NEW DIMENSIONS OF THE DISTRUPTIVE IMPACT ON THE ARTAND CREATIVITY IN DIGITAL SOCIAL INNOVATION/CreArt2020-1-TR01-KA227-ADU-097776

As access to computers and the internet continues to increase, and student numbers on traditional courses continue to fall, so interest in and provision of TML becomes more widespread in HE throughout the UK and beyond. TML, it is believed, can address the needs of learners engaged in flexible, distance and open learning, provide a wider outreach to more geographically and educationally disparate learners than ‘traditional’ face-to-face or distance courses, and be cost-effective.

The development of technology and online learning has transformed not only the way information is transmitted but also the teaching-learning processes. This project focuses on the relationship amongst the arts, creativity, and education in the digital age. The arts and creativity are socio-cultural constructions and reflect the societal context. Accordingly, nowadays, the arts and creativity can be useful for developing social innovation processes.

This project aims at creating a Strategic Partnership to realize an educational pack where the arts, creativity, and digital technology interact to enhance Digital Social Innovation (DSI).Partners will exploit their expertise and experience in the multiple dimensions of creativity to define an educational pack to train social educators and teaching staff to develop initiatives in the DSI scope. According to the DSI Final Report research project funded by the European Commission, DSI is defined as: “A type of social and collaborative innovation in which innovators, users, and communities collaborate using digital technologies to co-create knowledge and solutions for a wide range of social needs and at a scale and speed that was unimaginable before the rise of the Internet” (Bria et al., 2015, p. 9) Over the last two years, DSI has grown significantly while DSI projects and initiatives have multiplied, catching the attention of policymakers, governments, and civil societyorganizations alike (Stokes, Baeck, & Baker, 2017). The DSI4 Europe report has indicated DSI as a means to contrast the lack of employment opportunities (Sirovátka & Spies, 2017) whilst creativity is one of the top three skills workers will need in near future according to the report of the World Economic Forum (2016). With the break of new products, new technologies, and new ways of working, workers are going to have to become more creative in order to benefit from these changes.