Digital transformation in the arts : a case study

This paper considers the interaction between digital technology and cultural organisations and the challenges and opportunities this presents for practice and for policy. The paper is based on one of eight 'digital R&D' projects supported by NESTA, Arts Council England and the AHRC, designed to analyse the effects of digital innovation in UK arts organisations. The paper focuses on a series of residencies in three UK arts organisations. The research aims to identify the cultural conditions which support or prevent short-term digital innovation becoming 'embedded' in the ongoing practice of a cultural organisation. The paper considers differing practices, attitudes and expectations between creative technologists and arts organisations. These differing 'cultures of innovation' may help us to understand why digital innovations often fail to move beyond temporary and pragmatic problem-solving towards more challenging, transformational effects on organisational strategy and culture

What can managers do for creativity? : brokering creativity in the creative industries

'Creativity' has become a fashionable term in the contemporary managerial and political lexicon, signalling generalised approval in education, business and the arts. In Britain, 'creative industries' has replaced 'cultural industries' as the umbrella term for artistic and cultural production and distribution, and 'creativity' has been incorporated into the national tourism brand . In business, managers and academics use 'creativity' to indicate an organisation's capacity for innovation, flexibility and autonomy; these 'creative' values are seen to have replaced operational efficiency and strategic planning as the primary source of 'competitive advantage' in business. In education, creativity has spread beyond its original context of arts based subjects and is used to refer to a generalised ability to solve problems and generate new concepts across the entire curriculum. The term creativity has become so all-embracing as to lose any clearly defined meaning and value. Ask any organisation, industry or individual whether they would ever admit to being 'uncreative' and the corruption of meaning is only too apparent. It seems that we are all creative now. Creativity has become both the language and currency of today's knowledge economy

A Mixed-Method Investigation into Therapeutic Yoga as an Adjunctive Treatment for People Recovering from Substance Use Disorders

© 2020, The Author(s). Mind Body Connect (MBC) is a charity which uses therapeutic yoga as a vehicle of change for marginalized populations. Alongside MBC, Sheffield Hallam University’s SHU Strength researchers carried out this study aiming to: (1) Gauge the impact of therapeutic yoga classes upon the mood state of people with a Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and (2) Explore the perceived benefits of therapeutic yoga class participation. An adapted shortened Profile of Mood States (POMS) was completed before and after each yoga class. A comparison of means with paired sample T-Test and Cohen’s D was then carried out. Participants who attended 6+ classes were interviewed. Findings were then converged. Before and after measurements of anger, sadness, tiredness, worry, confusion, energy and relaxation were taken, Classes were held at SHU for service users from a Phoenix Future’s (PF) rehabilitation centre. A single yoga class significantly relaxed participants and reduced negative mood states. Interview data covered a range of perceived benefits including the use of yogic down-regulation techniques as daily coping strategies. The MBC yoga programme appears beneficial as an adjunctive therapy for PF residents. Future SHU Strength research shall focus on the mid-long-term exercise habits of the recovery community and the impact of the MBC yoga programme upon the early recovery period of detoxification

Making the link between BIM's benefits and implementation

Despite the attention paid to measuring the perceived benefits of BIM increasing its adoption throughout the construction industry, important links between implementation, support and benefits have received little focus. This paper explores how the conditions of implementation define the benefits of BIM adoption. The findings from two case studies implementing and using BIM are presented and compared. The first is a large urban regeneration project and the second is a healthcare project. A well-recognised model of system success was mobilised from the field of information systems to reveal that irrespective of project size and type, without sufficient support that addresses business process reengineering implementation is focussed on technology and technical process. This confines the benefits to productivity and efficiency gains associated with technical changes, and any potential improvements to the effective exchange of information for collaboration are difficult to achieve because they are inextricably linked to process changes at an organisational level. In effect, limited focus on the organisational aspects of BIM adoption inhibits the scalability of the benefits the technology provides. Focus is on the disconnections between organisational level BIM implementation and project level BIM implementation. An incendiary issue for both cases was BIM awareness amongst project participants and stakeholders, however, the effect of this on implementation success varies within each case study. In using the Delone & McLean Model to systematically examine the system at a point of reconfiguration, benefits are captured relative to the implementation approach. This study highlights the significance of these interdependencies and argues for a more comprehensive approach to BIM benefits capture that recognises this to usefully inform implementation strategy development

Whither the Language Lab?

Language Labs have experienced many changes over thepast several years, from changes in names to changes in direction.This edited transcription of a panel discussion at the1994 TESOL conference by six experienced language lab directorsprovides an informal and free-wheeling discussionabout the following questions: (1) What's in a name (change)?(2) What is the most appropriate role for technology with respectto language learning and teaching? (3) What is the roleof the language lab vis-a-vis faculty and adminis tration? (4)What are students' perceptions of language labs? (5) Whathas had the greatest impact on language labs over the last tento twenty years? (6) What are the fundamental characteristicsof the ideal lab director? (7) What is the greatest challengefacing the language lab today, as well as into the next decade?(8) Whither the language lab? What direction do we see ourselvesmoving in the next generation

Modelling the migration patterns of radiography undergraduates

The rationale for this study is a follow up to the annual survey of the SCoR 'Analysis of Students and Recent Graduates'. Whilst the survey asks many pertinent questions relating to student experiences and pressures during their training it does not allow an assessment of migration patterns. The UCAS system enables applicants to apply to up to five Universities and most take advantage of this. Universities spend a great deal of time and money recruiting students but there is little evidence of large scale modelling to consider the value. This research therefore aims to compare a candidates home town with their University of study and first post workplace in order to assess geographical migration patterns.The evidence suggests that the population of University cities is likely to grow because whilst still conceptually they lose around twenty four per cent of students at the entry point to Higher Education, a small proportion return home, numbers are boosted by the seventy per cent of graduates who stay in the area. An implication for clinical practice and the NHS is that recruitment of newly qualified Radiographers is likely to continue to be more difficult in areas remote from University cities. This situation is exacerbated in areas where the number of graduates per University is far less than the number of available jobs in the area. In terms of student recruitment, Universities could seemingly be justified in focussing on local recruitment as this provides the dominate proportion of their cohorts

The promised land? Why social inequalities are systemic in the creative industries

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop a more comprehensive understanding of why social inequalities and discrimination remain in the creative industries. Design/methodology/approach - The paper synthesizes existing academic and industry research and data, with a particular focus on the creative media industries. Findings - The paper reveals that existing understanding of the lack of diversity in the creative industries' workforce is conceptually limited. Better understanding is enabled through an approach centred on the creative industries' model of production. This approach explains why disadvantage and discrimination are systemic, not transitory. Practical implications - The findings suggest that current policy assumptions about the creative industries are misguided and need to be reconsidered. The findings also indicate how future research of the creative industries ought to be framed. Originality/value - The paper provides a novel synthesis of existing research and data to explain how the creative industries' model of production translates into particular features of work and employment, which then translate into social inequalities that entrench discrimination based on sex, race and class

Adoption and motivational factors for online grocery shopping in the UK

Following upon the results of previous qualitative research (Authors, 2005), the objective of this paper is to confirm the role of situational variables in the adoption process of online grocery shopping. Situational variables and life events in particular (e.g. having a baby, health problems) emerge as the trigger for starting online grocery shopping for two clusters. However, the adoption of e-grocery shopping seems to be re-evaluated frequently and consequently post-adoption evaluation appears crucial to the decision of whether to continue with or to drop internet grocery shopping

Marking machinima : a case study in assessing student use of a Web 2.0 technology

The model of learning best suited to the future may be one which sees learning as the process of managing the different kinds of participation an individual might have in complex social systems. Learning capability and engagement is thus dependent on the relationship between an individual identity and social systems. We report on the incorporation of machinima, a Web 2.0 technology, as part of an interdisciplinary and collaborative project where the focus is not on the mastery of the tools or the acquisition of predetermined knowledge, but on the development of learning engagement. We provide the case study of a pilot project involving students across two Arts disciplines collaborating via the game, World of Warcraft, to produce an animated adaptation of one of Geoffrey Chaucer\u27s Canterbury Tales. Their contributions were differently assessed according to the pre-existing requirements of their home disciplines. We argue that the assessment in such projects, in conjunction with innovations and experimentation with Web 2.0 technologies, should shift from an emphasis on product to process. We believe that this has a sound pedagogical and theoretical foundation, and also fits better with the increasingly digitalised, unfixed and interdisciplinary world that students will face on graduation. <br /