Driver’s Education

Project URL:
http://www.thebleedingedge.org/features/drivers_ed/drivers_ed_toc.html

How it works:
In this program, students work individually or in small groups to explore Web sites devoted to teen driving and safety. Suggested sites include traffic school: www.teendrivingsafety.com; tips by teens to help new teen drivers: www.teendriving.com; and driver’s license central:  governmentguide.com.

The students locate their own state’s motor vehicle department’s Web site and learn about how to prepare for their driving permit test at www.drivehomesafe.com/just_4_u_teens.htm They study for their test and take a practice quiz online at www.nydmv.state.ny.us/dmanual/default.html

Individually or in teams of two, the students pre-plan an animation sequence on a storyboard to illustrate a driving safety tip. They use digital media to draw their plans and animate them. The animated driving safety tips are saved in .gif or .swf file format for publication on the Internet.

Standards addressed:  
Students understand and apply media, techniques, and processes related to the visual arts and communicating various ideas. They also use computer databases to locate sources for research topics.

Materials used: 
Students do their research on a networked iMac lab with Internet access. To create the animations, they use Macromedia Flash or Adobe ImageReady .

The students:
The original participants were heterogeneously grouped seventh through tenth grade students in an elective animation class at the Institute for Collaborative Education, a small New York City public school. The reading, artistic, and technical skills of the students varied.

Overall value:
Driving can provide students with feelings of maturity and independence. Students in big cities such as New York are sometimes fearful of learning to drive. Driver’s Education is a fun way for kids of all ages to learn how to drive safely without ever getting behind a wheel.

Tips:
If your state doesn’t have an online driver's permit manual and quiz, get a copy of one from a motor vehicles department office and photocopy it. The students really enjoy studying for the driver's permit test! Encourage them to decide which driver's safety tip they feel is most important to illustrate. Let them design their own vehicle. Let their imaginations go wild while learning how to drive safely.

About the teacher:
Meryl Meisler, digital art teacher at the Institute for Collaborative Education, has taught art in the New York City public schools since 1979. A recipient of a Disney American Teacher Award as well as numerous Impact II grants and other awards, she serves on the Teachers Network Board of Advisors.

E-mail:
merylart@earthlink.net

Subject Areas: 
Art
Citizen Education
Technology

Grade Levels: 
7-10