Virtual environment-supported visual arts education for high school students

The research focuses on the absence of an educational web page that provides access to topics catering to the needs of the art education. The overall aim of the study is to create content for a website that will support the high school Visual Arts curriculum. In line with this aim, the website www.gorselsanatlaregitimi.com was prepared. The methodology follows a descriptive study within the scope of a survey model. Three different study groups were included in the research. Among the schools located in Ankara, one school was selected to represent each of the Anatolian High School, Vocational High School, Fine Arts High School, and Private High School categories. The Visual Arts teachers working at these schools, the students taking the courses, and experts in the field of Visual Arts formed the study groups. The website developed by the researcher was requested to be assessed by the participants through a questionnaire. When the quantitative data obtained from the students were analyzed, it was concluded that the students rated the designed website as "adequate", "good", or "excellent" in terms of many features, with a rate exceeding 90%. In general, the rates of finding the website to be "poor" ranged between 2% and 4%. The qualitative data analyses, namely interviews conducted on teachers and experts, indicated that visual arts education could be supported through virtual environments within the context of the innovations brought about by the new era, the COVID epidemic, and technology. It was also noted that this course could be taught in a hybrid classroom setting. Furthermore, the website was deemed suitable by experts, and it was determined that it could be actively used not only in high school visual arts courses but also in teaching of visual arts undergraduate programs. The overall picture of the results indicated that the content of the website, designed to support the high school Visual Arts curriculum, could enhance students' achievements in this course, heighten their interests and improve attitudes toward it. Key Words: Visual Arts, Visual Arts Education, Secondary Education, Virtual Environment.