About the Book

This book is designed for ART109 Digital Foundations course at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky, USA.

The course description of ART109 Digital Foundations is an introduction to creative problem-solving techniques using digital tools. The course will cover how contemporary software and digital devices create new opportunities for creative approaches in two-dimensional media such as photography, drawing, and design. The course will balance design and art-based brainstorming and problem-solving approaches. The course is required for, but not limited to, art majors, minors, and non-major students.

The author’s main goals are to

1. Provide equal opportunities for all students to access learning materials, including students with disabilities.
2. Introduce students to digital foundations in art and design for art majors, minors, and non-major students.
3. Create instructional support for hands-on learning activities to assist students to build up digital foundation knowledge and skills.
4. Enhance students’ digital literacy skills and competency as well as Generative Artificial Intelligence or GenAI literacy and Competency.

According to European Commission, digital competence is defined as ‘the confident, critical and responsible use of, and engagement with, digital technologies for learning, at work, and for participation in society’ (Castaño Muñoz, et al., 2021). The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens comprises five components:

1. Information and data literacy;
2. Communication and collaboration;
3. Digital content creation (including programming and intellectual property related questions);
4. Safety (including digital well-being and competences related to cybersecurity); and
5. Problem-solving with digital tools (Carretero, Vuorikari, & Punie, 2017).

As knowledge and technology in art and design industries have been rapidly developed, this book will continue to update contents to enhance not only digital literacy and competencies, but also GenAI literacy and competencies.  Currently, 12 specific competencies were identified as follows.

1. Basic AI Literacy
2. Knowledge of Generative AI Models
3. Knowledge of the capacity and limitations of generative AI tools
4. Skills to use generative AI tools
5. Ability to detect AI-generated content
6. Ability to assess the output of generative AI tools
7. Skill in promoting generative AI tools (prompt engineering)
8. Ability to program snd fine-tune generative models
9. Knowledge of the contexts where generative AI is used.
10. Knowledge of the ethical implications
11. Knowledge of the legal aspects
12. Ability to continuously learn (Annapureddy, Fornaroli, and Gatica-Perez, 2025). 

According to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming our world and changing the way we live, work, and learn. UNESCO has launched two new AI competency frameworks. The first one is for students and the other is for teachers. The main goals are to help students and teachers to understand AI’s potential and limitations. The frameworks aim to empower both students and teachers to use AI responsibly and thoughtfully, ensuring that AI contributes positively to society and the environment.

Therefore, this book consists of four (4) parts as follows:

Part 1 Introduction to Digital Foundations

Part 2 Digital Tools, Devices, and Technologies for Art and Design

Part 3 Creative Problem-Solving Approaches and Techniques

Part 4 Creative Approaches in Digital Art and Design

Further Readings:

Annapureddy, R., Fornaroli, A., & Gatica-Perez, D. (2025). Generative AI literacy: Twelve defining competencies. Digital Government: Research and Practice, 6(1), 1-21.

Carretero, S., Vuorikari, R., & Punie, Y. (2017). DigComp 2.1: The digital competence framework for citizens.

Castaño Muñoz, J., Vuorikari, R., Costa, P., Hippe, R., & Kampylis, P. (2021). Teacher collaboration and students’ digital competence – evidence from the SELFIE tool. European Journal of Teacher Education, 46(3), 476–497.

Mandiberg, M. (2008). Digital foundations: intro to media design with the Adobe Creative Suite. Peachpit Press.

Nascimbeni, F. (2019). Digital literacy for children: exploring definitions and frameworks. UNICEF.

UNESCO. (2025). What you need to know about UNESCO’s new AI competency frameworks for students and teachers.