which are essential for some entry and mid-level jobs in the real world. Having some experiences from such early on assists students in making better decisions about their career paths and future.
In conclusion, photoshop is an excellent tool for fostering creativity as it encourages collaboration, innovation, develops practical skills and prepares the students for real world application. With proper training and guidance, students are able to set themselves up for success.
References
Bedard, B. (2018). What effect does formal creativity training have on student self-perception of creativity when learning to use Photoshop in the Digital Art classroom?
Brindha, D. S., & Kamatchi, T. P. (2022). The Augmented Reality Pedagogy. 9(1).
Harbach, B. (2003). Creativity and the Emerging Technologies. 1006–1008. https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/12520/
VanAlstine, K. (2019). The Effect of Photoshop on the Ability to Differentiate between Original, Semi-Edited, and Mildly Edited Photos in High School Students. South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2019/all/221
Hi William,
Thank you for your post. I think you have done an amazing job in outlining the main benefits of learning the skills of photoshop for students in the future.
However, I think it is also important to consider the specific ways in which we as future teachers could incorporate this multimedia application into a classroom lesson to foster creativity and learning. For example, you could create a group based project for a science lesson that draws on inquiry based learning and collaboration. Students could be required to identify an issue within their school environment such as recycling and rubbish and create a campaign to fix the issue. Therefore, using photoshop to create posters of informative info-graphs for thei…