Using an interactive art education application to promote cultural awareness: a case study from Turkey

In this study interactive technologies were used to promote cultural awareness. A series of five interactive art lessons was developed and carried out with 47 primary students at a private school in Turkey. The lessons included use of the Internet, asynchronous video conferencing, e-mail chatting. The students participated in an interactive learning experience with peers in Canada over a period of three weeks in which they exchanged cultural images and an instructional CD. They were interviewed later to examine their impressions. Most students stated that the interactive art lessons involving audio-visual technologies had encouraged learning and promoted higher levels of understanding. A considerable number had changed their views about culture. They liked learning about student viewpoints from other countries and mentioned that combining traditional and new technologies this way increases cross-cultural interaction.