On the Value Orientation of Calligraphy Education in Colleges and Universities in Multimedia Era ()
1. Introduction
Calligraphy education has a long history in China. For a long time, calligraphy has undertaken the important task of cultural inheritance and promotion, especially in today’s society, material life is greatly enriched, and people’s demand for spiritual life is growing. Calligraphy, as a carrier of Traditional Chinese culture, is known to more and more people. At present, 69 colleges and universities in China have opened calligraphy courses. They offer calligraphy courses to teach students calligraphy skills, which greatly improves students’ calligraphy accomplishment and promotes the spread of traditional culture among students. However, the current era is an era of rapid development, especially in the aspect of multimedia. Not only are students affected by multimedia, their value orientation is constantly changing, but also school teaching is affected by multimedia, teaching methods and content are constantly updated. Calligraphy education presents a new trend. Multimedia technology + Weibo, Wechat, Tik Tok and other multimedia platforms of popular calligraphy education are becoming the development direction of calligraphy education. The number of studies on the integration of calligraphy education and multimedia is also increasing, and Hao Jiahui (2021), Zeng Yi (2021), Xue Junfeng et al. (2020) and other scholars have expressed views on this issue. They affirm the development of calligraphy education in colleges and universities in multimedia era. Calligraphy education is an education with traditional culture as its connotation, while multimedia is an open and trendy teaching method. One is an “old” way and the other is a “new” way, and they can easily lead to students’ confusion in value orientation in teaching. Therefore, it is necessary to study the value orientation of calligraphy education in colleges and universities in the multimedia era, explore the new mode of calligraphy teaching in the new media era, promote the integration of the “new” way and the “old” way, and better carry out calligraphy teaching.
2. Multimedia and the Multimedia Age
The word Multimedia originates from the great development of computer network technology and media communication technology. Before the advent of modern media technology, media was usually a single medium, such as text, image, sound, animation, etc. The composition of these media is relatively thin, the content is not sufficient, and the scope of application is relatively narrow, only can be used in a few fields. With the development of computer technology, a variety of media are gradually integrated. A piece of media information contains more and more data, and the dissemination of media information is increasingly convenient. Anyone can use simple tools to record and publish multimedia information. We have entered the multimedia age. Multimedia is not a simple fusion of traditional single media, but an interactive integrated network built on the basis of information fusion. On the one hand, users can receive and evaluate multimedia information through mobile phones and other mobile terminals. Users’ participation behavior itself is also a part of multimedia information, constantly expanding the capacity of multimedia information. On the other hand, multimedia is a kind of non-linear network structure, and multimedia links can be formed between any users, which leads to the information read by users on multimedia devices is always changing (Hao, 2021).
Information will have an impact on users’ values, and under the influence of different information, users’ values will also change constantly. If it is affected by good value information, the user’s value concept will change to a positive direction; if it is affected by bad information, the user’s value concept will change to a negative direction (Xia, 2022). In the multimedia era, users are receiving different information all the time. How to avoid the interference of users by bad information and ensure the correctness of users’ value orientation is a problem worth discussing. Especially in the education industry, many teachers are used to carrying out teaching activities with the help of multimedia information, such as showing multimedia files to students and let students take the initiative to search for relevant information on the multimedia network. These teaching methods help to broaden students’ vision, improve their multimedia application ability, but also inevitably let students come into contact with some bad information, and then affect the value orientation of students.
3. Calligraphy Education in Multimedia Era
3.1. Application of Multimedia in Calligraphy Education in Colleges and Universities
At present, there are also a large number of multimedia applications in calligraphy education. First of all, in the aspect of teachers, modern calligraphy teaching is no longer to let students immerse themselves in writing, but requires students to acquire more calligraphy knowledge and gain rich learning experience in the process of writing. In calligraphy education in colleges and universities, students’ calligraphy skills and understanding ability of calligraphy knowledge will be comprehensively investigated. In this mode, teachers need to cultivate students’ writing ability on the one hand, and on the other hand require students to expand their horizons and view calligraphy from a more systematic perspective. Teachers usually choose certain multimedia courseware to play, such as introducing the origin and development of a school of calligraphy, introducing the life stories of a calligrapher, etc. With the help of multimedia technology, students can obtain information more intuitively, which is helpful to improve students’ understanding ability. Secondly, in terms of students, in the process of learning calligraphy, students can also use multimedia equipment to appreciate famous calligraphy and communicate with other calligraphy learners (Liu, & Yin, 2021).
3.2. The Importance of Multimedia in Calligraphy Education in Colleges and Universities
It is of great importance to introduce multimedia technology into calligraphy education in colleges and universities. Calligraphy education is a comprehensive education. With the improvement of calligraphy teaching level, we have not only paid attention to students’ writing ability, but also need to pay attention to students’ understanding ability and comprehension ability of calligraphy related knowledge. To carry out all-round calligraphy education, teachers not only need to teach books, but also to educate students. Teachers should guide students’ values in calligraphy education, so that students can feel the character of perseverance and perseverance in learning, which is not only beneficial to students’ learning calligraphy, but also can promote their long-term development (Liu, 2021).
In the traditional mode, teachers help students to acquire knowledge through explanation. This teaching method is not intuitive, and there are differences in students’ perception of knowledge. After the introduction of new media technology, teachers can play multimedia courseware to students, and the courseware shows the scene of calligraphy learning to students in the comprehensive form of text, sound, image and so on, so that students can understand the calligraphy spirit embodied in it, and the efficiency of acquiring information is better than the traditional teaching mode. For example, the famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi washed his brush and turned the pool into an ink pool. Many students knew it clearly at the beginning of learning calligraphy, but few students really saw the appearance of the ink pool and could not fully comprehend its hardships. With the application of multimedia technology, students can clearly see the remains of the ink pool through images and videos, and then have a direct perception of Wang Xizhi’s unremitting spirit in calligraphy practice.
As the old saying goes, seeing is better than hearing a hundred times. In traditional teaching, the role of teachers is to let students “hear”, and teachers need to keep telling to achieve the effect of “seeing”. However, after the introduction of multimedia technology, teachers only need to choose appropriate courseware, they can achieve the effect of “seeing”, and the teaching effect is significantly improved (Ma, 2021).
4. The Value Orientation of Calligraphy Education in Colleges and Universities in Multimedia Era
4.1. The Cultivation of Value Orientation
The value orientation of students in the new media era is unstable. Every student constantly revises his or her own values in the process of acquiring information, and values will affect the performance of students in calligraphy learning. The influence of calligraphy education on students’ value orientation is positive. In calligraphy education, both teaching content and learning methods guide the formation of students’ healthy value orientation either tangibly or imperceptibly. For example, in calligraphy teaching, students are required to copy the works of calligraphy masters, which are usually composed of some famous works handed down from time to time, such as For example, Wang Xizhi’s “Lan Ting Collection Preface”, Ouyang Xun’s “Zhong Ni’s Dream Preparation”, Yan Zhenqing’s “Tribute to nephew manuscript”, Zhao Mengfu’s “Before and after the Red Cliff Songs”. The humanistic spirit contained in these works is very strong. In the way of copying, students not only need to analyze the writing and layout of calligraphy masters, but also need to have full emotional cognition of the text content, so as to achieve better results in writing (Bu, 2021). However, the advent of multimedia era not only brings convenience to calligraphy education in colleges and universities, but also affects the cultivation of students’ value orientation. For example, in the multimedia network, there are some spoof or joke content, that the story of a calligrapher to practice calligraphy may be wrong, and many students believe it is true, thus make the wrong behavior in learning (Xia, 2022).
It is difficult to cultivate the value orientation of calligraphy teaching in colleges and universities, which is also reflected in students’ resistance to the cultivation of value orientation. At present, the ideological and political teaching mode is widely carried out in colleges and universities, which has achieved remarkable results. However, many students have resistance to the ideological and political teaching mode. The reason is not that students are unwilling to accept ideological and political teaching, but that the way of ideological and political teaching makes students dissatisfied. For example, in some colleges and universities, students are required to hand in their learning feelings after learning, or take the way of reciting plus examination to investigate the effect of ideological and political teaching. This rigid way of investigation has brought great inconvenience to students and naturally caused their resistance. The same is true in calligraphy teaching. Calligraphy is the essence of Chinese traditional culture and has extensive soil for ideological and political teaching. Ideological and political teaching is also an important link to embody the value orientation of calligraphy education. However, due to the deviation of the cultivation method of value orientation, some teachers explain in a way that students do not like, and stiffly require students to recite knowledge to cope with the exam, but do not study the ideological and political teaching method. In the age of multimedia, students’ learning concept has changed, and contemporary students prefer the silent ideological and political teaching mode rather than rigid “oral teaching” (Xue & Zhou, 2020).
4.2. Expression of Value Orientation
Art is the expression of emotion, calligraphy art is no exception, and the multimedia era gives students more space for expression, so that students can express in a variety of channels. Under this model, the expression of students’ value orientation is increasingly diversified. For example, in the traditional calligraphy teaching, students’ calligraphy expression is more reflected in calligraphy exhibitions and other formal occasions. Students need to write appropriate texts to display, and these texts are usually positive. But in the multimedia era, impacted by a variety of social trends of thought, many students began to express some bad social thoughts in the calligraphy, such as “lying flat”, “lazy”, “do not want to work”, “mourning” and other negative contents of the calligraphy works. These calligraphy works reflect the innovative thinking of contemporary students in calligraphy expression, but also warn students of negative psychology in value orientation, which needs our attention.
Calligraphy works have always been facing the world with positive text content. Students will interpret the positive text content in the process of learning calligraphy, and then write positive content, which is a positive expression of value. At this point, the expression of value is consistent with the value orientation of students, which can play a positive guiding effect both for the writer himself and the audience of calligraphy works. However, under the impact of the multimedia era, the extension of calligraphy expression has been expanded, calligraphy is no longer limited to the highbrow creation, but more popular and diversified. It is the inevitable trend of the development of calligraphy, and also a challenge for the development of calligraphy. We can not blindly identify the content of “mourning culture” as a wrong value orientation, but we need to pay more attention to the value orientation of students in calligraphy learning.
5. Cultivation Strategy of Value Orientation in Calligraphy Education in Multimedia Era
5.1. Multipath Cultivation Mode
Multimedia era has become an important feature of the development of the age. As practitioners of calligraphy teaching in colleges and universities, we can not ignore the important role of multimedia in calligraphy education. In the teaching process, it is necessary to strengthen the application of multimedia technology and actively explore the application modes of multimedia in calligraphy teaching in order to enhance the teaching effect of multimedia technology and further broaden the cultivation path of students’ value orientation.
First of all, teachers need to improve their ability to use multimedia technology, actively look for information in multimedia network that is conducive to the cultivation of students’ value orientation, promote these information to students to broaden their horizons, help students develop the habit of watching positive information and reduce the possibility of students being affected by bad information. In teaching, teachers should strengthen their ability to distinguish multimedia information and properly use a variety of teaching methods. For example, in the courses aimed at broadening students’ knowledge, more calligraphy knowledge can be recommended to students, but in the courses focusing on the teaching of calligraphy skills, the emphasis should be placed on the teaching of students’ writing skills, and the application of multimedia technology should be reduced. Teachers should also observe students’ reactions to multimedia information in the course teaching, on the one hand, to guide students to make positive reactions to positive information, on the other hand, reduce the impact of negative information on students’ value orientation.
Secondly, students should improve their ability to distinguish multimedia information, actively accept positive multimedia information, and avoid the interference of bad information. Students can form a “community learning” model by joining different community learning groups and they connect with each other through multimedia. In the community, students can share learning materials and form a positive learning atmosphere through common efforts, which helps to resist the interference of bad information. Multimedia technology has the characteristics of interaction, teachers and students, students and students, even students and other calligraphy masters can build a bridge of interaction. Every student can learn calligraphy with the help of multimedia technology, watch the writing skills of calligraphers, and can discuss with each other. The extension of calligraphy learning has been expanded. Students can not only learn calligraphy in class, but also learn calligraphy after class and get guidance from teachers (Yang, 2015).
5.2. Flexible Training Strategies
In the multimedia era of calligraphy education in colleges and universities, flexible training strategies should be implemented in order to cultivate students’ value orientation, and the traditional rigid value training ideas should be changed. Teachers should adopt training methods that are more acceptable to students in the multimedia era to improve the efficiency of value orientation training. The cultivation of the value orientation of calligraphy education in colleges and universities can take curriculum ideological and political teaching as the carrier, and integrate the content of value orientation cultivation into the ideological and political curriculum teaching. But changes are needed in both teaching and evaluation methods. In terms of teaching methods, teachers should flexibly carry out ideological and political teaching. For example, in the teaching of calligraphy techniques, they can flexibly explain the life of the representative figures of the calligraphy school, highlighting their unremitting practice, guide the students to discuss their calligraphy spirit, encourage the students to speak freely and learn calligraphy story, so as to let students feel the spirit of calligraphy in a relaxed atmosphere.
In the cultivation of value orientation, teachers could combine the hot topics of contemporary society to enhance students’ enthusiasm for the cultivation of value orientation and realize the silent teaching. For example, in the current society, student employment is a difficult the issue, which is also a topic of concern by many students. Therefore, in the teaching of calligraphy, teachers can focus on the employment issue, let students choose the appropriate text to write, and discuss “calligraphy and employment”, so that students can form a positive cognition about employment.
5.3. Diversified Ways of Expression
In calligraphy education, colleges and universities should create diversified ways of calligraphy expression for students, innovate the mode of calligraphy expression, so that students can express their emotions in a positive way and reduce negative value expression. For example, colleges and universities can guide students to innovate the content of calligraphy expression, and combine the current hot social issues, such as anti-epidemic spirit and fighting spirit, so that students can innovate calligraphy art under these spirits. For example, under the anti-epidemic spirit, students can create calligraphy works with the contents of “Baymax”, “wearing masks” and “washing hands frequently” and so on. Although these calligraphy works are quite different from traditional calligraphy works, they also contain positive value orientation and are obviously interesting. Many students are willing to participate in the creation of such texts (Zeng, 2021).
Calligraphy education in colleges and universities needs to encourage students to express their diversified value orientation. In calligraphy exhibition, final examination evaluation and other scenes, students’ writing skills should not only be paid attention to, but also their value orientation. It is necessary to encourage students to express themselves in diversified ways and guide them to combine self-expression with positive values instead of sticking to traditional forms of expression. With the development of multimedia era, calligraphy art is bound to diversify, which is an irresistible trend, so calligraphy education in colleges and universities should keep pace with the times.
6. Conclusion
In a word, this paper studies the value orientation of calligraphy education in colleges and universities. The research finds that the development of multimedia era has brought an impact on the value-oriented teaching of calligraphy education in colleges and universities, but it also brings new development opportunities. In calligraphy education in colleges and universities, we should make use of the advantages of the media era, actively play the role of multimedia technology, better apply multimedia technology in teaching practice, and improve the teaching effect. In this process, colleges and universities should strengthen their ability to guide students, change the traditional educational concepts, carry out new calligraphy education with the age, and promote the positive development of students’ value orientation.