The National Art Education Association (NAEA) believes quality online visual arts, design, and media arts education programs can effectively meet the diverse needs of today’s learners by providing accessible, inclusive, and engaging options that accommodate varied learning styles, lived experiences, and personal circumstances. Online learning environments are particularly beneficial for learners who:

• are placed in alternative education or homeschool settings,
• are homebound or remote for medical or geographic reasons,
• require flexible or adaptive schedules,
• seek credit recovery or course completion options that support persistence and graduation, or

Online art education utilizes digital platforms, creative technologies, and interactive learning environments to present curriculum content, facilitate communication and critique, and document student growth. These modalities benefit K–12 schools, higher education, museums, and community-based programs by expanding access to instructional opportunities beyond the limits of a physical classroom and by fostering connection across regions, time zones, and communities.

Online art education provides flexible, dynamic, and equitable learning experiences through both real-time (synchronous) and self-paced (asynchronous) instruction. These approaches encompass the use of digital learning technologies that support face-to-face instruction (such as blended, hybrid, or flipped classrooms), as well as those that serve as fully online courses.

When used in K–12 schools, colleges, universities, museums, and community-based settings, high-quality, effective online learning in art education includes and is supported by:

• Educators who are knowledgeable in the foundational principles, structures, and best practices of effective online instruction, and who are able to use a range of existing and emerging technologies, to engage learners in the visual arts, design, and media arts.
• Curriculum and instructional design aligned with local, state, and national visual arts, design, and media arts standards, using multiple strategies and technologies to engage and assess authentic student learning.
• Appropriate and accessible technology to accomplish program objectives and enable dynamic, inclusive teaching and learning across the visual arts, design, and media arts curriculum. 
• Pedagogical practices that maintain artistic rigor, creativity, and responsiveness consistent with high-quality in-person learning.
• Evaluation of learners through a variety of formative and summative assessment methods, including those enhanced by digital tools. 
• Ongoing revision of course design and instruction based on feedback from students, peers, and reflective practice.
• Technical support and sustained professional development for learners and educators provided by the sponsoring institution.

• Intentional development of digital citizenship, emphasizing ethical participation, responsible creation and sharing of digital content, cultural awareness, and respect for intellectual property within online communities.

NAEA recognizes that digital and technological access are not equally available for all learners and educators. Institutions offering online art education must address these inequities through proactive planning, inclusive design, and the provision of resources that expand participation and ensure accessibility for all. This includes creating and supporting online learning opportunities that promote student persistence, facilitate credit recovery, and contribute to graduation success.

NAEA believes that in the K–12 setting, high-quality, effective online learning in art education also includes:

• Curriculum alignment with visual arts, design, and media arts standards that promote creativity, critical thinking, and student voice. 
• Instruction by effective educators who are certified or licensed in visual arts, design, and/or media arts, as defined by NAEA’s Professional Standards for Visual Arts Educators. 

NAEA affirms that online learning complements and extends traditional in-person art education. When thoughtfully designed, supported, and well-implemented, online learning environments broaden participation, cultivate innovation, build digital citizenship, support credit recovery, and sustain lifelong engagement in the visual arts, design, and media arts.

National Art Education Association. (2009). Professional standards for visual arts educators. 

Resources

International Society for Technology in Education. (n.d.). ISTE standards for educators. https://iste.org/standards

Partnership for 21st Century Learning. (2019). Framework for 21st century learning definitions. Battelle for Kids. https://static.battelleforkids.org/documents/p21/p21_framework_definitionsbfk.pdf

NAEA Position Statement on Digital Citizenship:
https://www.arteducators.org/resources/platform-and-position-statements/naea-position-statements-instruction/510-naea-position-statement-on-digital-citizenship