There is no adequate digital substitute for the hands-on learning that takes place in art and music classrooms. Technology-based arts resources, however, can help foster understanding, provide instruction, replicate techniques or introduce students to global resources. 

Below are some of my favorite tech resources for art and music content, helpful for both licensed arts teachers and those wishing to incorporate the arts into other subject areas.

Google Art Project is an online collection of more than 32,000 artworks from 46 museums around the globe. You can view high-resolution images of artworks and can zoom in really close for detail (try that in a real museum without attracting the ire of security guards!). I’ve used this collection many times when teaching art — even to prep my students for a real visit to the Met. You can virtually “walk” through a museum while listening to an audio guide or follow a video tour by a guide, such as Michelle Obama in the White House online gallery. The site also has educational content, with timelines, quizzes and other teaching resources.

An excellent music website is the New York Philharmonic’s KidZone. Geared toward students in grades 1–8, it’s a comprehensive introduction to symphonic music with animation, sound and a cartoon-like setting that imparts a sense of fun. You can learn about (and hear samples of) different instruments, learn about famous composers, design your own virtual instrument, mix minuets, create a composition, play musical games and even meet the current members of the Philharmonic.

Confession: I’ve been an art teacher, and I cannot draw (my college credits were in art history). Luckily, I found The Virtual Instructor in my time of need. Housed here are many high-quality, step-by-step instructional videos for drawing, painting, art fundamentals and even lesson plans. Many videos are free, but you can sign up for full access for $48 a year, which includes ebook art textbooks and complete courses. The array of tutorials is impressive. My students were guided through portraiture and perspective drawing by a far steadier hand than mine.

Apple’s GarageBand ($4.99 at the iTunes Store) is like a portable recording studio, and the iPad app is as easy to use as it is comprehensive in its capacity. You can create full songs from scratch by “playing” virtual instruments, mixing beats, recording voice with or without effects, and then editing it all together in a drop-and-drag format. The best part is that you can use GarageBand as a full music resource or you can avail yourself of just some of its functions to create podcasts, beats or sound effects for use across the curriculum.

Songify, a free iPhone app, turns your words into song. Just speak, choose one of the three built-in background tracks, and listen as your speech gets remixed to music. This app is perfect for non-music teachers looking to integrate music into a creative arts project. My ELA students used this app to create love songs based on “The Great Gatsby,” for example.

Even as the arts get short shrift in many schools, studies show the benefits of integrating the arts in education: increased creativity, global awareness, higher achievement in core subject areas and decreased dropout rates and discipline problems. The more exposure our students have to the arts, the more well-rounded they will become as learners and citizens. These tech resources offer you the tools to bring art and music into whatever subject you teach.