Research+-+Why+Skype?



**  Why Skype? **   **   Jayna Boylan   ** **  ED 596   ** David Darts, professor of art education at New York University believes that students today are in the “Age of Participation” (Darts, 2010). Due to visual advances in technology, students are constantly invited to participate in creative decisions whether they realize it or not. Websites are now interactive, software is more accessible, and videogames require personal input; all allowing for creative decision-making. As art teachers, we can take advantage of this shift in visual culture by supporting our students as they are introduced and accustomed to the fast paced new world of creative participation. The seasoned teacher knows that giving students the opportunity to make “real-world” connections is what contributes to producing life-long learners. So often as an art teacher I hear “but I’m not an artist” or “I’m just not // good // at art”, from my middle school students. Betty Edwards believes that this is because adolescents reach a “crisis” stage in their creative growth. She attests that this period marks the end of artistic development due to frustration from not “getting things right”. Edwards believes that proper teaching methods will help children learn to see, draw and make connections; therefore avoiding this crisis. Part of our prevention technique can be exposing our student to real-world situations that artists often find themselves in. (Edwards, 2007)  Telling stories about artists, or the lecture method can be problematic. Students strong in learning styles other than auditory learning will often have a harder time being engaged by lectures. Also, Teachers may not get a real feel for how much students understand because there is not that much opportunity for exchanges during lectures. Showing videos or other auditory presentations can be boring and lose student interest. However, allowing students to participate in the learning through hands-on experiences can create a sense of ownership and pride. What better way to learn about artists’ life, work and techniques than to view their process first hand? Budgetary constraints and individual school traditions often discourage new and different field trips for students. Due to the emphasis placed on “core” subjects in Pennsylvania, taking and art-related field trip for most PA art teachers can be extremely challenging. Thanks to technological advances in photography, videography and web-based communication we are now able to take “virtual” field trips during the school day – without ever leaving the classroom. Video conferences are becoming more and more accessible, and the bank of willing participants is growing. For almost 20 years videoconferencing in K-12 classrooms has been adopted in a number of growth stages, or waves. Wave 1 consisted of using videoconferencing in K-12 to access remote resources. Wave 2, which is currently cresting, has consisted of the shift to IP technologies and an explosion of content providers delivering rich resources to the classroom. Wave 3 will consist of increased student collaborative projects and even student creation and delivery of content. (Wainhouse, 2006) Art is by nature an interactive, process-driven discipline that affords students the opportunity to participate. In order to provide students with continued opportunities to produce high-quality work, the quality of our art curriculum content must be redefined. Instructional methods must be reconsidered in relation to a more contemporary experience (Freedman, 2003). Mirroring the technological advances of the global marketplace in our classrooms creates a sense of interest and excitement. Staying current with students’ visual needs will foster creativity by showing them the world of art is living and breathing. Artists are living and breathing and working – creating lives for themselves with art production as their livelihood. Today’s student is in need of 21st century skills. Many adolescents feel more comfortable using digital means of communication than having one-on-one experiences. Based on an anonymous survey of 65 of my 7th and 8th grade students; when asked their preference of communication with friends, 90% responded that they would rather text, video-chat, video-conference or leave “facebook” comments, than the 10% that would rather speak on the phone or in person. Using this information to design curriculum and instruction is a necessity in our current technological state. Our students are craving digital means of technology in all aspects of their life, especially school. When asked how many students have participated in video-conferencing in school, the numbers were low – a mere 5%. When asked if they would // like to // participate in video-conferencing in school, an astounding 98% responded “yes”. (MA Student Survey, 2011) After reviewing all of this current research and recommendations in “best-practices”, it may be more appropriate to change the name of this paper to “Why NOT Skype”. The facts are evident and the student need is overwhelming: Video-conferencing in the classroom provides students with meaningful, relevant learning experiences. Using this teaching method in the art room will allow students to make connections with art on a personal, participatory level that they would not have otherwise experienced. Finding artists to skype with has been challenging, but it means being open to finding these artists on a professional level. It has allowed me to put on // both // my teacher hat, and my artist hat. It has pushed me to attend more gallery openings, to read more reviews, to network in my hometown, to make connections that I would not have otherwise experienced. An unexpected outcome of this research project has been my own personal growth as a artist, which I will carry on to my classroom and use it to fuel these 21st century lessons. The goals for my students are not so different than my own. In true educational fashion, // students will be able to //:  · Communicate questions, comments and feedback to an artist through the use of video-conferencing.  · Actively listen to the information shared by the artist  · Use the first-hand knowledge of the artist to complete a work of art inspired by their style and technique  · Critically respond to the work of a classmate  · Reflect on the video-conferencing process The schedule of this process is to first introduce students to the life and work of the chosen artist through web-exploration and class discussion. Students will review the work created by the artist and identify its distinguishing features and make connections to consistent techniques. Students will use this information to develop questions related the artist’s work, or their own work. These questions will be asked during the video-conference session to spark discussion with the artist. They will then, depending on the class, participate in a mixed-media collage project (based on Stacie Speer Scott) or a “My day in Photos” project (based on Andrew Wilkinson). This work will then be uploaded to a blog and made available to students, parents, and the visiting artists for review and critique. My hope is that students experience something // new //, which is consistent with my philosophy of art education. New art gets noticed, just like new means of teaching get noticed; and hopefully remembered. I hope that they learn that it is possible to grow up and make art an important part of your life. I hope they see that artists are people that are accessible, passionate and willing to participate in their education. I hope that I have contributed to creating positive, artistic, life-long learners through this multi-faceted approach to teaching and learning.