Introduction

One of the most exciting things about the Internet is its potential for creative feedback, a richly human interweave of research, intercommunication, creativity and just plain curiosity, all important forces for education. We at CAPA would like to demonstrate, through development of a collaborative, interdisciplinary Common Knowledge project, that the arts and education together can play an important role in the development of this aspect of the Internet. We call this potentially rich mix of creativity, collaboration, and intercommunication the CAPA "Multimedia Interweave."

Our overall goal is to assist CAPA students to create a Multimedia World Wide Web site for the arts which will showcase the creative work of our students, motivate them to be more effective readers, writers, researchers and planners, enable them to communicate with other students and artists, both in the district and around the world, and serve as a resource and model for other arts programs in our school and the district at large. Another important goal, stemming directly from the first, is to assist each student in creating a "virtual" portfolio, stored on computer discs, that can be maintained throughout their secondary education experience and showcase their work when they apply to college or seek professional employment. (The portfolios will also be a part of our assessment plan.)

Our project grows naturally from our school's CEIP Plan in at least four areas: 1. the CAPA Mission Statement calls on us to "provide intensive art instruction" leading to "satisfaction, motivation, self-discipline, and a heightened self-esteem inspired by participation in the arts"; 2. included in the Action Plan is the long range goal for our students of "hands on experience with the power of the computer as a creative tool and a resource for creative learning" with the objective of updating computer technology at CAPA "to reflect what is needed for our students to compete in the field of arts and technology"; 3. another long range goal is: "To equip and develop resources in the library which will give students access to computer-generated data sources"; 4. another goal is to "encourage active involvement of parents and community" (a key factor of our project assessment plan is parental and community involvement).

Part One - Curriculum Project

a. Problem statement:

1. The economics of the art world (visual art, music, literature, etc.) have been transformed forever by the computer revolution to the point that arts education can no longer be regarded as in any sense a "frill." Employment opportunities for individuals familiar with computer art, videography, MIDI, direct digital audio and desktop publishing have been soaring for years. Now, at a time when practically every business feels the need for its own World Wide Web site, there will be a dramatically increased demand for Computer/ Multimedia/ Internet savvy visual artists, writers and musicians. As a school for the creative and performing arts, it is our responsibility to provide training on this level to our students and to serve as a model of up to date arts education for the district as a whole. Needless to say, with budgets falling dramatically every year, we have been unable to do this. We have, for several years, had a computer arts lab and additional computer facilities in the Art Department, English program and Library. But the resources are thin, mostly outdated, and what little we have cannot easily be shared.

2. Of the many very talented young artists, musicians, etc. attracted by CAPA, a certain percentage have learned to draw a mental line between the arts, which is often exciting, and academic education, which, for them, often is not. Such "at risk" students are likely to be motivated by projects which cut across disciplinary lines, linking the arts and other "exciting" things, like computers, with academic basics. Yet we rarely have the opportunity to attempt the sort of interdisciplinary approach which can be of use to these young people. We feel that our Multimedia Interweave, with its mix of academics and the arts is exactly the kind of project that can reach such students, motivate them and challenge them to be both technologically aware artists and effective communicator/ researchers.

b. Curriculum Activity

First Stage goals: the students will be able to access the Internet, use its resources to conduct research involving data retrieval and intercommunication, and be able to program a simple Internet Web page.

During early Fall 1996, we plan to identify a group of tenth grade students from our Art and Music programs who are both interested in becoming involved in the project and capable of making positive creative contributions to it. We will make a special effort to identify and include as many students as possible from among those who may be having difficulties in reading, writing, problem solving and Library skills. An important goal of our project is the motivation of such individuals to improve through active involvement with our group effort.

While equipment is being installed and connections wired, all participating students will be trained in basic Internet research techniques by Ms. Valco, using the Internet links currently available in the Library. Such training is already part of the Library curriculum. One of the most important aspects of our project, research into the role of the arts on the Internet combined with efforts to identify and interact with other arts programs in Pittsburgh district schools and beyond, will begin as soon as training is complete.

During the same period, students in Mr. Childer's, Dr. Grauer's and Ms. Kennedy's classes will begin mapping out plans for their multimedia Web site. While from time to time the students and teachers will meet as a group, for the most part this phase of the project will be handled within the existing curricula.

Second Stage Goals: the students will be able to design and implement a Web site, in the form of a Multimedia "Virtual Gallery/ Coffee Shop." All, regardless of their arts specialty, will program the Web pages, their layout and the creation of explanatory text. All will conduct research to determine what art resources are already available on the Internet and which existing institutions and other students already on the Internet we might want to collaborate with. The students will also, via the Internet, get advice and gather information from professionals about the many vocational possibilities opened up by computers and the Internet itself. All participating students will initiate "virtual" portfolios. Parents with Internet access at home or at work will be encouraged to participate as well, by providing feedback in the form of suggestions and encouragement (see also the Assessment Plan).

Our art students will begin designing the look of our Web pages as part of their normal computer arts training with Mr. Childers. Music students will compose music suitable for the Web site. Dr. Grauer's art students will begin planning dynamic design projects for the site.

All the students, as part of their English classes, will begin preparing "copy" suitable for the various Web pages, as well as poetry, fiction and essays that will eventually be available for distribution at a "Coffee House" segment of the site. Web page programming, Internet research and communication will be supervised by Ms. Valco, with the assistance of Mr. Childers and Dr. Grauer.

During this stage the students will begin to compile their "virtual" portfolios, containing samples of their best work in their respective specialties. Each student will also initiate Email links with other art students from high schools in the district and various parts of the world, to share their work, trade information on the arts and collaborate on projects which, if successful, could become part of our Web site or that of the other institution. The students will contact arts professionals and organizations which could help them in the planning of their careers. Our students have already begun a similar process with existing equipment in Mr. Childers' electronic media class which already has (very limited) Internet access. CAPA students have, with the assistance of Ms. Valco, already produced a Web site for our school.

The video(s) will be scripted and videotaped under Mr. Childers' guidance, edited under the guidance of Mr. Childers and Dr. Grauer, with musical accompaniments created under the guidance of Dr. Grauer. Ms. Kennedy will assist at-risk students in developing the language skills necessary for effective scripting. (While such a project may seem inordinately ambitious, in fact video production projects are a regular part of Mr. Childers' curriculum.) Research into Web site technology and possibilities for further collaborative links created with other district schools and Arts High Schools worldwide will be conducted under the supervision of Ms. Valco.

Fourth Stage Goals: The students will be able to administer their Web site, make decisions about what is to be included from within CAPA and develop strategies for making the site available as an arts resource for the entire district. Art and music students from all city schools will be invited to contribute work. Our students will cooperate in the training of students and faculty from other schools in the district who wish to create similar sites.

Once the site is in place, we can move to the next phase of the project, in which all aspects of the school can participate. Creative work by all visual arts and music students can at this phase be considered for inclusion. In addition, videos of CAPA dance productions, theater productions and concerts can also be made available for world-wide distribution via the site. Cooperative projects with other district schools, with or without their own Internet access, can be developed as a result of earlier contacts. Regular use of the Internet by all CAPA students for research and interactive, creative communication of all kinds, through all aspects of the curriculum will, by then, be well under way.

Instructional Procedures

Many of the instructional procedures for our project are already discussed in general terms above. In this section we provide more specific information on how each team member will implement his or her own instructional plan.

Mr. Childers:

To some extent certain project goals are already being implemented in Mr. Childer's classroom. Two copies of the program Adobe Photoshop are currently in use. This professional level program, used by computer artists worldwide, enables students to scan images into the computer and manipulate them in a variety of ways to produce a new form of collage-like art. Mr. Childers has also been teaching his students to access art related materials and information over the Internet and to use HTML, a language for the design of World Wide Web pages. Training in Photoshop, Internet access and HTML will be an important part of the instructional plan for our project in its early stages.

When the art students have become familiar with these two programs, Mr. Childers will train them in nonlinear video techniques using Macromedia programs such as Macromind Director and Quicktime Movie. (They will have already received video production training as part of their normal curriculum.) These computer programming languages enable students to take images scanned-in and manipulated in Adobe Photoshop or filmed with a video camera, combine them with digitized music and/or speech, and edit all elements to create digitized video productions which can be displayed on today's home computers. Training in this process will be of enormous benefit to our students from both a creative and a vocational point of view - all these tools have become an essential part of the world of commercial art. Final production of such videos will require a powerful, high memory computer system of the sort we are hoping Common Knowledge will provide.

Dr. Grauer:

Dr. Grauer has already, for many years, been training his music students in the use of MIDI based keyboards and computer music software. Using programs such as Performer, Concertware and M, Dr. Grauer's students regularly compose original compositions for realization by both live performers and computer controlled synthesizers. Dr. Grauer's art students are trained in the use of his programming language, VPL (Video Procedures Library) which, in its latest version, is capable of producing animation either from student drawings or scanned images. The most advanced version of VPL, which cannot run on our outdated Tandy 1000s, will be available to our students if new computers are acquired through our project.

Such computers would also enable Dr. Grauer to work with Ms. Valco in training participating music students to access music and music related information over the Internet. Original compositions by music students will be digitized for presentation at the Web site, either as .WAV files to be downloaded or RealAudio real time "streaming" files. The new computer systems will allow our students to develop a familiarity with state of the art music software, such as Finale, Encore, Cakewalk, programs which are now used worldwide in recording studios and film and video production.

Dr. Grauer's participating music students, will collaborate with Mr. Childers' art students in the production of videos (see above). Song writing collaborations with students producing poetry with Ms. Kennedy will also be encouraged. Dr. Grauer's participating art students will create animations which can be incorporated with videos or simply made available for downloading at the project Web site. Again, this will quite easily become a part of Dr. Grauer's computer lab curriculum.

Ms. Kennedy:

Our project will make possible for Ms. Kennedy a new aspect of her English curriculum: the creation of a "Virtual Coffee House" as a vital ingredient of our Multimedia site. This would involve original works created by students in Creative Writing and English classes and would consist primarily of fiction and poetry. However, the possibilities of expansion into other media are logical and quite exciting to consider. Students writing literary pieces would be invited to collaborate with art and music students to create poems or stories with accompanying photographs/ art work or to transform poems into songs. A "graffiti" segment of the Coffee House could be put into play, where viewers of the site would be encouraged to participate with "creative" responses, the best of which could become a permanent addition. Eventually a hard-copy publication of "the best of" the virtual coffee house could be produced.

Ms. Kennedy would also be available as a guide to all students in the preparation of textual materials for the site, including video scripts. Such consultations could, for the most part, take place during her regular classes. Students of hers involved with our project would be given assignments in line with project goals whenever possible.

As part of their normal library classes, students are instructed on how to use the various Internet resources as a tool for research. Students participating in our project will be encouraged to focus their research on arts related topics: location of Web sites for art, music and literature; research into technical information pertaining to Web site design in the arts; research into various vocational possibilities in the arts.

Having access to an electronic mail service will permit online conversations between our students and other students in district schools, other students in other Arts schools worldwide and experts/ professionals in the fields of art, music and Internet communications.

Training in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language, a computer language used for the creation of Web sites) is rapidly becoming a standard part of the library curriculum at CAPA.. Students participating in our project will focus their HTML work on creation of the project Web site, and related individual or group oriented Web sites. While working on their HomePages students will be instructed to e-mail their work using the attachment command so instructors can print out a hard copy and correct mistakes. All work should be collected and saved in the student's portfolio.

Common Knowledge technology will, naturally, transform all aspects of the Library Internet curriculum, now available on only two systems. With an expected influx of from seven to nine new Internet capable computers in the Library, all CAPA students will, at some point, have access to Internet resources.

d. Assessment Plan

Assessment of Student work will be based on the Arts Propel process and the outcomes listed in the Pittsburgh Public Schools Outcome Folder. Since student portfolios are already part of the project, the Arts Propel Process, which makes use of such portfolios, should be easy to apply. Students will keep, on computer discs, "virtual portfolios" of digitally produced art, music and videos (the "Production" aspect of Arts Propel) as well as digitally stored (via Word Processor) journals (the "Reflection" aspect). Evaluation will stress the importance of students being able to critique their own work and the work of their peers (the "Perception" aspect), with guidance from the teachers, who will help the students set specific goals and assessment criteria at all stages of the process. In keeping with the Arts Propel spirit, assessment will be process, not result oriented. Special attention will be given to at risk students so that we can continually adjust our goals to make the project maximally beneficial for them.

School staff and administrators, parents, the Common Knowledge staff and the students themselves will be asked, on an ongoing basis, to evaluate the design and educational value of the Web Site via Email. Student feedback will be extremely important to this project. By surveying and interviewing students, and studying their journals, the project team will be able to evaluate the project and make changes when needed. From time to time, our team will meet to evaluate the project and at such times the curriculum may be revised.Part Two - Design and Implementation Team

Our team consists of Dennis Childers, whose responsibilities will include guiding students in electronic imaging (video and computer art) and multimedia programming in HTML; Victor Grauer, who will work with both music and art students in the CAPA computer arts lab, guiding in the creation of both music and animation for the Web site and will also help with necessary programming; Karen Kennedy, who will assist students in the creation of textual materials for the site; Joanne Valco, CAPA Librarian, who will train the students in Internet communications, data retrieval and Web page programming. Our project advisor, who will be retiring this Spring, is Gretchen Jacob. Gretchen's role has been to advise us on aspects of curriculum planning and the Arts Propel assessment process. While she is not a part of our "team," we want to recognize her assistance here.Demonstrate that the proposal is not the work of a single individual:

Ms. Valco, Mr. Childers and Dr. Grauer, the initiators of this project, have been meeting regularly, both in person and via Email, to plan our proposal. Though Ms. Kennedy joined us a bit later, she has become an active and creative participant. An initial sketch was developed by Dr. Grauer, with considerable editing and additional major contributions by Ms. Valco, Mr. Childers and Ms. Kennedy.

Management - (Describe how the team will manage the project in the school): the team will be meeting on a regular basis with Mr. Garrick, music coordinator and Ms. Bates, art coordinator, so that any possible curriculum conflicts can be anticipated and dealt with. The site coordinator will meet with Mr. Thornhill, our principal, on a monthly basis to discuss progress and iron out problems. Fortunately CAPA has a long history of adapting to special projects and circumstances and we anticipate no serious problems.

Designate a site coordinator: Dennis Childers Align the proposal with the school's CEIP plan: see paragraph three, above.

Part Three - Equitable Distribution of Resources

1. Statement of need

CAPA is a rapidly growing and successful arts magnet with minimal resources. Our budget has been cut drastically over the last few years. The computer arts lab still consists exclusively of Tandy 1000 and Mac Plus computers that can no longer meet our student's needs for up to date technology training. Internet access is strictly limited (two computers in the library and one in the electronic imaging facility). While our faculty includes individuals with extensive experience in computer (and other) technology and our school has been a pioneer in this area, our facilities are hopelessly limited and out of date.2. Under-represented populations

a. Needs -- We are a magnet school with 50% minority representation. Our student population, while highly talented, contains a large number of children from economically deprived families (around 40% of our students participate in some form or other in our free lunch program).

b. At risk students -- Many of our students became interested in the arts at least partly because of difficulties with their academic subjects and a good many are still at risk in this area. We know from experience that when academics are combined with the arts, many of these students become more motivated. Our project is designed to identify students who are at risk with respect to reading, writing and research skills and motivate them to improve through participation in the creation of Web site texts, literary works and video scripts along with Internet research.

3. Continuity

Our "feeder pattern," as an arts magnet, consists of all the arts programs in all schools in the district. Development of cooperative relations with many of these programs is part of our plan. In this regard we will design our Web site as a resource for all arts teachers and students in the area (see above).