David A. Bretey Jr. and Professor Sheffon D. Hill, Visual Arts
The Internet has started a new revolution of communication which will change the way people learn and communicate forever. These changes are particularly felt in the field of education. Information can be updated and distributed world-wide, instantaneously. Next, because information is more interactive and more visual, its content can be more easily understood by everyone. To broadcast or publish on the web costs very little, especially when compared with the cost of producing a movie, or publishing a book. Most importantly, it cost almost nothing to get information off the net. Time, money, and accessibility to information have all been improved by the Internet. Education, the way we teach and learn, will never be the same. What many people may still view as a nice extra, or a cool toy for leaming, instructing, and communicating is quickly becoming a necessity.
As I began to develop the BYU Area of Art Education web site I envisioned classrooms of the future both in the public and private sectors. I thought of the pressing need to educate teachers and students on how to use this valuable tool. The site I planned would advertise information about the department’s facilities, faculty, and the mission of the program. Pages with links to pictures, museums, artists and educational materials would also be archived on the site. Most importantly, I wanted this site to be a training ground for art education professors and students so they might better learn to use this valuable tool of communication.
While under construction I realized that the site was not going to produce the outcome I had intended. If the web site was to be used as an educational tool it would need to be maintained and expanded to fit the needs of BYU’s Art Education program. I also realized that while I might have time to create a web site before I left BYU I would not be there to help perpetuate the existence and use of the site. To counter this problem I decided to write a proposal, to the Area of Art Education, which would promote the development of a web team. This proposal quickly became the new focus of my project. The proposal outlined a more effective way of implementing the use of the Internet into Art Education’s current curriculum and created the foundation for a much better site.
“Art Ed’s Web Manual,” focused on four important areas—objectives for the web site, the target audience, the functions of the web team, and the educational aspects of the site. Another section also outlined a three stage plan for developing the site. The rest of the proposal mapped out the key pages of the web site and gave examples of sites already on the web, related to the Arts and Education (Fig. 1).
Writing the proposal became more of a learning experience than actually creating the site. The programming or writing of a site is fairly easy especially with the use of a web editor. However, in writing the proposal I was forced to think of how I could develop a program, which would be able to grow with the area of Art Education. Yet, at the same time, it needed to be instructional and innovative. During the planning process I realized it would be important to set certain standards and adapt key principles to give the site a good foundation.
More than a site that looks good or loads quickly, good web design fell into other areas which I had not originally thought of. Two examples of principles I used in designing this site can be seen in the diagram below. The first concept was to design the site with the user in mind. Instead of creating a large menu from which a person must haphazardly pick and choose. I planned the initial menu to ask, “who you are,” whether you be a professor, student, K-12 educator, or someone else (Fig. 1). When the user responds they are then given a menu customized to link them to their specific needs. For instance if a prospective employer was looking up something about a recent student their menu would not display, “Helpful links for Art Educators”. The second design principle was to keep all major areas of content as close to the surface of the site as possible. This saves the user time when getting to the information they are looking for. A good rule is to keep all areas of content no more than 3 to 4 pages away. As one can see this site is, for the most part, only three levels deep and only on occasion is it four (Fig. 1). These two things are only a few of principles applied, as I wrote and developed the ideas for this new web site.
With each new development their comes a window of opportunity which sheds new light on the world and the way we see it. While many such windows may exist in our lives they will not illuminate our dim surroundings unless we take it upon ourselves to open them. Exploring this new path of communication has led to other exciting opportunities in my own education and professional career. I hope the area of Art Education will share my enthusiasm for this project as I pass on the research and knowledge I have gained.
