Background
Art 10: Introduction to Visual Studies is an asynchronous online course offered to a diverse group of students at Penn State University. The course, in its recent offerings, has undergone multiple transformations to improve active learning, fostering the use of technology and multimedia resources, in addition to exploring art making, reflective writing, and peer critiques. Developed through several iterations of practice and student feedback, the course has migrated to a hybrid experience that capitalizes on active and experiential learning practices in a self-curated museum while mimicking an in-person studio environment.
Problem
Online asynchronous courses provide the learner with a lot of executive freedom at a loss for collaborative experiences. We wanted an opportunity to blend digital and analog skills to guide students, encouraging them to contribute their own artwork and research to the course curriculum, resulting in an ever-evolving student-led course.
Integrative Arts
The core of the class is in the creative practice of analogue // traditional art-making skills and artistic development, our goal is to foster additional aptitudes in collaboration; communication; critical thinking; adaptability; and technology, information, and media literacies. Producing learners equipped to tackle the coming challenges of tomorrow.
Limitations
- Doesn't consistently provide for peer-to-peer interaction
- Server connection and standardized hardware issues
- Frequent user-generated loss, required meticulous precision
- Subscription model changes
- Lacks social presence and the community that an architected space provides
- Technology and service learning curve can be excessive and steep
Collaborations
The Virtual Museum (VM) lends itself to hosting across mediums including images, 3D models, websites, and other multimedia resources. VM was intended to be a collaborative opportunity to share with other disciplines. We hope to make it available as an Open Affordable Educational Resource (OAER) for flexible synchronous and asynchronous discussions.
Platform Timeline
Spatial.io 2.0
Continuing our development of a community driven course, we adjusted for user-generated issues and added a more concise reflective experience using wall frames over the sticky note feedback.
Virtual Museum 2.0 and Next Steps
From our experiences building in Unity for our first Virtual Museum, we’re streamlining student access and future OAER opportunities by adapting to lessons learned. Virtual Museum 2.0 is currently in development in conjunction with our Digital Multimedia Design faculty and their partnerships.
Selected Student Artwork Gallery
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to the Office of the President (Penn State), Teaching and Learning with Technology, The Office of Digital Learning in the College of Arts & Architecture, and the Center for Immersive Experiences
Publications
Tredinnick-Kirby, Z., Divinsky, A., Redding, C., Cingolani, N., Berthold, B.E. (2024). Beyond Distance: Fostering Community in Online Art Courses Through 3-D Virtual Spaces. In: Guralnick, D., Auer, M.E., Poce, A. (eds) Creative Approaches to Technology-Enhanced Learning for the Workplace and Higher Education. TLIC 2024. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 1166. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-73427-4_24
Funding
Teaching and Learning with Technology Faculty Fellowship (2022-24) Opportunity Grant Professional Development Program (2025)
Contact
Anna Divinsky, Associate Teaching Professor, Integrative Arts, College of Arts and Architecture, Penn State University
Brendan Berthold, Instructional Designer, The Office of Digital Learning, College of Arts and Architecture, Penn State University