Open Educational Social Media Content Groups and Networks within the Arts, Design & Media Education

This paper presents two case study perspectives of the role of open technologies in encouraging sharing and reuse of open content from SCORE fellows Sarah Atkinson and Chris Follows. Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) and Institutional repositories are rarely built to support social media content communities, as a result many learning and teaching materials are being independently dispersed across the web using more familiar and everyday user friendly web 2.0 environments. Good quality learning material are being produced and shared either internally hidden away in VLEs or lost in locally shared group blogs, these resources administer and develop this content alone, some content never leaves the classroom/studio. There is currently no middle ground within our institutional networks to facilitate the development of OER content communities. How can open educational social media content groups and networks support the process of cultural change and OER stewardship in new alternative open pedagogic practices for artists, teachers, students and practitioners? The University of the Arts London (UAL) aims to develop a sustainable approach to open Case study one process.arts: This case study explores the creative and educational potential, challenges, limitations and benefits of use and reuse of open educational rich media content. http://process.arts.ac.uk/ and its involvement and integration with the wider arts sector and the open movement through SCORE fellowship research, ALTO & ALTO UK (JISC UK OER programme) and the DIAL project (digital Integration into arts learning) part of the JISC UK Developing digital literacies programme. Case study two SP-ARK: SP-ARK is an interactive online project based on the multi-media archive of filmmaker Sally Potter. The archive includes the intuitive visual navigation of films and all of their related assets. Users are able to view and annotate materials using the sites 'pathways' feature, other users are then able to access the annotated pathways, which lead to a deeper engagement with the materials. The case study seeks to draw out the benefits and efficiencies of collaborative resource generation, exploring the challenges of sustainability and expansion of both the resources and the encompassing user-group community.