Explore Museums Around the World.... for FREE!!

Intro

I have recently fallen in love with using the street view and images on Google Maps to explore the world (list of places to visit). For instance, as my friend was physically visiting the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, I was viewing them online. I see it as a free way to expand my horizons while sitting in my living room. A new option is now being offered by Google: Google Art Project. 

Google Art Project provides virtual tours of art museums around the world. It is free and you do not need to set up an account to use it. There are two main ways of experiencing the tour: “Explore Museum” or “View Artwork.” Exploring the museum gives you the view as if you are actually walking around. Viewing the artwork shows you one painting at a time in which you may zoom in and out or go to the next painting.  I created a video explaining it in depth as opposed to trying, in vain, to explain it in written words.

I suggest pressing the "expand" button at the bottom right corner to watch it in full screen.

Pros &  Cons

+field trip to museums without permission slips and transportation fees

+“go” to places you wouldn’t be able to on a normal field trip (such as other countries)

+get an idea of the actual size of the paintings. For example, I’ve seen the image of the Mona Lisa hundreds of times but I’ve heard that it’s actually unexpectedly small.

+can navigate virtually as if you were there

+don’t have to worry about students breaking anything, pulling the fire alarm, getting left behind or lost, etc.
+audio tours and youtube videos produced by the museums as well as links to the museum website

-/+visual quality is low in “explore museum” mode however quality is excellent when you select a specific painting

-/+miss out on having a guide tell you about the paintings and cannot read the descriptions on the wall, but you can read about them under “viewing notes”

-sometimes “see more” under “viewing notes” gives information in a different language than English

-moving around in “explore museum” can be difficult

-controlling students exposure to nudity? If that’s an issue
-some of the paintings have glare on them from the “explore museum” mode

Lesson Plan Ideas

• Write about your reactions to this painting. What are your first impressions? What are your impressions from being zoomed out or zoomed in on a specific spot? Try using all five senses even though you are not actually there; use your imagination.
• Do a comparison project. Choose one painting or sculpture that you like, write or record your voice about your reaction to it, and then find out more information about the artwork and the artist. Then, discuss how knowing the background information changed your view of it for good or bad or did not change your view. Repeat for a piece of art that you find boring and do not like, and then compare your initial reactions to both paintings to your reactions after finding out more information.
• Discuss why someone would paint this? What moved them? Why would someone buy it? What is the importance of art and expression amidst a world of science?
• Write a story inspired by the painting they see. This could involve using the background information or not.
• Create your own artwork collection (account required). Choose five pieces of art that speak to you and write about what specifically strikes you in the comments. OR choose five views of one piece of art and write about what each one means to the big picture in the comments.

As far as TPACK, the Google Art Project lessons focus more on the technology and art aspect than on traditional academia. I tried finding some GLCE’s to support the above lesson plan ideas but I mostly only found those pertaining to writing and composing since there are no art GLCE’s of which I am aware. I think the benefit of doing an activity such as this with your students is demonstrating to them how the internet can give them access to the world.

P.S. I'm sorry that the video is not focused. This was my first time playing around with a screencasting software. I tried out a few of them and am not overly pleased with any so far. I'm open for any tips.