New tools & resources to support use of Immersive Technology in the teaching of Art and Design
Designed and developed by art and design lecturers, educational researchers, and learning technologists from the UK, Ireland, Poland, and Ukraine, these tools and resources include:
- A report drawing on responses from hundreds of students and dozens of staff in art and design schools at five universities in four countries candidly exploring the experience of teaching online and in blended form during the academic year 2020/21;
- Extensive teaching resources, ranging from basic ‘how to guides’ to longer reflections on teaching practice, that show how immersive technologies can be used effectively and inclusively in the art and design classroom and workshop;
- An online course to help art and design lecturers with little or no previous experience learn how immersive technologies could be useful in their teaching;
- A Virtual Reality (VR) prototype platform designed to provide an open-source, ethical, and sustainable alternative to existing commercial platforms;
- A lightweight and easy-to-use Augmented Reality (AR) smartphone application that supports 3-D modelling, holograms, and live video in response to simple visual triggers;
- A series of FrameVR galleries created by art and design staff and students to show some of the possibilities of this new technology.
These were produced for the ACCELERATE: Accessible Immersive Learning for Art and Design strategic partnership project (2021–2023). This was funded by Erasmus+ to develop innovative methodologies, tools, platforms, and resources for accessible immersive learning in art and design education. Bath Spa University, UK, led the project; other partners were the University of Arts London (UK), Institute of Art, Design and Technology (Ireland), SWPS University (Poland), Sumy State University (Ukraine) and Chernivtsi National University (Ukraine). The project was graded as ‘very good’ by the funders.
- Project Website: https://www.immersiveartdesign.net/home/
- Report: https://www.immersiveartdesign.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Experience-of-Online-Education_Research-Report_1.3.pdf
- Teaching resources: https://www.immersiveartdesign.net/
- Online course: https://www.immersiveartdesign.net/online-course/
- YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/@accelerate6660
- VR platform: https://accelerate-immersive-framework.web.app/about
- Frame VR space: https://framevr.io/accelerateproject
- AR smartphone app: https://ulab.ar/
For more information: please visit the ACCELERATE Project Website or email accelerate@bathspa.ac.uk.
This project has been co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.