DIGITAL PEDAGOGY

Learning by Design is a platform designed to grow. Its conceptual backbone is a Visual Arts teacher’s archive where inspiration, resources, curriculum, lesson plans and foundational thinking and making tools can be found. I designed it with a student-facing side and a teacher-facing side. On the student side, VCAA curriculum is translated into a Studio with foundational thinking and making for the different Visual Arts subjects, alongside Studio Guides and Class Presentations for actual lessons. On the teacher side, VCAA documents and theory books are translated into assessment, lesson plans, pedagogy and Art + Sources, a growing database of inspiration and in-depth research for lesson sequences.

The Studio Building Blocks and Creative Thinking Toolkit can support a student page, teacher resource, Class Presentation or Visual Diary prompt. Reused across year levels, they provide multiple exposures to concepts, making processes, vocabulary and creative thinking, connecting with HITS (Department of Education and Training, 2020).

Students can move between class teaching and digital support, returning to explanations, demonstrations, worked examples and reflection prompts before, during or after class. This gives students somewhere to return to when they need to look again, while keeping class time available for making and feedback.

Differentiation is built through flexible levels of support and extension. AERO’s approach to scaffolding informed this structure, with support adjusted and gradually faded as students become more proficient. Artist and museum resources are embedded close to activities, while students practise digital literacy by navigating curated sources. Teacher resources remain accessible without crowding student pages and can support future lessons.