I started a new position as a Unit Lead at the newly established UAL Online. While I embark this new chapter in my teaching career, I am reflecting on how the vibrant feeling of the physical studio space within art and design studies could be translated to the online sphere.
Orr & Shreeve postulate that “ideally the studio is an active, busy and social place where learning is visible and open to discussion through active participation” (Orr & Shreeve, 2017). This sentiment comprises perfectly the main aspects I encounter when spending on a weekly basis time with a student cohort in the studio – it is loud, it is messy, it is fun and full of isible exploration which are covering more and more wall space over time.
Padlet, Miro and Blackboard as equivalents of that physical studio space where most of the learning in creative studies takes place feel comparably sterile, ordered and quiet. The online space will desparately need to be humanised and instilled with elements which create a sense of belonging by using available online platform and its specific workings to the best of their abilities. It will be vital to include human imperfections and messiness to those digital spaces to create an authentic feel where students are encourage (rather than scared) to try idea, are open and show vulnerability sharing draft ideas.
Ross & Lewis suggest simple tricks like uncovering course content together, playing studio music in the background and dancing on your chair during the limited synchronous studio to help to fill the online space with the much needed sense of human connection and collaboration (Ross & Lewis, 2022).
The new courses at UAL Online will predominantly be taught asychronously with one 60 minutes live session per week. The online studio space to upload work for crits will be open 24/7. As there won’t be the real-time experience of coming into a physical studio the students will need create a mental shift whereby “being in a studio” will need to become more a mindset rather than a physical act. Again Orr & Shreeve lent a great perspective whereby the see the “Studio as a state of mind demands that learners engage in collaborative and community learning, using available spaces, whether physical, online, inside or outside the university. The shared experiences, linked by attitudes expected in the studio, of risk taking and experimentation, may be demonstrated by learners and teachers as an evolving space” (Orr & Shreeve, 2017).
References
Orr, S. & Shreeve, A. (2017) Signature Pedagogies in Art & Design. Abingdon: Routledge.
Ross, A. & Lewis, M. (2022) Belonging & engagement in online spaces. London: University of the Arts London (UAL).