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online learning Blog Posts - The Open College of the Arts
To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.
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online learning


Artlab23 Collective thumb

Artlab23 Collective

The aim of the Collective is to provide a mutually supportive environment which will continue to provide inspiration and impetus post-OCA study. It is open to all students on the Painting, Drawing, and Fine Art pathways who have recently graduated or expect to complete their final year studies within the next 12 months.

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Student stories: Ange Mullins thumb

Student stories: Ange Mullins

I’m Ange, a Creative Arts student, and I’m within touching distance of the finishing  line after many years of study with OCA. I began in about 2008, although I can’t  now recall exactly when I signed up with what was then a very different OCA. I  joined purely as a means to learn more about ‘art’, a promise validated with a  certificate of completion at the end, along with a vague suggestion to have work  assessed; little did I realise that my journey would culminate with a BA (Hons) Creative Arts Degree. 

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Student work: Creative Arts thumb

Student work: Creative Arts

As a tutor I find the exciting challenge is how students can then be encouraged to combine, apply, and adapt these skills as they start to build and test their own interdisciplinary approach inside the unit supported by the course materials.  Rachael Barns has recently completed 1.2 and her work is an excellent example of how skills can be combined and adapted to produce Creative work

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Department stories: Interior Design thumb

Department stories: Interior Design

The Architecture Room at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition has been curated this year by architect Peter Barber. The work on display shows enormous variety in approaches to spatial model making, and underlines the necessity of using this hands-on physical method of design development as a way of experimenting freely and creatively.

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Student stories: Explorations in Drawing, Painting, Mixed Media, and Technology thumb

Student stories: Explorations in Drawing, Painting, Mixed Media, and Technology

I am delighted to launch this exhibition; Explorations in Drawing, Painting, Mixed Media, and Technology; at The Best Little Virtual Gallery hosted by Artsteps. As a peer critique group, we have been meeting monthly on Zoom to present and discuss our work and support each other through what is a very long period of study with many ups and downs.

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Talking and walking through Trentham Gardens thumb

Talking and walking through Trentham Gardens

Online studying can be a lonely experience.  The Garden Design Students have an amazing WhatsApp group with advice and encouragement a plenty, but nothing beats getting together and meeting in person.  A Student meet up was organised for the last May Bank Holiday, somewhere in the middle of everyone’s home towns.

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OCA News: Creative Arts – A review of our programme thumb

OCA News: Creative Arts – A review of our programme

The online department has produced more communities of practice and allowed us to meet and communicate more readily with students as a group of engaged, diverse creatives, which has been a great move forward.

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OCA News: Illustration thumb

OCA News: Illustration

Earlier this year we contacted attendees to our ‘group work’ sessions to obtain feedback from them, responding to previous student feedback last year. We asked the questions below and would love to share the feedback we received.

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