What are the Benefits Specific to my College or University?

Sharing information & knowledge

Universities for the North East, who use the KHIS 2.0 system developed by Knowledge House, can consult the system for historical data relating to a particular company or contact; this helps the universities work together collaboratively, rather than competitively, and ensures that teams do not 'step on each other's toes'.

The Global Studio (Northumbria University) promoted the sharing of resources such as teaching strategies and techniques and collaboration in relation to curriculum development across the HE participating partner institutions. For example one academic from a partner university commented:

'I have developed new approaches to teaching design projects, and an increased appreciation for the value of 'presentation' as a learning activity. The cross-school and cross-institutional collaboration has enabled the intersection of various pedagogical and disciplinary approaches.'

Northumbria University

Enhancement of learning & teaching

Northumbria University used a number of collaborative online tools to enable students to interact with international businesses and fellow students in the area of product design. Student surveys indicated that their perceived learning experience has been enhanced during the engagement with external partners. The success of this collaboration has led to other academics investigating how to incorporate cross- institutional business focused learning activity into their programmes. An academic based at Northumbria commented that:

'Working with other students at other Universities brought great benefits to the students at Northumbria. It exposed them to the knowledge and experiences of other design students, reinforcing their identity as "budding designers", which can so easily be lost in a non design centred, studio based programme. The interaction stimulated the students and gave them great confidence, especially when they communicated aspects to other students and found that what they considered frailties and weaknesses in their own design skills and abilities were actually similar to those of other design students. As a result, the students demonstrated substantial motivation to succeed in this project and embed themselves in its activities in order to fully benefit from the experience.'

Northumbria University

Another academic from an international partner university commented that:

'My students worked hard, complained a lot but in the end I am happy to see they made good progress. ... [The industry partner's] input gave my students confidence and provided value to what they did.'

Northumbria University

Enhancing research

Professor David Campbell of Durham University found the community designed and developed by the University of the Arts to be an important resource in his academic research, in which he has sought to learn from practitioners about the complexities of the current visual economy. He commented:

'OPEN-i has been invaluable in making that aspiration real. It brings together a community around shared concerns and breaks down the barriers between theory and practice. Being able to participate in webinars, access material online and benefit from the network's support for our investigations, has helped advance my work'

University of the Arts