About

ALTO Arts Learning and Teaching Online – A quick introduction

ALTO is a project funded by HEFCE to develop the capacity of the UAL to participate in the rapidly developing open educational community movement. The aim is for ALTO to become a permanent part of the UAL learning and teaching culture and infrastructure.

The online tools and websites that compose the ALTO infrastructure will shortly be going live and will be available at this web address: http://alto.arts.ac.uk/

For more information see the ALTO Blog or contact the project manager, John Casey, j.casey@arts.ac.uk, Tel. 07725705126

General Aims

• Share some of our learning resources in a free and open manner using Creative Commons Licences
• Sharing and promoting the work of staff and students both internally and with the world
• Extend collaboration and sharing internally across the UAL
• Enhancing our own learning and teaching culture
• Develop tools and policy to support these activities

Where is ALTO Based?

In the Centre for Teaching and Learning in Art and Design (CLTAD) and ALTO staff work across the UAL with teaching staff

What is the Plan?

Phase 1: Create an online library of learning resources where staff and students can safely store and manage their own content and choose to share it with the rest of the UAL or with the world. Develop policy and practical support for staff to participate. Develop a long-term business case and plan for ALTO at the UAL

Phase 2: Develop open online collaborative spaces for staff and students to share their practice with rich media

Who is involved?

• Director: Nancy Turner
• Project Manager: John Casey
• Co-coordinators:
• Chris Follows – Wimbledon
• Ed Webb-Ingall – Chelsea
• Hywel Davies – CSM

Practical Work

Work with teaching and support staff to identify and prepare learning resources for open publication – helping with:

• Networking & Collaboration
• Quality Assurance and Peer Review
• Legal Issues
• Learning Design
• Web and Digital Media Design for Learning
• Accessibility
• Cataloguing

Why? – The ‘value proposition’ of going open for individuals and the UAL

• Becomes part of your portfolio of published work, as a teacher and as an art and design practitioner. Serves current students to support teaching and learning across the UAL[1]
• A showcase for individual students and staff at the UAL for promoting our work, networking and attracting new students[2]
• Helps students making well-informed application choices by providing windows into the world of the UAL = better retention and satisfaction rates
• Link with national and international communities of practice to create longer-term collaborations and partnerships[3]
• Support development of collaborative learning design skills by developing the staff skills base in course authoring and delivery[4]
• Freeing up time to concentrate on teaching rather than on the development and delivery of content. Reduce the repetitive parts of our work
• Sharing experiences – a positive professional development activity that helps in reflecting on our practice, which also facilitates accountability and aids in continuous improvement.[5]
• A growing and sustainable collection of learning resources and digital assets across both private and public spaces – constitutes a valuable form of institutional ‘memory’
• Advances institutional recognition and reputation that builds a sense of shared identity and unity while enhancing the international public service reputation of the UAL
• Encourage cross college/disciplinary collaboration by engendering a culture of openness, transparency and integrity
• Passing on subject knowledge and teaching expertise
• A driver for cultural change that can also help develop policy (e.g. IPR, Employment, CPD)