Running Head: Online Art Course Analysis

Online Art Course Analysis

Claire Burgoyne ETEC 522 University of British Columbia

Online Art Course Analysis

As a venture analyst advising on the purchase of online art curriculum for secondary

schools I do not recommend investing in any of the top rated online visual arts courses currently available. While there are examples of online courses at Academy of Art University that meet the criteria for excellence in online education neither these courses, nor the other online options, address the potential for art eduction in leading a reform in education at the secondary level.

Top-Rated Courses

Until recently the idea of creating quality studio art courses for students learning online

seemed impossible. However, in the last two to three years the number of online art courses has increased to a point where there are now a seemingly endless number of options available. Analysis of these online art courses places the courses into two distinct categories of art education. The rst category consists of courses that are little more than online texts. Category A Art School Online - Tuition covers the cost of all required supplies to complete lessons and photograph work for instructor feedback. http://www.interactiveartschool.com Artyfactory - Offers free lessons that include, illustrated step by step tutorials. http:// www.artyfactory.com/ DrawPj.com - Requires paid membership to access courses. Drawing and painting fundamentals are taught in six separate units. An art instructor offers feedback and guidance. http://drawpj.com/ Drawspace - Focuses on teaching technique. Downloadable drawing assignments are available for a fee. Higher rates include an option to receive teacher feedback http:// www.drawspace.com/ Improve My Paintings - Free art instruction designed to promote F&W Media, publishers of art books and magazines http://improvemypaintings.com/

Online Art Course Analysis

London Art College - The college began offering distance education options 80 years ago. It continues to approach art education to reinforce more traditional methods of teaching art http://www.londonartcollege.co.uk/ Schoolism - Self-taught or video feedback options are available for a fee. Lessons are taught through video. http://schoolism.com/ These courses include illustrations or video demonstrations that guide students step-by-step and attempt to teach students how to develop technical skills. Students create art pieces that follow a specic set of guidelines. In some cases students work in isolation, while in others there is instructor feedback. These courses lack opportunities for students to make personal connections to content as they target craft, and the making of art through traditional techniques, rather than focussing on creativity and critical thinking. Category B
Amongst the top rated courses only one institution offers courses that closely resemble

the experience students can expect in a face-to-face setting that values collaboration and community. Academy of Art University - Offers online art instruction by experienced artists. Students participate with a community of experts and peers, and engage in critiques of student work and discussion of art trends. http://online.academyart.edu/schools/ne-art/ The options at this institution are preferable to the options in category A, as they include a history component, demonstration of technique, open-ended problems for students to resolve through critical thinking and creativity, and work-in-process or completed work that is critiqued by practicing artists. Each course offered by the Academy of Art University has been masterfully designed with consideration given to creating learner-centered opportunities that balance content and assessment and value social components of learning.

Online Art Course Analysis

Courses are designed to encourage community by providing opportunities for sharing,

discussion, collaboration and cooperative learning. Art courses at the Academy of Art University include the qualities of effective online education including: clear direction and expectations, design for a high level of participation by all course members resulting in knowledge construction, consolidation of learning through reection (Bird, 2007, p. 155), and leadership in the form of modeling.
Academy of Art University is also unique in that it offers media arts options that are

current such as game design, multimedia communications, and web design. While these course offerings provide strong examples of the qualities of excellent online art courses, Academy of Art University along with the other top rated courses, overlook the potential for art eduction to lead in the call for reform in education. Each of the courses approaches art for the sake of art, with none being examples of how art education can adapt to trends in K-12 education calling for integration or cross-curricular programing.
Qualities of Effective Online Art Courses
An effective online art course for students at the high school level is one that guides

learners to view images critically and in context. Students need to be well aware of their culture and how imagery can communicate issues. An online art course that guides students in dening their own personal positions in relation to questions and issues of cultural experience (Duncam, 2002, p. 20) as opposed to communicating highly personal experience affords students the possibility of creating meaningful visual content. In this environment discussion, critical thinking skills, visual literacy, and the critique become of utmost importance

Online Art Course Analysis

as these elements support the making of art that communicates stories relevant to the culture rather than to the individual.
A successful art education venture, currently not available online, is A+ arts integrated

schools where the curriculum is taught through the visual and performing arts, and school experiences and partnerships extend out into the community. Online art courses that encourage students to develop their visual voices while providing students with the ability to connect with experts gives well designed online courses an advantage over face-to-face courses. These courses can more easily and cost effectively accommodate connections between learners, course instructors, and experts which in turn contributes to the creation of authentic learning communities. (Liu, et al., 2009).
RIG Arts, http://www.rigarts.org/ is a second example of how art can be incorporated

with other objectives to provide education leading to students gaining an essential understanding about themselves and their worlds (Duncum, 2002, p. 20). With both RIG and A+ Schools the approach is not to compartmentalize learning into subject specic topics but rather to provide a comprehensive, holistic approach to education. These are programs that value community and incorporate opportunities for critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, cooperation, creativity, and communication. Such skills are required of artists and critics but theses are also skills required for success as a citizen able to contribute in positive ways in a 21st century community. Recommendation
My recommendation is that your investment funds target the development of an online art

venture that addresses 21st century literacy skills including:

Online Art Course Analysis

visual literacy, understanding the meaning of images and the inuences of imagery on choices and opinions, development of techniques and skills required to create images, incorporation of the four Cs collaboration & communication, critical thinking, and creativity. In addition, to be of most value courses should be cross-curricular with the topics explored and artwork created relevant to the culture in which the work is explored and created. In this way art becomes meaningful and valued rather than being produced for the sake of creating art and reduced to craft valued only for its aesthetic appeal.

Online Art Course Analysis

References: Academy of Art University: Online Education, (2012). San Fransico, CA: Academy of Art University. Available at: http://online.academyart.edu/schools/ne-art/ Artyfactory, (2011). Available at: http://www.artyfactory.com Bird, L., (2007). The 3 "C" design model for networked collaborative e-learning: A tool for novice designers. Innovations In Education And Teaching International, 44(2), 153-167. Clark, G., Day, M., Greer, W.D., (1987). Discipline-based art education: Becoming students of art. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 21(2), pp. 129-193.

Duncum, P., (2002). Visual culture art education: Why, what and how. The International Journal of Art & Design Education, 21(1), 14-23. doi:10.1111/1468-5949.00292. DrawPj.com, (2012). StuartCindy Art. Available at: http://drawpj.com Hoddinott, B. (n.d.). Drawspace. Available at: http://www.drawspace.com Imaginism Studios Inc. (2011). Schoolism. Available at: http://schoolism.com Improve My Paintings, (2011). Available at: http://improvemypaintings.com Interactive Art School, (2012). Available at: http://www.interactiveartschool.com Liu, S. Y., Gomez, J., & Yen, C. (2009). Community college online course retention and nal grade: Predictability of social presence. Journal Of Interactive Online Learning, 8(2), 165-182. Noblit, G., Dickson-Corbett, H., Wilson, B., McKinney, M., (2009). Creating and sustaining artsbased school reform: The A+ schools program. New York, NY: Routledge. London Art College, (n.d.). Art Courses Online. Available at: http://www.londonartcollege.co.uk/ RIG Arts Ltd., (2012). Available at: http://www.rigarts.org Wilson, B. (1997). The role of DBAE in reforming education. In The Quiet Evolution: Changing the Face of Arts Education, (pp. 213-22). Los Angeles, CA: The J. Paul Getty Museum.