Huntington Students Share Art Globally
The internet can be a great learning tool, bridging distances of time, language and culture in a split second with a mere click. Todd Hiscox, an art teacher at Woodhull Intermediate School, knows this and seized on it, linking with a counterpart in an international school in China to create a unique experience that saw students sharing with each other more than halfway across the globe.
Mr. Hiscox teamed up with Hayes Oakley, an American and the son-in-law of Jefferson Primary School librarian Cindy Tietjen, who is working as an art teacher in a school in China that features students from America, Canada, China, Australia, Britain, New Zealand, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and many other Asian and European countries.
The two teachers set up web-based art galleries that allowed their students to post their work and make videos of themselves describing their art pieces. The two groups of students visited each other’s galleries and videotaped their comments about the work they viewed from the other side of the world.
The computer program the teachers used permitted the student commentators to draw circles around parts of the art work that they were referring to in their commentary.
Mr. Oakley recently completed his third year as a teacher in Beijing, China. (To learn more about the international school log onto http://www.isb.bj.edu.cn/.) “Many of our students speak English as a second or other language,” Mr. Oakley explained. This familiarity with English made the project between the two schools possible.
“The students were fascinated by the experience,” said Joan R. Fretz, Huntington’s director of fine and performing arts. “I was very impressed by how articulate and comfortable they were in making their video commentaries with little preparation. They were able to use art terms, describe the project steps and explain their inspiration for their artwork like a professional artist. These are all indicative of the quality of the instruction they are receiving in our program.”
Mr. Oakley returned to the United States in late June and was able to meet Mr. Hiscox and his students. “Basically, he found that art students in China are taught to copy exactly what their teacher does, while American students are shown a demonstration and then encouraged to create their own original work,” Ms. Fretz said. “This is an important point, as Americans are always admired for their creativity. Other countries are starting to realize the importance of teaching in a way that provides opportunity for creativity, as we need creative people in all types of jobs.”
To view Mr. Hiscox’s class gallery go to www.voicethread.com/share/478906. Mr. Oakley’s galleries can be found at www.voicethread.com/share/527533 and www.voicethread.com/share/524284.
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