University College Falmouth’s free online screenwriting course goes viral

A free online 10 unit screenwriting course from University College Falmouth's MA Professional Writing recently went viral on the internet. The well-produced video and audio lectures, along with accompanying course materials, have been featured, shared, re-published and discussed by screenwriters and film makers around the globe.

The respected filmakers' website filmmakeriq.com and Celtx, the world's first all-in-one media pre-production system, featured the free course in their respective blogs. Their respective Tweets about the course resulted in a flurry of re-tweets and postings to Facebook, Digg and other leading social networks.

The result of these features was 1,000 people a day accessing the course.  That number has since risen to 1,700 people a day as the social network users continue to spread the word. The momentum shows no early signs of slowing down. Users accessing the course have primarily come from The US, The UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Lecturer Alex di Savoia, openSpace project manager, said: "This is the tangible benefit of open education.  The online comments from filmmakers and scriptwriters of all levels have predominantly been positive.  It shows there's a real need for, and interest in, the subject matter. We're pleased we've produced and published a free resource that's having a positive impact within the filmmaking community."

Project Supervisor Christina Bunce, Programme Leader in Post Graduate Studies within UCF's Media Department and Head of CPD, said: "UCF is dedicated to developing and launching new ways of studying that compliment traditional campus-based course learning; distance learning, blended learning and free online courses. Free and open online education is proving to be a successful model. It has strong links to career and professional development, allowing people to enhance their skills and expertise or try out an area of study they're interested in before committing to a degree."

The course, released freely online under a Creative Commons license, is part of the worldwide open education movement.  The full course is hosted on University College Falmouth's open education repository openSpace, a project that was funded by The Higher Education Academy and managed by JISC.

Sean Mackney, Deputy Chief Executive at the Higher Education Academy, said: "The Open Educational Resources programme is supporting the release of thousands of resources, helping to make world-class resources available to students and academics across the UK and around the world.  Here at the Higher Education Academy we've seen the benefits that projects like the one at the University College Falmouth can lead to.  By giving access to resources such as course materials, notes, videos, assessments and software, students can gain a more positive learning experience."

openSpace:  openspace.falmouth.ac.uk/   Podcast: ucfopenspace.podomatic.com

YouTube:  www.youtube.com

For more information please contact alex.disavoia@falmouth.ac.uk  or ring 01326 254 330 or visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/writingforbusiness

Ends

For further information about MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth, visit www.professionalwriting.falmouth.ac.uk, email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 213730.

For more information about University College Falmouth please contact Suzanne Bull, Marketing & PR Manager, School of Media & Performance at University College Falmouth, Telephone: 01326 213762, or email:  suzanne.bull@falmouth.ac.uk

About JISC

JISC is a joint committee of the UK further and higher education funding bodies, and is responsible for supporting the innovative use of information and communication technology (ICT) to support learning, teaching, and research.  It is best known for providing the SuperJANET network, a range of advice and support services, and a portfolio of high-quality resources.

The JISC OER programme comprises 29 projects, most based at universities and colleges in institutions across England and Wales, some involving the Higher Education Academy subject centres, all working towards open content release. Learning resources created by the programme will be released into Jorum Open (JISC supported national repository), using the Creative Commons licence.

For more information about JISC, its services and programmes can be found at www.jisc.ac.uk   Contact Philip Pothen on +44 (0)20 7848 2935, email p.pothen@jisc.ac.uk  

For more information about the Higher Education Academy, please contact its press office on 01904 717500 or email pressoffice@heacademy.ac.uk

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