OpenMedia Classes

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Shaun Hides & Jonathan Shaw

Presented at the Digital Humanities Summer School, KU Leuven, Belgium 19th September 2013

The Coventry Open Media Class project grew out of the Open Media philosophy and approach that the Department of Media at Coventry University has adopted over the last four years.

It is intended to capture a series of interconnected principles that inform all the work of our department. This is a distinctive, inclusive and strong academic direction and a positive professional and ethical stance for the Department of Media.

Open Media & Communication means:

Open Media – positive and innovative engagements with new media technologies and new media and cultural forms and relationships;
Sustainable Professional Practice – using emerging media practices and relationships, participation of staff and students in live and transformative projects and with diverse communities linking the delivery of content in traditional and new formats with projects that have a positive impact;
Globally Visible Media & Communication – using emerging media practices and networks to multiply and leverage the scope, scale and impact of our work.
Open Pedagogies – teaching and learning which is collaborative, media-enabled, expanded and Open we use innovative learning styles, incorporate the contributions of students and dialogue with leading scholars and professionals across the globe as well as libre material, crowd-sourcing, the strategic and reflective use of new technologies to develop extended communities and networks;
This approach has seen us review our entire teaching portfolio. We now emphasize developing the ability of our students to work flexibly and in mobile ways, with strategic insight into the transforming media landscape, to develop a sustainable practice in their field.

We have made changes on numerous levels:

focusing our teaching contact during the week to give students an intensive experience;
giving ‘branded’ dedicated base spaces for each course, enabling students to feel a sense of home and community;
offering professional project and international opportunities to all students;
relating all our teaching to our Applied Research, staff professional practice and the CU Digital Media Grand Challenge; using new modes of teaching, learning, research, and practice;
making extensive use of supported mobile technologies – laptops, tablets and other devices available for students and staff.

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