Proposal |
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What? |
Just Imagine is a website for students and teachers to explore as they travel through the imagination of Artists such as Picasso, Matisse, and Pollack, journey through Ancient Architecture such as castles and forts, explore underwater, experience another individual's life story, and delve into the world of poetry. Through the interaction and exploration of this site, we hope to offer the visitor the opportunity to observe the creative process of an artist or writer or inventor and to reflect, respond, and create as a result of that interaction. Some of the ways in which we will create a stimulating and enriched learning experience are through the use of video and digital images, interactive coloring book pages, a student gallery to display works created by those who have visited the site, a virtual tour of an artist’s workspace, interactive games, and an interactive discussion area. Students will contribute to the creation of the site by posting their own creative writing, poetry, photography, and artwork. |
How? |
Our group has collaborated on the Just Imagine website and has stayed in constant communication on ideas for the production of the site. This semester, each of us will continue to contribute to the overall product in a variety of ways. We will work individually and collaboratively, communicating via email, QuickTopics, on the phone, and in person. We are using various types of technology to develop our Just Imagine website. Dreamweaver is being used to create the web pages for our project. In addition, we are using a digital camera to photograph student work and capture a variety of images. A scanner and the Fireworks program are being used to scan and manipulate photographs of student artwork and coloring book pages displayed on our site. A digital camera and the Flash program will be used to create our virtual tour. In addition, we will use video to record an individual's life story. We will also incorporate a QuickTopics site that will allow for communication between participants using the site. The Internet is used to research information and will host the website. We will use Microsoft Word to document ideas for the site. Finally, we will use music to enhance the overall presentation of the site. |
When? |
Fall 2004: October 18th- EEV project based on exploring the imagination was first mentioned during a whole group EEV QuickTopics discussion. October 27th- Met as a Journey/Travel EEV collaboration group. Discussed creating a website where people could explore places that were not readily accessible, such as a volcano, outer space, or an art museum. November 3rd- We were introduced to the website creation program Dreamweaver. We decided our EEV Art web pages would include artwork created by different artists. November 10th- We discussed including an interactive coloring book in the Art section of the website. We decided to explore having castle section within the site. November 18th- Decided that the website would include Art, Castle, and Underwater/Space sections. The Art web pages would allow people to take a virtual tour, submit work into a gallery, and use an interactive coloring book. Over the next several weeks we individually created web pages to display our ideas. December 1st- Nancy visited the Pollock-Krasner House. Jeannine, Heidi, and Meg continued to work on the project rationale and description. Heidi also began to brainstorm a PowerPoint presentation on our project’s EEV Key Elements. December 8th- Our Just Imagine website and PowerPoint presentation were ready to be presented to the class. Spring 2005: January 19th- As of this date, our website contains three sections: Art, Castle, and Underwater. Each section has annotated links. In addition, the Art section displays artwork by Matisse, Picasso, and Pollack. Our website also includes Matisse coloring book pages that can be printed. January 20th- Individually searched for Artwork and ideas to further develop web pages. Jeannine made contact with the Museum of Modern Art. January 27th- We searched the Enchanted Learning website for coloring book ideas and other topics to explore. Brainstormed Outer Space section of the website. January 29th- Jeannine drew some Picasso coloring book pages by hand. February 2nd- We discussed adding artists such as Harring and Miro to the Art section. We also decided that we wanted to include a student art gallery web page. End of Spring 2005 Semester- We would like our website to include an interactive coloring book, a virtual tour, a student art gallery, and an Outer Space web page. End of Fall 2005 Semester- We hope to expand the Art section on our site, and develop an interactive Poetry area and a Life Stories section. End of Spring 2006 Semester- We hope to have an interactive Flash coloring book activity on our site. In addition, our Poetry site will have a number of activities where students can create poems from art and art from poems. Finally, we would like our Life Stories section to include interviews, video clips, and writing prompts. |
Who? |
We have all contributed to the development of this website. We will continue to work cooperatively this semester, with each of us focusing on a specific area. This semester Jeannine will continue to work on developing the Poetry section of our website so that it will include a number of digital images that students can write from. She will also help to develop the Life Stories section by editing video interviews that we conducted last semester. Nancy and Meg will be working to develop both the Poetry and Life Stories sections. We hope to include more student work in the poetry section. We will also create other video clips from our interviews and writing prompts for the Life Stories section of our site. In addition, we will all be working on creating the interactive coloring book in Flash. As always, we will be assisting each other throughout the semester with any issues that come up. |
How Assessed? |
The evaluation of this site will occur on two levels. First, by examining the level of activity and people's reaction to the site and second by measuring the knowledge gained by those who have interacted with the site. We, as creators of the site, are responsible for assessing and maintaining the site's activity. If, for example, no one enters the castle page we might change that topic to something that is more relevant to the curriculum. Another way we will assess the effectiveness of our site is by asking those who have visited the site to complete a questionnaire. This questionnaire will have people rate their impression of the site based on their learning and the content presented. At the end of the questionnaire there is an area for general comments. People may suggest alternate topics to explore, other artist’s work they would like to have displayed, or activities they would like to see included. In addition, we have a QuickTopic area that allows visitors to share their ideas and make comments about the site. Our site also includes quizzes pertaining to each artist featured within the site. These quizzes will help us determine the knowledge the visitor acquired after they have interacted with the Journey Through The Imagination web site. We have begun to assess the effectiveness of our site by having our colleagues and elementary and middle school students visit the site and interact with it by viewing the pages and taking the quizzes. We then asked these individuals to reflect on what they saw and learned by filling out a questionnaire or commenting in the Quicktopics area. This process has informed us about changes we needed to make to the site to improve its quality. |
Why?
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Learning is most effective when students' curiosity is stimulated by tapping into their interests (Senge, 2000). The intent of our site is to change the mental model that exists in education today, where teachers funnel their knowledge to students to achieve a specific outcome. Utilizing students' interests, in a non-threatening atmosphere, will help students explore and learn a tremendous amount (Harrell, 2000). This website was developed with children as the primary user. Additionally, it is a place where teachers and students or parents and children can team learn and explore age-appropriate information and images. Duke states that technology is a resource that empowers students and teachers to enhance their learning and explore the arts in new and exciting ways (1991). Schools need organizational change to allow for this. There is a need for system thinkers to convert schools into digital age learning organizations (http://www.metiri.com/our_mission.html). This website breaks down the walls of the classroom providing an area for students to explore their interests while also incorporating technology which is a motivational tool. This site was created around a shared vision where students may explore places that are difficult to travel to in order to enrich the learning experience. Honig (2000) states that creating time for games of imagination “permit children to take off on flights of fancy, retrieve from memory, compare and contrast, and make connections between disparate bits of information” (p. 21). Therefore, this site has been developed around the following four categories of imaginative travel: art, castles, outer space, and underwater. Art Recent research shows that art education fosters creativity, decision-making abilities, self esteem, critical thinking, and an increase in test scores across all socio-economic levels (http://chooseart.com/finearts.asp). This research, along with Costa’s Intellectual Behaviors, has formed the foundation for our site. Costa (Senge, 2000) believes that “when systems thinking, team learning, and shared vision are practiced, [intellectual] behaviors come into play” (p. 197). By working through activities on the site, the students will develop skills in the following intellectual areas: decreasing impulsivity, listening to others, flexibility in thinking, drawing on past knowledge, creativity, and building wonderment, inquisitiveness, and curiosity. The site’s coloring book activity will help to decrease students’ impulsivity because they will have to plan a strategy and consider alternatives before making a decision. In addition, the site provides an opportunity for students to explore an artist’s biography and works of art to gain an understanding of the artist’s point of view. By doing so, the students will become more flexible in their thinking. Furthermore, students need to learn to transfer knowledge from one situation to the next. They should draw upon the knowledge they gained from the site as they continue to learn in the future. Finally, the site provides an opportunity for students to explore areas they are curious about. They will begin to look at an artist and their creative work with a sense of wonder and openness. Art is subjective. As the old adage says, “Beauty is in eye of the beholder.” Within our site we feature several of the most influential artists within the world of modern art. We hope to offer the visitor the opportunity to enjoy the work of these artists and share their point of view, ideas, and feelings about the images they have seen while visiting the site. By doing so, the visitor will take away the idea that one can express oneself freely and creatively as the artists did within this site. By engaging in these activities, visitors to the site will begin to see the value in their own artwork. They will come to realize how important it is to create, share, view, and critique art in order to enhance learning. An article written by Amster and Roland (1987) supports this concept by challenging teachers to change their mental model to view content as ideas students relate to and transform. Art allows students to express and view ideas as visual images. Thoughts become visible which increases learning and wisdom. (See sidebar.) To quote Helen Harrison, the director of Pollock-Krasner House, “Art invents a visual language for something intangible.”
Poetry “Poetry, and that means all poetry, is the language closest to human experience…The rewards of poetry are those of a skilled craftsman in a difficult medium, one that gives great opportunities, and enormous pleasure when the work succeeds” (http://www.poetrymagic.co.uk/asartform.html). The Poetry section of our website encourages kids to create art from poetry and conversely to use art to create poetry. The artwork and poetry are based on student interests, and the individual and collective experiences of the participants. The student-centered activities allow students to be actively engaged in learning which will enable them to grow as poets, artists, and learners. Too often, teachers feel they need to “feed” their students information rather than allowing them to explore topics or areas that are of interest to them. In an article entitled “Reading As Inquiry: An Approach to Literature Learning”, Fillion asserts that students should be provided with opportunities to determine the poem’s relevance to their own lives. The premise of our Imagine site is to provide an opportunity for students to investigate poetry as an art form, use their imagination, and explore topics that interest them. To quote the International Child Art Foundation: “The arts are the language of imagination and understanding.” (http://www.icaf.org/index3.html)
Life Stories The Center for Life Stories Preservation believes that “To preserve our life stories is to honor our individual lives, our experiences, our relationships…Sharing these stories celebrates our family history, our individual triumphs and struggles, and the simple joy of favorite memories” (http://www.storypreservation.com/).People are natural storytellers…we all tell stories every day. Our personal experiences become a body of stories which describe our lives. These stories order and interpret the events in our lives. Stories give our experiences structure and balance. By creating stories we describe our experiences and construct generalizations about the world. Through sharing life stories we begin to identify, sympathize, and empathize with one another (Baghban, 1996). In an article by Susan Kraft, she states that life stories allow students to “think and express themselves in an environment free of fear and negative consequences because there are no wrong answers” (p. 45). In this section of the site we hope to elicit the stories that reside within people. Through the sharing of information and knowledge-building tools students can collaboratively construct shared knowledge (Jonassen, 1999).
Castles This section will be developed at a later date.
Underwater This section will be developed at a later date.
In conclusion, this site offers students an approach to learning that is based on the generative model, (Senge, 2000), a model that supports students as they move through a learning experience, helping them to create knowledge as they build on their own experiences in the areas of art, castles, outer space, and underwater. Because learning is both content and process based, students that are actively engaged in learning will retain knowledge, which is our primary focus.
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