(Photo: Art piece painted by a third grader after his teacher, Becca Reel, using the online course first previewed the videos to learn the painting process herself, then showed them to her class. The students followed the videos, first practicing techniques, then applying the techniques to create their own work of art. Painting courtesy of Becca Reel)
On-Line Art for Teachers
Sandy Brooke was an associate professor of art at Oregon State University for 25 years. She started on the main campus in Corvallis then moved to Bend in 2001 developing the bachelor of fine arts degreeand the art department at Cascades. Her paintings are shown currently in galleries around the United States. While at Oregon State, she developed a course called Art for Teachers. The goal of the course was to give teachers skills in paintingand drawing to use later in their classrooms with students. Don Brown has a doctorate in educational leadership,and has taught for 28 years in public schools. His expertise includes teaching both on-lineand in school districts. In addition he is an instructional technologist.
Donand Sandy first worked together starting in the Art for Teacher” class in 1990 in Corvallis. Since that time, they have collaborated on several projects designed to help teachers understand the visual artsand bring quality art instruction to their classrooms. Their latest collaborative effort has been a video-based online course that is offered to teachers globally, free of charge. This pairs Sandy’s knowledge of painting techniques with Don’s expertise in educational technology. The inspiration for this project originated from an exhibition organized by the George D. Green Institute at the Northwest Regional Education Service District in Hillsboro, Oregon.
The focus of the George D. Green Institute is to introduce students to professional works of art. They have produced videos based on the works of George D. Green, Sandy Brookeand other artists. In the videos, the painting techniques of the artists are demonstratedand discussed. The videos guide the teachersand students through the process of making a painting including; description of the project, a list of materials used, tips for student successand an evaluation process. The end result is for students to create their own works of art in the classroom.
The course is available to anyone via a Moodle website, https://simplifyteaching.moodlecloud.com/. Moodle invites teachers to create their own account to sign in, then gives them access to videos, material listsand tips guide them through several art projects. Select the area called Zone of Middle Dimensions to find the video site. Teachers can follow the directions on the homepage to create an accountand gain access.
The course was piloted by Becca Reel, a teacher at the Oregon Trail Academy near Portland, Oregon,and the site went live in November, 2017. Students responded well to the videosand found ways to express themselvesand understand abstract painting at a new level.