Art and globalization ... and technology

 As I finished up a course on Globalization and Art, I found one of the biggest take-aways of the final set of  readings in Steer’s conclusion that the “curriculum has to be innovative to meet the profound changes taking place in society and, above all, [must be] localized. Not national, let along global, but local” (Steer, 2009, p. 320). What I have found personally, is that when I step back and look at the “globe” and “culture” I become more interested and aware of what my “culture” is – and what my “world” is like. We really must examine who we are and where we come from to be able to share and have any sort of meaningful exchange with others.

I think as art educators, we should be adept at helping students explore their “cultures” and communities as well as using innovative ways to form meaningful connections with others in other places – across town, around the country or around the globe. Digital technology has many pitfalls, it is not a utopia nor will it lead to a utopian society. It provides us with tools and the possibility of connectivity, but we must know how to use it. As art educators, we really must be creative and find ways to show our students, to model for them, how to use these powerful forums for positive outcomes.

I am not currently teaching in a classroom, but I am fascinated with finding ways to use this digital technology to really promote the positives of society. So often we focus on the negatives and the bad things that need to change, but I believe our students need to see the power of positivity, the possibility … I have found Art 2.0 (a network similar to Facebook but for art educators only) as an invaluable resource for ideas. One project that has caught my eye ishttp://www.rockthoughts.com/ - where students decorate a rock, register it along with a story, and place it somewhere for others to find and continue the story.