ERIC Number: EJ1214230
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-May
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1476-8062
EISSN: N/A
Meaningful Learning through Art: Nature Photography, Haiku Writing, Mobile Technologies and Social Media as a Path to Oneself
Gil, Tali
International Journal of Art & Design Education, v38 n2 p360-375 May 2019
The article describes a workshop that combines nature photography and haiku poems writing with the use of smartphones in an outdoor educational setting. The workshop's purpose is to enhance the experience of being close to nature by observation and introspection. The participants use photography and haiku-writing as means of visual and textual self-expression. While wandering in nature, they take pictures and then write haiku poems inspired by them. Later they upload their photos to a WhatsApp forum created for the workshop. At this stage, they can write new haikus, inspired by the pictures taken by other participants, and upload them too. By the end of the day, the participants have a joint artistic product that contains all photos and haikus created at the workshop. The photographs that were chosen as samples for this article are analysed with interpretive tools based on semantic theory and Barthes' methodology, and take into consideration the Photovoice method's principles. The poems were analysed considering their content and artistic measures and in comparison, with haiku writing's principles, and then compared to the photographs' visual content. The analysis shows that observing nature through the camera's eye and writing poems while close to nature can generate self-expression and introspection. The use of mobile technology in the workshop does not intrude on the experience of being in nature; on the contrary, it is used to get the participants closer to it and to each other. The workshop described here contributes to the experience of meaningful learning through art.
Descriptors: Art Education, Photography, Poetry, Handheld Devices, Social Media, Outdoor Education, Technology Uses in Education, Telecommunications, Workshops, Creative Writing, Self Expression, Reflection
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A