Master Project

Art has became a vulnerable subject in many public schools due to budget cuts and emphasis on subjects which can be easily tested (Rohrer, 2006). Because of budget cuts, teachers are finding it difficult or impossible to teach the students all of the content standards required (Freedman, 2007). In order to survive in the curriculum, many art teachers and students have to embrace learning approaches and distance technologies (Caruso, 2008; Jacquith, 2008, Richmond, 2009).

This project aimed at developing an effective online art course that was centered on enhancing and supplying supplemental course work to art students. With this e-course, art students learned the art content that they were missing using online tutorials, and online asynchronous and synchronous communication tools. This project combined the frameworks of several learning modes shown to be effective for art education in conjunction with online technologies. This project utilized the sound principles of instructional design in order to create an e-course that was well organized and useful.

The e-course provided valuable information for the art student in a series of weekly lessons which were reinforced by online interactions using a message board and assessed using online quizzes and flash games. The students received immediate response using a shoutbox that was installed on a message board; thereby mimicking the traditional face-to-face interaction found in the classroom. The students presented their final project at the end of the course in person as an attempt to mirror art critiques found in traditional art classrooms.

A survey tool was used to gather information from two content experts and eighteen art students during the Spring academic quarter 2010. The respondents completed the survey anonymously and the responses demonstrated a positive reaction to the overall effectiveness of the art online course.