Artsonia.com is an interactive website formed to showcase children’s art. It is currently the largest student art museum in the world! There are so many wonderful assets to using this program. One of the most unique assets is the availability to view and understand multicultural art, giving our art students an opportunity to view other children’s art from all over the world. This type of online web 2.0 tool really helps get the students involved in art critique and discussion, and opens up a world of opportunity for them by offering them their own web gallery. I believe one of the most important factors of being a successful educator is the inspiration and courage we give our students. Artsonia does both. By uploading their artwork they can get recognition from family members, friends, other students, teachers, and more. The students are able to share stories and lessons, and their families and friends can even purchase their art directly from the website. The funds collected from any sales, goes back to the school to be used for the art program, which is a great fundraiser for schools on a tight budget.
Parent involvement is such an important part of student work. Getting the parents motivated and excited for their student's online gallery is a great way to connect them to your classroom and to their child's success in art. Getting the parents on your side is sometimes the most difficult task a teacher can have. Artsonia increases the parent’s involvement in many ways. They can check up on how their child is doing in school and see the interesting projects their children have completed. They can also e-mail the artwork as a proud parent to relatives and friends, which in turn will help boost their child’s moral and help influence them to continue working hard in art. When families are on board, it really helps give our students confidence which is a very important factor of producing successful art.
The most beneficial use is for the teachers. Many school districts (including the one I am currently working for) do not have computers for student use in their art classrooms. Artsonia can still be integrated into the class by posting artwork online and e-mailing it out to parents, fellow teachers, administrators, etc. It can be viewed from anywhere and shared with anyone. Artsonia is also a wonderful way to share lesson plans with other art teachers from all over the world. I find some of my best lesson plans come from an ideas given from other teachers online. All types of information, and discussions can be shared by students and teachers a like. And most importantly Artsonia is a perfect way to show off how great your students are. It is also important to get your fellow teachers and administrators involved in your student’s work and to show how great of a teacher you are. By posting your student’s work you are creating a life long web gallery and portfolio for your students to archive for many years to come. I really look forward to using this website in my art classroom.
Tyson, I couldn't agree with you more...this is a must for every art teacher! I signed up for an account, and can't wait to begin posting student work! As you said, it is a perfect way to get parents really excited about their kids' work. Not only can they view it in such a neat venue...but the ability to order the keepsakes makes it even more memorable (and it's nice that Artsonia doesn't get pushy on the selling of the keepsakes). They make art advocacy and appreciation an easy incorporation for teachers; providing permission slips, tips and suggestions, and purposeful e-mails (I've never gotten spam or frivolous e-mails from them).
ReplyDeleteI also think it is just so special for the student artists! I plan to link Artsonia on our school website to make for easy parent access. I also hope that the link will get others that visit our school site to see the great things we are making in art class...call me crazy, but sometimes I like to "show off" what kids are capable of! :-)