Technologies and Tools to Support Teaching and Learning Computer Graphics

Teaching computer graphics using traditional methods such as textbooks, whiteboards, presentation slides, websites, and so forth, can be challenging. There are two reasons for this: computer graphics combines a variety of skills, such as programming, mathematics, art, and spatial reasoning; and computer graphics involves many 3D concepts such as geometry, transformations, illumination and shading, projections and mappings. Hence computer graphics is often best learned by experimenting with computer graphics concepts and interacting with the resulting renderings. Over the past three decades a variety of tools and technologies have been proposed to improve computer graphics learning. Technological changes over this period have affected what material is taught and how it is taught, as well as have opened new avenues to support computer graphics teaching. In this literature study, we will identify technologies and tools that have been used in the process of teaching and learning computer graphics, we classify them, and discuss to what extend they assist learning.