Development, implementation, and effectiveness of using an online lesson in visual arts education: A design-based study

This chapter critically reflects on the development, implementation, and evaluation of an online lesson. This online lesson was transformed from a 3-hour session of a course entitled “Aesthetics and Art Criticism” originally delivered in a direct in-person contact mode. The course was for a group of Year Three Bachelor of Education students specializing in visual arts. Blending online lessons with traditional face-to-face teaching has become increasingly common, especially in the higher education context with adult learners. The online lesson consisted of narrated PowerPoint presentations, a quiz, Coursera participation, and construction of a Wiki document. The chapter begins with a discussion of the possibilities, advantages, and examples of online lessons. The second part of the chapter is a description of the methods used to create, conduct, and evaluate an online lesson. A design-based research was the methodology used to develop, experiment, and reflect on the online lessons in three iterations. The last part of the chapter is a presentation and discussion of the findings obtained. Views on the benefits of the online lesson, areas where improvements could be made, and student preferences for the types of activity were collected through an online questionnaire consisting of a survey and open-ended questions. Convenience, flexibility, and autonomy of learning and the reviewability of online lessons were the main advantages recognized by the students. The students also valued the opportunity to learn through public open learning courses and collaboratively construct resources which would be useful in their future teaching. Problems were identified, and ways of improvements in areas including difficulty in downloading, lack of interaction, incomplete participation, and easy distraction were discussed. Copyright © 2021 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.