Cultivating Research Through Digital Ecosystems

Supplementary material for this article can be found online at http://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/var/media/43.1/hafeli/index.html.

The research culture of art education is an ecosystem of ideas and inquiry. This ecosystem of research extends into the varied forms of digital mediation. Now in its fourth year, the National Art Education Association Research Commission’s objective is to cultivate, connect, and amplify art education research. In this essay, we theorize the analogy of research ecosystems and use the example of our Interactive Café as a space that fosters research culture. Digital forums such as the Interactive Café function as a place where individuals who produce and use research can interact and exchange ideas. Our position is that digital mediation needs to strengthen interdependence and vibrancy through spaces and events that connect a diversity of knowledge producers and stakeholders. For the Research Commission, research that is born digital is ripe with potential to connect, evolve, and amplify throughout the field.