Saturday, July 30, 2011

Upcoming deadlines for exhibitions, grants, and public art projects

Just received the latest newsletter from CaFE. See opportunities below. As always, go their site directly to read more about the different postings

Please read the call information carefully as each call has specific guidelines and eligibility requirements. Good luck!

Upcoming Deadlines - @ July 30, 2011

Metal Arts Guild: Conspicuous
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Fee: $25.00 (Metal Arts Guild: Conspicuous)
Entry Deadline: 7/31/11

BACKGROUND: The Metal Arts Guild (MAG) of San Francisco together with Monday Spaces are proud to present CONSPICUOUS, an intimate exhibition that speaks to jewelry and how we can put it on view in our personal settings. CONSPICUOUS is a collaborative exhibition with Anzfer Farms who will respond to the featured jewelry by creating interactive, custom displays for showcasing the work in a personal setting. Our interests are in exploring these objects as a visual experience, and the role played when they are taken out of a functional context. Jurors Sienna Patti of Sienna Gallery, and Jonathan Anzalone & Joseph Ferriso of Anzfer Farms will select work from a national call for artists on callforentry.org. The exhibition will run November 10-21, 2011, and is concurrent with MAG’s 60th Anniversary Symposium, Forging Communities. Visit: www.metalartsguildsf.org for more information on the symposium. Open to artists within the United States who make jewelry. There is a $25 applic! ation fee. Deadline is July 31. Call is open to the first 150 applicants only.


33rd Annual Betty Bowen Award
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Fee: $10.00 (33rd Annual Betty Bowen Award)
Entry Deadline: 8/1/11

The Betty Bowen Award is open to all visual artists working in Washington, Oregon, or Idaho. This year one artist will be awarded a cash prize up to $15,000 and an opportunity to display their work at the Seattle Art Museum. Also,two Special Recognition Awards in the amount of $2,500 are often granted at the discretion of the committee. The application will close at 11:00 PM Pacific Standard Time on August 1, 2011. Betty Bowen (1918–1977) was a Washington native and enthusiastic supporter of Northwest artists whose friends established the annual Betty Bowen Award as a celebration of her life and to honor and continue her efforts to provide financial support to the artists of the region. Since 1977, the Seattle Art Museum has hosted the yearly grant application process by which the selection committee chooses one artist from the Northwest to receive an unrestricted cash award, eligible to visual artists working in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.


Visions of the Flint Hills Art Show & Sale
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Fee: $10.00 (Buttonwood Art Space: Visions of the Flint Hills Art Show & Sale)
Entry Deadline: 8/1/11

VISIONS OF THE FLINT HILLS BENEFIT AND SALE is a juried exhibit featuring art of the Flint Hills. The exhibit will run from October 7, 2011 thru November 25, 2011, in the Buttonwood Art Space, 3013 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri. Partial proceeds from the event benefit a non-profit organization which promotes the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve and the Flint Hills of Kansas. Open to paintings, photographs and 3-D works influenced by or depicting the Flint Hills geographic area in Kansas. Artists may submit up to four pieces for a $10 fee. Juror: Gallery Director, Jamie Lavin. All artwork will be juried on a piece by piece basis. All works will be 50% of sale to artist and 50% to Flint Hills charity.


City of Seattle: Burke-Gilman Trail
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Entry Deadline: 8/1/11

The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation, seeks an artist or artist team to create a permanent, multi-site outdoor artwork at select locations along the Burke-Gilman Trail. The budget for this project is $80,000, all-inclusive. The call is open to artists residing in Washington. The deadline is 11 pm (PDT), Monday, Aug. 1, 2011.


City of San Jose: Lake Cunningham Regional Skate Park
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Entry Deadline: 8/3/11

California Artists Only. The City of San Jose’s Public Art Program and the Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department are seeking an artist to create public art for the LCRSP. LCRSP is the largest skate park in California. California artists (only) are asked to submit qualifications for the design, fabrication and installation of a public art project for this facility. The selected artist will be asked to convey the energy and community of the LCRSP in the work, so demonstrated experience designing artwork for skate/BMX/surf culture will be highly valued for applicants.


En Foco: New Works Photography Fellowship Awards No. 15
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Entry Deadline: 8/4/11

En Foco's New Works #15 is open to U.S. based fine art and documentary photographers of Latino, African and Asian heritage, and Native Peoples of the Americas and Pacific. All photo-based works are eligible; winners receive $1,000 and honorable mentions $100 honoraria. All receive photo-products; a photographer's page on enfoco.org; a Professional Photographer's membership ($100 value); an article in Nueva Luz; and a group exhibition in New York City (2012).


Visual Arts Showcase, 29th Annual
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Event Dates: 11/4/11 - 11/13/11
Entry Deadline: 8/5/11

Visual artists in Oregon are invited to submit their work to Beaverton’s 2011 Visual Arts Showcase to be held November 4-13, 2011, in the Beaverton City Library.


San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District: Oakland Airport Connector Stations
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Entry Deadline: 8/12/11

In keeping with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) guidelines to incorporate art into mass transit projects, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) is soliciting qualifications from professional artists in consideration of the commissioning of artwork for two new stations: the new Oakland Coliseum Connector Station and the new Oakland Airport BART Station. The aesthetic and practical goals of the OAC project are to: • Provide a strong visual identity for each station through the inclusion of bold, sophisticated artwork. • Create artistic wayfinding elements, bringing riders through the open volumes of space and providing visual points of reference. • Provide a psychological connection between the two stations. • Attract new riders by creating more personalized and welcoming stations.


Portland2012 Biennial of Contemporary Art
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Entry Deadline: 8/12/11

Call to Oregon Artists Portland2012 Biennial of Contemporary Art Portland2012 is a major survey of work by visual artists who are defining and advancing the contemporary arts landscape of the state. The exhibition will be curated by Prudence F. Roberts, and presented March 9 through April 28, 2012.


Edgar Allan Poe Foundation: Poe Square
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Entry Deadline: 8/15/11

The Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston, Inc. (the Foundation), in coordination with the Boston Art Commission, seeks qualifications from artists, artisans and/or designers to develop public artwork(s) celebrating Poe and his creative work. The site is the Edgar Allan Poe Square, located in Boston, MA at the southeast corner of Boylston Street and Charles Street South and is a roughly triangular brick paved plaza of 1,700 square feet. Poe was a master craftsman, a versatile writer, and is considered America’s first great literary critic. Additional information on the site, and on Poe, his achievements, and his ties to Boston, can be found on the Foundation's website www.poeboston.org


Santo Foundation: Individual Artists Grants 2011
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Fee: $35.00 (Santo Foundation: Individual Artists Grants 2011)
Entry Deadline: 8/15/11

Santo Foundation Call For Entry: 2011 Individual Artists Grants


Metal Arts Guild: Movement
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Fee: $25.00 (Metal Arts Guild: Movement)
Entry Deadline: 8/15/11

MOveMENT is a juried exhibition of 3D works by California metal and jewelry artists, selected by Julie Muniz (Curator of Decorative Arts, the Oakland Museum of California) and Harriete Estel Berman (professional studio artist, founder of the Professional Guidelines). It will showcase the convergence of metal arts (sculpture and jewelry) with these various movements and how the Bay Area is the fulcrum at which they intersect. The exhibition will coincide with a one-day Symposium, Forging Communities, organized by MAG to be held at the Oakland Museum of CA on November 12, 2011. Go to www.metalartsguild.org for more information on the symposium. Call is limited to 150 applicants. There is a $25 application fee. Deadline: July 31 (11:59 pm MST)


Sound Transit, Seattle: North Link Lead Artist (2 commissions)
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Entry Deadline: 8/15/11
Number of Applications Allowed: 2

Sound Transit, Seattle: North Link light rail Lead Artist Commissions (2) Two lead artists are sought to join the design team for Sound Transit’s Brooklyn and Roosevelt stations, two underground stops along the north line of the Link light rail system. The selected artists will create a permanent artwork for each respective station, aid in identifying art opportunities for additional artists, and contribute thinking to the overall final design process, currently between 30 and 60%. The design phase of both projects will continue into early 2013, followed by tunnel and facility construction. It is anticipated that both stations will open for service in 2020/2021. The surrounding urban and residential centers are expected to provide high ridership for Sound Transit’s growing light rail system. The civic presence of the underground station will contrast the neighborhood’s vibrant pedestrian streetscape. The lead artist budget is for each project is $360,000. The budget is! inclusive of design work, team participation, travel, artist fees and fabrication and installation of a permanent integrated artwork.


2011 Call for Public Art in Cherry Creek (PACC)
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Fee: $25.00 (Public Art Cherry Creek (PAAC))
Entry Deadline: 8/17/11

Public Art Cherry Creek (PACC) The Cherry Creek Arts Festival Organization’s 501c3 non-profit mission is to provide access to art experiences and support art education. The home of the Arts Festival for the past twenty-one years has been the Cherry Creek North District, Denver’s most vibrant outdoor shopping district, has just finished its multi-million dollar renovation. Within this project the district created 20 new art and garden spaces with benches, tables and chairs, elegant lighting and creative landscaping. The Arts Festival is pleased to provide the first in the next generation of public artwork to the district known as the Public Art in Cherry Creek Program or PACC. This is an open competition for professional artists residing in the state of Colorado in the United States.


City of El Paso: Call to Chalk Artists 2011
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Entry Deadline: 8/25/11

The City of El Paso’s Museums and Cultural Affairs Department invites eligible artists to apply for consideration to create temporary works of art using chalk on the city sidewalks of downtown El Paso as part of the fourth annual Chalk the Block Public Art Festival! Participation is open to all artists, who reside in El Paso, Las Cruces, or Ciudad Juarez (must have legal documentation to work in the U.S.). Applications must be submitted using the Call for Entry (CAFE) free online application system by August 25th 2011.

City of Seattle: Power and Sustainability Artist-in-Residence
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Entry Deadline: 8/29/11

The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, in partnership with Seattle City Light, the city’s power utility, will commission one artist to be an artist-in-residence. The artist will study the utility’s energy conservation programs and develop a series of projects to bring awareness to conservation in innovative ways. The artist will also implement a project illuminating City Light’s conservation and sustainability efforts at Seattle Center’s Next Fifty anniversary celebration in 2012. The artist will also develop the project ideas related to other energy conservation initiatives for his or her execution, as well as by other artists. The call is open to all artists residing in the United States.



City of Seattle: Prequalified Artists Roster
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Entry Deadline: 8/29/11

The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs will establish a roster of approximately 50-75 artists pre-qualified for future art projects at city utility facilities, in the parks, in the street right-of-way and other locations. The roster will be one of the means of selecting artists to develop permanent, free-standing or site-integrated artwork projects in a variety of sizes and complexities, with budgets ranging from $30,000 to $150,000. This call is open to professional artists residing in the United States. To be eligible to apply, applicants must have successfully completed a minimum of two permanent or temporary, site-specific commissions.


Alaska State Council on the Arts: The Connie Boochever Artist Fellowship
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Entry Deadline: 9/1/11

The purpose of the Connie Boochever Artist Fellowship is to recognize and assist EMERGING ALASKA ARTISTS of exceptional talent. Fellowships are granted through the Connie Boochever Endowment, through the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation. The program is administered by the Alaska State Council on the Arts. 2011 CATEGORIES: Visual Arts, including Film, Digital & Media Arts. ALASKA ARTISTS ONLY.


Artspace Call for Exhibition Proposals
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Fee: $10.00 (Artspace Call for Exhibition Proposals)
Entry Deadline: 9/1/11

Artspace is a non-profit visual art center dedicated to presenting quality exhibitions and educational programs within an open-studio environment. We have been recognized for presenting award-winning exhibitions in three exhibition galleries that feature regional, national, and international artists.


Artspace Artists Association Professional Membership Fall 2011
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Fee: $30.00 (Artspace Artists Association Professional Membership Fall 2011)
Entry Deadline: 9/1/11

Artspace Artists Association (AAA) is an organization of artists working together in Raleigh, NC to promote growth of the individual artist, to provide an environment of interaction with other artists and with the public, and to foster the mission of Artspace. Professional artists interested in becoming a member of the Artspace Artists Association must be juried in through a two-stage jury process. The first phase of the jurying takes place through www.callforentry.org. Artists who pass the first phase of the jury must be able to bring their work to Artspace in Raleigh, NC for the second phase of jurying.


City and County of Broomfield: Art for Awhile Sculpture on Loan Program
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Entry Deadline: 9/6/11

2012 Art for Awhile Art on Loan Sculpture Program Sponsored by the City and County of Broomfield, CO and the Broomfield Public Art Committee Art for Awhile is an exciting art on loan program created by the Broomfield Public Art Committee (PAC). Participating artists are chosen by the PAC to display their art and offer it for sale for one year. The program affords the artist increased public exposure and the opportunity to sell their work. •$1,000 Award - A $1,000 cash award will be given to the artist whose sculpture is deemed “Best of Broomfield” at Broomfield Days 2012. •Nine Works of Art - A total of nine outdoor sculptures will be selected September 16, 2011. •Three Locations - Three pieces of art to be selected for each of three landmark locations within the City and County of Broomfield.


Sprout Fund: Downtown Pittsburgh Public Art Project
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Entry Deadline: 9/12/11

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, The Sprout Fund seeks to commission an artist or artist team to create a signature work of permanent public art on façade of a building in a prominent Downtown Pittsburgh location. Artists must be a current or former Pittsburgh area residents or able to demonstrate a relationship with the city. Work in a variety of media and forms will be considered. 3-5 artists or artist-led teams will be invited to submit design proposals. Request for Qualifications Application Deadline: September 12, 2011 Project Budget: $100,000


Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts: Mort Abelson Scholarship 2012
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Fee: $25.00 (Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts: Mort Abelson Scholarship 2012)
Entry Deadline: 9/15/11

Honoring the man who opened up the jewelry industry to designers, this contest offers an opportunity to study with a world-class jewelry artist. The winner receives an all-expenses-paid scholarship from anywhere in the US to San Francisco (air, lodging, tuition and fees) for a master class of their choice during the Academy's annual 3-week long International Masters Symposium in April 2012. During the Masters Symposium, prominent jewelry artists, designers, craftsmen and experts from all over the world converge on San Francisco to teach professional skills and techniques in the area of their greatest expertise.


Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts: New Student Scholarship 2012
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Entry Deadline: 9/15/11

The New Student Scholarship was established to provide an opportunity for new students to attend the Academy. The winner receives an all-expenses-paid scholarship from anywhere in the US to San Francisco, including air, lodging, tuition and fees for any regular 3-day class.


WAOW, Inc.: 2011 Application for membership in Women Artists of the West
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Fee: $35.00 (WAOW, Inc.: 2011 Application for membership in Women Artists of the West )
Entry Deadline: 9/30/11

Application for membership in Women Artists of the West (WAOW, Inc.), an organization of women artists with members across the US and Canada. “Membership includes a page on WAOW’s web page with links to your private e-mail and web site. We have at least one juried show per year for our members and try for one other. We have an extensive communications program for our members.”


Denali Artist-In-Residence Program 2012
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Entry Deadline: 9/30/11

The Denali Artist-in-Residence program is now accepting applications for residencies through the summer of 2012. Details about the program history, answers to commonly asked questions, as well as information about previous Denali artists-in-residence can be found online at http://www.nps.gov/dena/historyculture/arts-program.htm All submissions for the summer 2012 program must be completed no later than 10 p.m. AKST/ 12 a.m. MST on September 30, 2011. (Entry system servers are based in Colorado, USA.)


Art Jewelry Forum Emerging Artists Award 2011
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Entry Deadline: 9/30/11

The purpose of the Art Jewelry Forum's (AJF) Emerging Artist Award (EAA) is to acknowledge promise, innovation, and individuality in the work of emerging jewelry artists and to advance the career of a promising artist . The award consists of an unrestricted cash award of $5,000. The award presentation will be held in 2012 at SOFA (Sculptural Ojects and Functional Art) New York or Collect. Additional informaton about the Art Jewelry Forum and this award may be found on the AJF website: www.artjewelryforum.org.


Scholarship for Beaders
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Entry Deadline: 10/15/11

The Revere Academy’s Scholarship for Beaders was founded to provide an opportunity for new students, working with beads in their jewelry, to attend the Academy. Scholarship includes tuition for any regular 3-day class, $50 administration fee, up to $100 in kit fees, plus transportation and lodging in San Francisco. Eligibility: Must be a new student to the Revere Academy, currently making jewelry using beads, and reside in the U.S.A. Eligibility: Must be a new student to Revere Academy, be currently making jewelry using beads, and reside in the U.S.A. Deadline: October 15, 2011 11:59pm (MST)


Clay Gallery: Cups of Fire - National Ceramic Cup Competition
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Fee: $25.00 (Clay Gallery: Cups of Fire - National Ceramic Cup Competition)
Entry Deadline: 11/1/11

A juried cup exhibition embraces a wide spectrum of ceramics cup forms both sculptural and utilitarian. The exhibition opens to all clay artists reside and work in the United States. The Juror of the exhibition is Susan Beiner. Cash Awards up to $500.


Au Naturel: the Nude in the 21st Century 2012
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Fee: $35.00 (Au Naturel: the Nude in the 21st Century 2012)
Entry Deadline: 11/7/11

Au Naturel: The Nude in the 21st Century is an international juried competition hosted annually by the Art Center of Clatsop Community College in Astoria, Oregon, with a focus on the time-honored tradition of the nude human figure, an art form that continues to inspire and challenge many artists today as one of the most potentially rewarding subjects to explore. This exhibit represents a wide range of interpretations of the human figure from representational to abstract, and is open to all artists from around the world working in any drawing, painting, and printmaking media in which the handmade mark is employed as the primary means of image-making.


ClaySpace: Clay3 2012
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Fee: $30.00 (ClaySpace: Clay3 2012)
Event Dates: 3/2/12 - 4/1/12
Entry Deadline: 12/10/11

A Regional Juried Ceramics Exhibition open to all artist working in: IL, MN, WI, OH, MI, KT, TN, AK, IA, and MO. All work must be no larger than 12" X 12" X 12", and use 75% of clay as the primary medium.


Blue Sky Pacific Northwest Photography Viewing Drawers 2012
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Entry Deadline: 12/23/11

Blue Sky established the Pacific Northwest Photography Viewing Drawers program in 2007 to feature a juried public archive of original prints by contemporary photographers based in the region. Visitors to Blue Sky’s galleries in Portland are welcome to enjoy work in the Drawers by simply opening any one of the archival flatfiles, or by asking the Gallery Attendant for assistance. The Drawers program has quickly become a favorite aspect of Blue Sky’s ongoing programming, available to approximately 25,000 visitors annually. For 2012—to coincide with the newly inaugurated Portland Photo Month (every April)—Blue Sky is expanding the geographic scope of the Drawers to include up to 80 photographers from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, and Alaska.


Mulvane Art Museum
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Fee: $35.00 (Mulvane Art Museum Crafts National)
Entry Deadline: 1/6/12

A national juried contemporary crafts exhibit.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Get Inspired

I recently read this quote by Heather Krasna - and it sums up the career job search process:

"Get inspired. Do the work. Do the research. Network. Tailor your application. Negotiate the terms. Do the work, again! Ask for help. Track your progress. And when you're done, promote your own success."

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Reflections on elearning and the final project

I love elearning.

I just do.

The meeting of a variety of folks, comfortably from my home. Better than sliced bread.

Learning in this environment has been fascinating, this is my fourth online course that I have taken. Two have been synchronous, and two asynchronous.

What I like about learning in the synchronous classroom: having a live feed with the instructor, visiting other websites with the class, meeting in the breakout rooms, talking to each other, sharing ideas.

What I like about learning in the asynchronous: having the class be self-paced and signing on when I want, as often as I want, when I can. Viewing videos. Love the freedom. Love the discussion boards, and joining the conversation when I want, as often as I want, when I can.

Teaching in the synchronous environment is fun for me. As a teacher, I like talking, sharing, encouraging others to reflect out loud. Chris is a great teacher too, we met in the online teaching course last semester and I am looking forward to our presentation.

Collaborating on the final project will be interesting, our greatest challenge will be to keep it short!!! I can see how easy it is too want to include too much content in the synchronous classroom. You need to balance content with interactivity, so the material makes sense. Otherwise the class material does not sink in, and not enough content gets absorbed. The interactive elements help in the absorption of material. Engagement leads to memory, which makes for a more memorable session as a whole.

A fine balance is needed in the synchronous classroom, and a deep sense of knowing which learning objectives can be taught in what amount of time.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

If learning is based on experience...

I really enjoyed chapter 3: Rethinking Learning Theory Within the Online Class. It raised many significant points and a few questions for me. Not being a trained educator, but coming to mentoring and teaching from industry, I never gave learning theory much of a thought. I loved what I did, was asked to teach it and how I did it, and a teacher was born. Reading Bender's theories and her descriptions of Blooms taxonomy, Gardiner and Dewy's theories fascinate me.

What especially gave me pause was the idea that if shared thinking in a group leads to socially constructed meaning, than we as a group either accept that meaning or we reject it. We have the opportunity to create a new meaning if the experiences of the group support a new conclusion. Our experiences of the world will determine our thoughts and conclusions, because thought cannot exist in isolation from the real world. Thought itself is a construct based on other constructs. So if you break that down into component pieces, you can reform it, like a jigsaw puzzle to create a new idea or thought, or shape. Like an art work. I love that.

For example, I teach creative entrepreneurial strategies to artists. It involves knowledge - giving them information to memorize such as the types of outlets for their work and where they are located, comprehension - understanding how the art world works though discussion of its rules and customs; application comes in when they then take that information and create a marketing packet to introduce their work to that market; analysis - based on their prior steps figuring out which is the right market and identifying good fit partners; synthesis - creating a strategy that can include traditional markets and new alternative exhibition opportunities instead based on what they've learned about the art world and its restrictions, and then evaluation - they judge what is right and wrong with the market, the value of their work in each market, and how can they individually or in a group create new ones.

What I found surprising in the reading was learning that knowledge did not imply understanding, they were separate pieces. And a good teacher needs to be aware of how her students think to impact their learning. So if I am teaching alternative strategies for artist's career paths, I have to know how they view the current state of the market, if they value it or not, or I cannot impress on them the need to be creatively alternative. To be creatively alternative, and an entrepreneur is part of the class, so that information would be important. I hadn't thought of it before.

Dewy's ideas came out in 1910! That blows me away. I especially loved "think about a new idea, experiment with it, experience what is occurring, and reflect on the process" - that is active learning. I find that to be really exciting, and can see how that could happen in the online class I'm designing on meditation and career planning. The more I reflect on it, the more excited I get. I look forward to using that as a formula for my upcoming class in Career Mysticism.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

First reflections - online learning

As I study and practice the roles in the online learning experience, I am finding how different it really is from the classroom experience.

In the classroom the teacher presents, the learners are more passive, and the resources are brought to the classroom for students to take home and absorb through homework or practice. You can gage the absorption of the material through eye contact, body language, and Q & A and adjust the content accordingly.

In the online environment, you need a tremendous amount of preparation of content that is visually engaging, and incorporates audio or video and a great deal of interaction so as to reach a vast array of learning styles and attention spans. In addition to being a subject matter expert, you need to be an engaging interpersonal communicator. Much more so than in the classroom it seems to me.

And then there are the tech needs, the instructor needs to be tech saavy as well as the learners in the online environment. You have to make sure everyone can access the system and can get through to the urls, and understands how to function and use the materials - mics headphones, video) for ease of learning. For an older teacher like myself, its a bit intimidating and exciting to be honest.

To help people relax in a classroom you can be welcoming, tell a joke or two, and people relax. In the online environment to help people relax, you also need a good sense of humor, but you have to help them want to engage with the system and want to engage with the content. Comfort zones become part of the experience, and the teacher has to create emotional engagement with each person and help them be comfortable, or s/he will loose them from the beginning.

So the teacher needs to know what the learning environment is for each student, work or home. And the demands of that environment need to be considered and the instruction tailored accordingly.

Interaction activities have to be a major part of the lesson plan, in both synchronous and asynchronous environments. And that fascinates me. And was a surprise. I'm really looking forward to figuring out how to create interactive moments in my classes - because I can see how the benefits of interaction reinforces the content through active sharing and comparing, and intensifies the bonding of the learners the absorption of the material, and the engagement with the instructor. What fun - I hope!