Delivering Screen Media Production Courses Online: Two Universities Share Perspectives

Abstract

Exploring whether group production courses in screen media can be delivered by alternative methods is important in the context of a regional university. The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) has specialised in external course delivery since 1987. It is expected that all creative arts courses, many only available in on-campus mode, will need to move to online delivery in the near future. Other regional universities face similar pressures as student population movements and economic circumstances suggest there is a greater need to extend student enrolments beyond on-campus mode. While focusing on USQ as regional university, the authors use the instance of an urban screen production program as a counterpoint. Griffith Film School (GFS) in inner city Brisbane-Queensland, Australia uses face-to-face as its main delivery method, but has for around a decade offered a few of its courses in intensive and online mode and made extensive use of online resources and methodologies. GFS is a pre-eminent capital city based Film School recognised globally, and USQ is a regional university offering a double major within a Bachelor degree. The authors investigate the potential for developing blended online resources at USQ that would provide both the hands-on practice and functional collaboration that are central to successful creative group processes. The rationale for this investigation stems from the view that new technologies provide many opportunities to question older pedagogical paradigms and to research alternative methods of blended learning delivery for the teaching of screen media production courses.