Description |
Progress Made |
Intended Audience |
Check it out |
I have built a Fine Arts Resource Page to add to our school district's website. This will enable the fine arts teachers to share needed resources such as risers and PA systems throughout the district.
This project will benefit teachers and students alike. Teachers will be able to easily find equipment for concerts and resources for class that are shared throughout the district. It will reduce the steps required for finding the things that they need. In the past, a request was sent out on the fineart reflector and then the teacher waited for a response. Upon getting responses, the teacher then had to choose which school had what he/she needed. My web page will allow them to jump right to this step. Students will benefit indirectly because their teachers will be able to locate and use resources much more quickly and easily. This should make the teachers much more willing to take advantage of the district's resources.
I have built a home page and two other pages-one for music and one for art. They have been decorated, uploaded and tested. I also asked approximately 10 or 15 people to look it over and comment on whether anything needs improvement. I sent a copy to the finearts coordinator (note-we will be without his services when the school year starts) and he was impressed. He suggested I send the URL to all the fineart teachers through the reflector and ask for their comments. I did that but have not heard from anyone that hasn't already responded to my request for suggestions. To date, counting the finearts director, I have heard from 5 of the music teachers. I have entered some information in the art page but I have not gotten the cooperation from the art teachers that I have from the music teachers. Apparently, they are not willing to share their things for fear of not getting them back. Not wanting to have a blank page, however, I have inserted some useful resources available to them on the web, whether they choose to use them or not! The district apparently does own some art videos, but no one knows where they are. Once they are located (if they are located) they can be added to the page. Taking the advice of several people, I added a link to return to the home page after each section. I also added, at Jeff's suggestion, a listing of Performance Rooms for those that teach in schools with small gymns and/or no stage.
My project page can be seen at http://students.ed.uiuc.edu/langellr/fineart.htm. As for the question: Can a finearts director position be virtually eliminated with the use a fine arts resource page? The answer would have to be no. It could make his/her job easier but the human touch is still needed. Who will set up the art and music teaching schedules? Who will make sure the resource page is kept up to date? The computer is not the solution to the problem but merely helps to organize.