Online art gallery is a world first for virtual education
The world’s first virtual world for learning, to be made nationally available to schools, is set to be unveiled at the Scottish Learning Festival next week, setting a benchmark in education technology for the future.
Developed by Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) and the Aberdeen-based virtual world company Second Places, the Children’s Art at the National Virtual Arena of Scotland, or ‘CANVAS’, will make education history when it is officially launched on Wednesday September 23 at Glasgow’s SECC.
CANVAS is a state-of-the-art online resource that will allow pupils from all over Scotland to exhibit still or moving images in a virtual ‘gallery’. Users aged three to 18 will be able to upload their art in a safer and more secure environment that is then visible to a huge audience of teachers and pupils across the country.
The CANVAS virtual world was designed by pupils at Auchterarder Community School who worked alongside renowned architect Sam Booth to create a beautiful virtual space for pupils across Scotland to enjoy. The pupils then took their ideas to Mark Duffy of Second Places who made them a reality.
Ron Cowie, Online Learning Facility Development Officer at Perth and Kinross council, says: “It was great to see children from both Primary and Secondary working together with designer Sam Booth, and the look on Mark Duffy’s face when he saw their amazing ideas.”
Jake Warrington and Angelo Salazar, S4 pupils who were involved in the CANVAS project, say: “We worked with many different people who helped us bring ideas towards the final piece. As part of the project, we enjoyed visiting the art galleries around Tayside, putting our ideas together and seeing the progress every month.
“We think it benefited us greatly and we would grab another chance to do a similar project again.”
Designed to make the concept of teaching and learning in a virtual world as user-friendly and relevant as possible, CANVAS will be accessible via Glow, the Scottish schools intranet.
The resource is participative and pupils will not only be able to exhibit their work but they will also be able to appear ‘in-world’ represented by a virtual character or ‘avatar’.
Derek Robertson, National Advisor for Learning and Technology at LTS, says: “I am hugely excited about CANVAS and the future possibilities it is opening up for technology in education. The participative nature of the design of the virtual world contributes to the core principles of Curriculum for Excellence.
“CANVAS offers a context in which young learners’ experiences, thoughts and understanding of their own work can be enhanced by the opportunity for meaningful dialogue and interaction that is focused on the artistic development.”
Mark Duffy, Director of Second Places, says: “We at Second Places see CANVAS as a fantastic and ground breaking use of Virtual Worlds. It’s everything we could hope for - innovative, intuitive and interactive. It is a feast of immersion that opens the infinite possibilities of Internet based Virtual Worlds to educators.”
CANVAS will encompass a main exhibition space as well as 32 separate galleries, one for each of Scotland’s local authority areas. There will also be a virtual auditorium for live and interactive seminars and tutorials that can sit up to 150 avatars.
Viewers of the art will also be able to leave comments beside images of their choice and have access to embedded videos recorded by the artists describing their thoughts and inspirations, further enhancing the opportunity for dialogue and the interactive learning experience.
Derek adds: “CANVAS has the potential to be a truly transformational resource that will exceptionally enrich learning in art and design for Scottish children.”
Ends
For more information contact:
Kirsten Blackie
Media relations officer
Learning and Teaching Scotland
E: K.Blackie@LTScotland.org.uk
T: 0141 282 5036 M: 07535 657 117
Notes to editors:
1. Learning and Teaching Scotland is the lead organisation involved in the development and support of the Scottish curriculum and is at the heart of all major developments in Scottish education www.LTScotland.org.uk
2. CANVAS will be officially launched at the Scottish Learning Festival at 12 noon on September 23 at Glasgow’s SECC. For further details on the festival and to apply for a press pass, please visit the media centre at www.scottishlearningfestival.co.uk
3. For a video tour of the CANVAS virtual world, please visit http://ltsblogs.org.uk/consolarium
4. If you wish to interview Derek Robertson about CANVAS, please contact Kirsten Blackie on the above phone number / email.