Introducing the Language of New Media to Art Education in Middle and High Schools, Participatory Models of Art Education
Abstract
As a society, we're on the threshold of a completely new means of communication that can be operationalised with post-internet education. This chapter demonstrates that by relinquishing a position of leadership as educators and fostering true collaboration between students and teachers, productive new forms of communication and creativity emerge.
Surveying art teachers across the Czech Republic, 90% felt compelled to work with new media, yet struggled to integrate it into lessons and feared it would kill students' imagination and artistic skills. Students surveyed either felt incapable of creating something new online, or didn't see a need to, yet complained of their lack of freedom.
Even for net natives, the internet remains a largely unknown realm awash with information. Students and teachers agree we're unable to function freely and creatively in this world, so how can we remove the barriers to the instructive utilisation of new media? Research carried out at the Pedagogical Faculty of Prague clearly shows that the most important current aspect for students' motivation is to give them creative agency within an environment that is seemingly overloaded with information yet gives the impression that either no creative project makes sense, or any project would be too demanding to be realised.