How Students in Creative Educations Appropriate Technology: A Phenomenological Analysis

Building technological literacy is an important topic in education today while at the same time, creativity is seen as a desirable skill for professional practice and education alike as it is considered a catalyst for innovation. In this paper, we present a case study where we aim to understand how students in a creative education appropriate technology. We analyze qualitative data collected from students in a STEAM higher education undergraduate program called Art&Technology: a program where students are introduced to an assortment of technological tools including software, programming, digital fabrication and physical prototyping which they employ in creating a variety of artifacts. We analyze how students learn and interact with these technologies by analyzing the collected data through a phenomenological lens of technology appropriation. We contribute with understandings on how technology is appropriated as it transforms from an object, to a tool until it finally becomes equipment.