by Trina
Harlow
When
I was a young girl in a rural school, we had pen pals in other countries and we
exchanged letters a couple of times a year. It was very exciting for us when a
letter would arrive after months of waiting, usually with a photo or a drawing
included. It would find a prized place on the classroom bulletin board.
Technology has changed many aspects of the educational environment, but one
exciting way that it has changed is the ease of communicating with people
around the world.
The
World Wide Color Wheel Project was born out of a great desire to combine art
and technology in a way that connects art education, while also connecting
people, cultures, and countries with a visual language we all share. The
project involves one of the most fundamental concepts in art education, the
color wheel. Students participate in the project by creating an individual,
team, or group artwork that creatively depicts a color wheel. Students then
partner with students in a school in another country and share their projects
and other information.
Opportunities
to Share
As
the founder of the project, I am happy to share project documents, an
introductory slide show, a slide show of students’ projects, a website, a blog,
a Facebook page, and all the tools and information necessary for schools to
register. A huge variety of cross-curricular extensions and relationships can
develop through the sharing of information regarding students’ cultures and
interests throughout this project.
Since
it takes a bit of time to connect partnering schools, it’s best not to do the
project with your highest-grade level.
For example, if your school is K-4, the best grade to do the project
with is the 3rd grade, as these students should be on campus for at least another
year to give the partnership school time to respond.
Schools
can “share” in the technology exchange by Skyping or using other real time
applications. Schools in remote areas that may not be as technologically
established, especially in some developing nations, can record their
presentations and email video clips to their partnering school. However, just
one person with a smart phone is all it takes for this project to work.
Promethean boards, digital projectors, and the ability to Skype during the
school day bump up the use of technology, but aren’t necessary.
In
the Beginning
The
initial effort of the project occurred in March of 2013 between my 3rd grade
students at Folsom Elementary and The American School of Monterrey, Mexico’s
4th grade students, under the direction of Barbara Martinez. Martinez attended my
session at NAEA 2012 in Ft. Worth on The C.A.R.E. Program, which is a similar
program and an umbrella for this project.
Students’
color wheels from the first were highly developed and creative. Giving awards
such Grand Champion, Reserve Grand Champion, Most Unique, Most Colorful, Neat
and Tidy, Best Use of Technology, and others also increased students’ interest
in the project. Some of the more memorable projects were a bicycle tire with
paint chips attached, a large free standing tissue paper flower with hundreds
of petals, a tutu, and an acrylic zebra with color wheel stripes.
Others
included ball caps and baseball plates painted to look like color wheels, some
slide shows, digital photos of a girl doing various stages of a cartwheel, a
video with two brothers whose clothing colors kept changing, and a large
origami bird with color wheel tail feathers. Students’ ideas were versatile and
revealed much about their specific cultures.
Students
can now communicate more quickly than ever before in the world’s history. Globalization,
a fairly new term, refers to the interconnectedness of markets, communication,
and human migrations. Our students
are living in a complex, technologically advancing, ever changing, diverse, and
interconnected world. Our students
go to school in this world and one day they will work, most likely, in a global
marketplace.
By
teaching our students about the global community, we strengthen our local one. The World Wide Color Wheel Project is one dynamic
and timely way to partner art and technology in an engaging way in the art
room, while at the same time introducing students to a world they need to know
more about.
For
more information on the World Wide Color Wheel Project or to register to
participate, contact Trina Harlow at the links below.
Trina Harlow is an art teacher at Folsom Elementary School in Prosper, Texas.
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