Getting Started
Harris’ model provides a comprehensive look at the variety of options available to teachers who are interested in pursuing student-centered, curriculum-based projects on the Internet. Still, with so many choices, the question remains “Where do I get started?”

Success in integrating the Internet and related new technologies into a school art curriculum depends as much upon the readiness of the teacher as it does on the readiness of students. If you feel a little shaky about introducing your students to the Internet, you may find security in beginning with a small group of students in an after-school situation, with a class of students already familiar with computers and the Internet, or with a lesson you’ve previously taught that lends itself to online learning.

It is unnecessary, or even unwise, to change your entire method of teaching or alter large segments of your curriculum all at once to accommodate the Internet–or any technological innovation for that matter. You need to allow yourself some time to get familiar with the Internet as well as the computer hardware and software you’re using, in order to avoid any technical problems or frustrations when implementing an online project. Once you are comfortable with the technologies involved, you will be in a better position to decide what kinds of online projects you wish to pursue with your students. With this in mind, let’s look at a few alternatives.

Interpersonal Exchange: A Starting Point
Perhaps the most natural way for art teachers to make immediate use of the Internet as a medium for classroom learning is by arranging student art exchanges with other schools around the globe. Work completed with traditional art materials may be sent via postal mail or scanned and transmitted electronically over the Internet. Work done with the aid of a computer may also be sent over the Internet. Such exchanges typically involve students in each location creatively responding to a common theme and then sharing the resulting work with the other school(s) involved in the project. This activity can also be combined with an e-mail exchange to provide a richer learning experience for students.

Art students can use e-mail to exchange personal views, experiences and information with their peers around the world. This is a simple classroom activity, but one that can reap valuable educational benefits. It involves electronically linking individual students or groups of students of similar age across geographic boundaries for the purposes of sharing ideas, experiences, and information. Online projects built around e-mail exchanges can range from having individual students swap personal messages with their distant partners (known as KeyPals) to having two or more classrooms in different locations study a selected topic together during a specified time period and then meet online to exchange views and share information (known as Global Classrooms).

The following examples illustrate how the Internet can be used to initiate, manage, and promote student art exchanges between schools:

Art Across America
In this ambitious project, a Wisconsin art teacher worked with her eighth-grade class to arrange a national exhibition of student artwork at her middle school in conjunction with Youth Art Month. A call for submissions was initially posted on the Getty’s ArtsEdNet Talk listserv. The resulting exhibition, entitled “Art Across America,” included 70 pieces from 35 schools in 30 states and Iceland. A traveling version of the exhibition toured all participating schools over a two-year period (Bolyard, February 2001).

Art-e-bytes Virtual Gallery
www.education.monash.edu.au/resources/peninsula/art-e-bytes
This website showcases the results of a number of creative art collaborations between art education students at Monash University and other interested participants from around Australia and overseas. Several projects are described that involve sequential creations with different media and technologies such as fax machines and email. (Burke and Jaeger, 2000).

My Place Asia Australia
www.curriculum.edu.au/accessasia/myplace
My Place Asia Australia is an educational exchange between Australian schools and their counterparts in China, Japan, Korea, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. Students in the participating schools are asked to create visual artworks reflecting their ideas, feelings and beliefs about places of significance in their lives and write an accompanying short story. The artworks and the translated stories are mounted and laminated to form a series of traveling exhibitions that are shown in participating schools and other community venues.

Electronic Postcards
Second grade students in Fort Worth, Texas and in Los Angeles, California studied David Bates painting “Grassy Lake” and then used the software program KidPix ™ to create electronic postcards about where they lived. The e-cards were then exchanged between the two schools over the Internet. (“Electronic Postcards Link California & Texas Schools,” ArtsEdNet OFFLINE Newsletter, The Getty Education Institute for the Arts, Winter 1999, 11, p.10.)

The Talking Heads Project
www.curriculum.edu.au/accessasia/talkingheads
In this intergenerational project, students are invited to create a visual portrait of an older person and to record that person's memories. When a number of Talking Heads portraits are displayed, they constitute a fascinating gallery of imagery and social history, providing wonderful opportunities for learning and discussion activities.

The easiest way to initiate a classroom exchange is by recruiting other teachers through an online discussion group or mailing list. Once participants are identified, logistical issues and other matters related to the exchange can be handled through e-mail. There are also a number of places to go to on the Web where you can find teachers and schools who are willing to participate in a joint classroom e-mail project or student art exchange. A list or these sources are provided at the end of this article.

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