Strategic Foresight
Online & Digital Learning
The majority of post-secondary institutions have been following a traditional lecture room style for decades. Slow to adapt, to innovate, and to integrate newer forms of technology in their environments. This is where post-secondary art institutions have differed from conventional learning, albeit in a small way. Art institutions aspire to centralize student-focused learning, emphasize the importance of small classes and studio space, and integrate hands-on learning.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, post-secondary institutions undertook transformative changes, for better and worse in some instances. However, what if these institutions continued and further developed online and digital learning? Furthermore,
how might post-secondary art institutions reimagine online and digital learning over the next 20 years?
Considering this question, Grayce explored the state of online and digital learning in Post-Secondary Art (PSA) institutions while highlighting key challenges and opportunities for change for her Major Research Project.
👀
✦
👀 ✦
A Glimpse of the Process
This project employed foresight methodologies to examine how post-secondary art institutions might reimagine online and digital learning over the next 20 years and provided recommendations to assist in planning for the future of these institutions. The approach enabled analysis at both micro (student) and macro (institutional) levels, revealing the interplay between them and identifying challenges.
The research process included:
Literature Review & Environmental Scan to identify key trends in art education, online learning, and access to education.
STEEP Analysis to explore Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, and Political forces shaping the future.
Innovation Sourcebook to classify emerging and existing educational technologies and best practices in e-learning.
Scenario Development, Dator’s Four Generic Futures (continued growth, collapse, discipline, and transformation), to illustrate potential outcomes.
Backcasting to build actionable steps from future scenarios to the present.
These methods informed a set of possible futures and interventions, emphasizing that no single preferred future exists but that educational art institutions must be prepared for multiple potential realities.
