Ok-Hee Jeong

4.23 The Role of Art Education in Mediating the Relationship between Humans and Digital Technology (Paper) – virtual

Ok-Hee Jeong – Jeonju National University of Education, South Korea – virtual

Abstract:

In the post-human era, when artificial intelligence can perform human-specific abilities and has the ability to surpass the biological abilities of humans, the development of the Internet of Things and avatar technology has made it possible to imagine a comprehensive combination of humans and machines while breaking down the boundaries of space and time. In other words, art education, which has served as a means to provide visual imagination, is now at a turning point in which it must play an important role in cultivating digital capabilities that transcend time and space in combination with technology. In this era of transition, art education is not simply about developing digital technology skills, but also about how those skills can be used as a human being and the role of art education as an important medium in understanding the benefits and harms of those skills to humans. What is certain is that the relationship between humans and digital technology is now at a point where they need to harmonize with each other and considering that it is not a question of which should take precedence in that relationship, this study begins with the question of what the role of art education should be to mediate that relationship.

Therefore, this study aims to examine the development of digital technology over time, establish a hypothesis on how humans can use the relationship in a collaborative manner, explore the new role of art education as a mediator between humans and digital technology by adding technological imagination to visual imagination, and derive the direction of this role through the views of scholars in various fields. The research method is a qualitative study that aims to analyze the opinions of experts in terms of the role of art education by collecting and interviewing opinions from various digital-related fields and humanities scholars, not just the field of art education. The results of the analysis can provide important directions for art education as a medium of material and spirit that takes into account the aesthetic, social science, and engineering perspectives related to digital technology, contributing to the positive practice of digital transformation based on a new understanding of human beings.