Abstract
The purpose of this Arts-Based Education Research was to explore the inquiry question How does the use, or overuse of technology impact the way we interact with others, and ourselves? The primary goal of this exploration was to create art education lessons that investigate students’ connection to technology though a specific artform–glitch art. The secondary goal was to create personal artwork inspired by student-generated visual data with the goal of informing the inquiry question. A review of the literature about art education and technology, the use of new media in society and how social media has changed the way we interact with each other was conducted to create a framework for the study. This information was viewed through the lens of Art Education to consider how the climate of schools is impacted by innovative new media. Data were collected in two parts, the first involving a lesson with high school digital photography students as they completed a lesson based on glitch-art and photography. The data for part one of the study included pre-, and post-lesson reflections, a technology usage survey, a questionnaire, and both in-processes art and finished pieces from the lesson. Part two involved researcher-created glitch art that was informed by the student generated art ideas. Data included photographs of in-process artwork, reflective journal notes and questions, and finished artwork. Through this study I have learned that for an artist, the preciousness of the ownership of the piece is more important than the process, or outcome of the piece itself. Also, not every person has the same perspective/experiences with technology. Finally, my experiences with technology shape my perspective on how I thought others perceived technology, and how I teach using technology.