Same destination two different approaches
It has been difficult to gather the stakeholders together for this project.
I feel like I have all my ducks lined up, but no one is hungry. Coordinating everyone’s schedule is a challenge. My sponsor Beth has a very different idea about going forward with this project than I do. We both have a vision of VT Art Trails supporting artists and offering classes. However, her aim is to get the southern VT art trail going now. This is not a part of the deliverables for my capstone, but a future project in my eyes. My focus is to get people together first online in VT Art Trails.com and begin to collaborate on the project! This is being done by my form I put on the website, and Google Docs tracks all the results for me…which have been quite interesting. I have about 14 entries from the website so far, and I clearly see artists lack of confidence. It is really incredible:
“not too sure I am qualified to lead” in response to: what topic would you be interested in leading a discussion on?
Also, this comment is about participating in a class on how to instruct online, the artists’ words: “This scares the “____” out of me”
There are some very real issues to deal with here, resistance to change in regards to technology, lack of self-confidence, and lack of vision.
It is MY aim to gather these artists together, by giving them a “gallery space” on VT Art Trails, and giving them a forum space to collaborate and have discussions in…this will get the creative energy started, and get artists over the hurdles of having a conversation, and creating online. It is so rich you can’t believe it until you experience it! I will tell them!! It really is all about Mentoring.
Kevin Burke and I had a wonderful conversation about mentors, listen for it on the home page of VT Art Trails, it should be there soon. It is at the core of VT Art Trails.
Because Beth, my sponsor, has limited experience with technology, she cannot imagine how I believe and KNOW how this beast will perform and function. Thanks to my work at the Grad Center at Marlboro, I feel quite prepared to use these precious open source tools [Joomla, Moodle]. Simply creating the art trail will not make a lively online environment. Involving the artists and stakeholders from the start will. There are many levels I am trying to create here, and I think they will all be needed to create a successful online learning space.
