We live in an era at a society of information where knowledge and information are constantly being generated, exchanged, and shared among users through the medium of electronic technology. In particular, the fast and broad communication through the Internet and World Wide Web has been expanded with the development of multimedia technology. The common use of the Internet has brought many potential benefits in our contemporary society including the field of art education. Art and art education-related Web sites have dramatically increased since the mid 19908. It has greatly affected art educators and art teachers' interest in the Internet and its role in art education. Art teachers around the world have actively incorporated the Internet into art curricula. Korea is no exception. Under a new vision of 'information-oriented education' for the 21st century, Korean art teachers have been showing their interest in adapting the Internet to their art lessons. Using the Internet, art teachers attempt to retrieve art information, publish Web pages for displaying their student art works and exchange lesson plans and ideas. Under such environment, it is timely to do research and discuss important issues related to the use of the Internet as a tool for art education. This study will examine the Internet-based art education in the United States because the country has actively attempted to build a positive environment for educational technology and it can give us a new perspective on the Internet-based art education. The purposes of this paper are as follows: 1) to examine the rationale for the use of the Internet in art education; 2) to discuss the role of the Internet in art education and 3) to present the current situation of Internet use in art education. The rationale for the Internet in art education can be found in social and cultural changes brought by our society that has been changing from industrial society to information society. In this changing society, it is impo