How to Create Your Own Learning Resources

A painting showing a late renaissance scene of the Roman god Jupiter holding his infant son Hercules to his wife Juno's breast.

Jacopo Tintoretto. The Origin of the Milky Way. c. 1575. © National Gallery, London

Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London marks the first time an exhibition of works from the National Gallery, London has travelled internationally in its near 200-year history. To share the stories behind the art the National Gallery of Australia developed an audio experience and a new learning resource tool.

The Gallery wanted to create something that maximised the educational potential of this significant exhibition by allowing educators to gather resources to teach with, and that people could easily access on the own devices — either in the gallery spaces or from home.

The new learning resource tool is accessible via a web browser and comprises a selection of 24 masterpieces from the exhibition. Each painting has its own creative and critical thinking exercises and can be added to (or removed from) a ‘selection’ — meaning that teachers can choose any number or combination of the listed works to build their own bespoke resource. Selections are emailed to the creator and from there can be further edited, shared via a link or viewed as a slideshow, and the images and learning prompts can be downloaded to be used in your teaching materials.

Use this guide to learn how to create your own selections.

Step 1

  • Go to nga.gov.au/tours/botticelli-van-gogh/ and select ‘Learning Resources’ at the top of the page
  • Scroll down to see the full list of 24 works of art you can add to your selection under ‘Available items’
  • Add works to your selection by checking the empty box on the left
a screen capture of a web page showing a red circle around the words 'learning resource' at the top

Step 2

  • Re-order your selection using the up and down arrows on the left. This will determine the order that the works appear in when you share your selection via a link or view a slideshow.
A screen shot of a web page showing a number of check boxes next to thumbnail images
  • Click on an item to see the Look, Think and Create exercises, as well as the complete caption and any related links for further information. If the work of art is a part of the audio tour, you will also be able to see the audio and full transcript
screen shot of a web page showing a thumbnail of a work of art and three drop down boxes for learning exercises and caption details

Step 3

  • Once you have finalised your selection, add a title and your email address, and select the ‘Send me my selection’ button. You will receive an email with you selection title in the subject heading
Screen capture of a web page showing field to enter email address

Sharing and Editing your Selection

  • The email you receive will contain links to Share, Edit, View slideshow and Download your selection
  • Clicking Share will open your selection in your browser, giving you a unique URL which you can share with your students or other teachers. Your selection with the title you have chosen, and is uneditable — people you share it with won’t be able to add or remove works of art
screen capture of web page showing two thumbnails of works of art under a title
  • Editing your selection will allow you to rename your selection, add a description and related links, and add and/or remove works of art. This is handy if you want to return to your selections at a later time to add more information and prepare them for use in the classroom
screen capture showing a web page with editable text fields
  • Once you hit the ‘Update Learning Resource’ button, you can click the ‘Share’ link again in the email you received, or refresh the link in your browser if you have already clicked ‘Share’, and you will see your updated resource.
screen capture of web page showing a title, introductory text, and thumbnails of various artworks
  • Clicking the View slideshow link in the email will open you selection as a slideshow in your browser which displays the work of art with the Look, Think and Create learning exercises beneath. You can manually toggle between the works or press the play button at the top of the screen to start the slideshow.
Screen capture of web page showing an image on a black background with text below
  • Downloading your selection will download a zip folder to your device containing an image and a .txt file with the full caption, Look, Think and Create exercises and any related links for each work of art.

Or… Use a curated theme selection

The Gallery’s Education team have also curated four pre-made selections based on themes in the exhibition — each selection includes a description of the theme and Look, Think and Create provocations relating to the selected works and the broader Australian Curriculum.

Please contact digital@nga.gov.au if you have any trouble creating or accessing your selections.

Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London was organised by the National Gallery, London, Art Exhibitions Australia and the National Gallery of Australia.