Virtual Field Trips and Video Conferencing

I am truly excited about the possibilities that the virtual world has to offer the classroom. Through these opportunities, we as teachers have the ability to give our students a new medium for learning, engaging them without the cost of a physical field trip. I remember, as a student, being excited any time I had a class period that did something different than the norm. Whether it was a field trip or a movie, these breaks from lectures were helpful for my attentiveness. Also, for students of a practical mindset, these video conferences provide an opportunity to show the real life aspects or applications of whatever subject the students are learning. For those “when would we every use this information in ‘real life’” questions, professionals can attest to the learning of the material.

The prospect of collaborating with classes from other cities, states, or countries seems like an excellent opportunity for students to not only get a new perspective on what is being learned, but also to expose the students to diversity. I would be interested to collaborate with other Art teachers to see what projects were being done and for what reason. Collaborating with those teachers ahead of time, we could come up with creative ideas and do them at different times so when the students were able to “visit” with one another, they would have an opportunity to see real kids with their real artist samples. Through doing this, the students are able to see artwork that is within their zone of proximity as to not overwhelm them when beginning a project. These conferences would also give the students a chance to get excited about their upcoming projects.

By putting a main focus on meaning in art making, I find that having an engaging introduction into the lesson plan extremely important. I want my students to be able to easily find a subject matter that they can believe in and create in response to. For example, since artists often work off the ideas of symbols and semiotics, the virtual field trip “Smithsonian American Art Museum : America's Signs and Symbols” would give the students an opportunity to consider symbols they see often and whey they mean to them. This “field trip” could spark a discussion on symbols in general and how objects or images begin to hold meaning and how that changes what people think of those things.

I would like to research more video conferencing opportunities and see if I could get in touch with famous artists and discuss what motivates them to create and why they find art education to be important. Contemporary artists I would like to get in touch with include Chuck Close for his perseverance in creating and Barbara Kruger for the immense meaning in her images. I believe they would both have a lot to share about their life journey and why art is important to them. Along with these artists, some places I could only dream of taking students but hope to take one day through a virtual field trips would include the European and Middle Eastern cities in which large art galleries and ancient architectural sites are found. These beautiful sites have a lot of history along with them that could engage students through seeing through a direct and responsive camera.

There are many opportunities to teach through these relatively new technological mediums. My desire is to embrace these opportunities, combining them with traditional teaching methods to excite students about learning and help them realize the importance of it. Although there is limitless knowledge at our fingertips, I still find value in true understanding and knowing and my goal is help others feel confident in their critical thinking skills and their knowledge.