The role of 'the work' in research
"This is sometimes another stumbling block, particularly to the Romantic notion of the practitioner whose aim is the expression of the self. We need to differentiate between activities that are to do with the personal development of the practitioner and his or her creativity, and activities that are significant for others in the field. It is only an activity that is significant for others that can be regarded as research. Personal development does not make a contribution to the 'advancement of knowledge, understanding and insight', except in the most parochial sense, i.e. my advancement. To illustrate this let us consider the discipline of arts therapies. It is the purpose of arts therapies to improve the well-being of the client through an intervention involving the client doing some kind of arts activity such as painting, music or drama, etc. Whether the client produces art, in the sense of 'a work of art' mentioned above, is irrelevant to the process. The activity is aimed at the personal development and self knowledge of the individual and not at the advancement of knowledge, understanding and insight into some issue shared by others. Of course, the client's case may contribute to the advancement of knowledge in arts therapies, but this would be an outcome for the therapist and not for the client. In addition, the client's productions may subsequently achieve the status of 'works' but this would be incidental to their original function in connection with improved well-being. Thus I would distinguish between (1) art as therapy (for the individual), (2) art as cultural practice (the production of works of art), and (3) art as research (meeting certain criteria under discussion). It is my claim that (1) and (3), that is, art as therapy and art as research, are mutually exclusive. I should emphasise that this does not mean that I deny that there is such a discipline as arts therapies research!"
(Michael A. R. Biggs, 2003, Practice as Research in Performance)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Ericsson: the future of learning in a networked society
"We are on the brink of an extraordinary revolution that will change our world forever. In this new world everyone, everything and everywhere will be connected in real time. We call this the Networked Society, and it will fundamentally change the way we innovate, collaborate, produce, govern and sustain. When one person connects their life changes. With everything connected our world changes."
(Ericsson Limited, 2012)
Fig.1 Published on YouTube 19 October 2012 by Ericsson
CONTRIBUTOR
David ReidSHARE
Hyper Island: designing learning experiences to stay creative and competitive in an increasingly digitised world
"For over 15 years Hyper Island has been designing learning experiences for students and industry professionals alike. It all started with three men, a few beers, and one vision. The year was 1994, and multimedia pioneers Lars Lundh, Jonathan Briggs, and David Erixon converged in bar in Stockholm to discuss an upcoming CD-ROM project.
Together they realized their new digital world demanded a new kind of learning: industry-based learning. They envisioned a new institution that could prepare people for the lightening-fast pace of the modern workplace. A place where students could grow, not only as professionals, but also as human beings. ...
Hyper Island is now a thriving global presence, with two main areas of focus. Student Programs immerse young talent in intensive learning experiences from digital art direction to e-Commerce to data strategy. Executive Programs boost understanding of how digital changes societies and consumer behavior -- and how organizations need to change to stay creative and competitive in an increasingly digitized world. Hyper Island is now worldwide, located in Stockholm, Karlskrona, New York, London, and soon, Singapore. And Executive Programs teams can travel around the world designing and executing learning experiences for Fortune 500 companies and start-ups alike.
As the digital world shifts and evolves, Hyper Island continues to react and expand, creating an agile, forward-looking learning environment for students and industry leaders. What began as a bold experiment on a windswept island has become a revolutionary way to learn, reflect, collaborate, and above all, innovate."
(Charlotte Sundåker)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Udemy: crowd learning through microcontent bundles
"There was a time when learning was what we did from birth to college graduation. After that? We just worked and eventually retired.
But the world is changing rapidly. And now, more than ever, learning is something that happens outside the classroom throughout our entire lives.
We now have to learn new skills every year just to stay relevant in our jobs (not to mention making a career change!). And it's not just our careers, we also want to learn and continually improve in the things we do outside of work. Whether it's yoga or golf or photography or anything we're passionate about, we want to be better. Every day we see our friends sharing their new achievements and posting their milestones on Facebook; how do we keep up and reach our potential?
We're busier than ever. And despite having access to a mountain of information via the internet, we still struggle to find structured, comprehensive, trusted sources who can excite us and teach us all the things we want to know. We need trusted experts, guides, to help us on our way - we need the ability to learn from the amazing instructors in the world."
(Udemy)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Last Chance: 1st year student short film about friendship
"The project has given me a close insight to working with new people and having a responsibility within a crew. I feel as though my knowledge has excelled in the moving image area. I discovered that so much hard work and effort goes into a short five minute production."
(Zoe Stroud, 2012)
Fig.1 This short film called "Last Chance" (2012) was created as part of the coursework for the 1st year Design Practice 2 module in the BA (Hons) Multimedia programme at Nottingham Trent University (UK).
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
