Inside View from Ireland: Supporting Animators and Sound Crew

ALONG WITH SEVERAL lecturers in Tipperary Institute, I am looking at ways to expand course offerings, including a new Bachelor of Arts degree in creative multimedia. We've learned from three successful semesters running a new Bachelor of Science degree and now hope to roll those discoveries into an Arts degree with a focus on animation. As we push forward, I'm seeing reasons to lay down some markers for those who will approve this programme. I believe the most important consideration is to elevate the tools of the trade for fellow lecturers to validate and for the accreditors to appreciate. Two of the most important tools that we use to support students of animation and audio are open wifi and Dropbox, the online storage solution.

Open Wifi Expands the Classroom. Without a doubt, having high-speed internet connectivity available over the air has done more to increase academic productivity than any other initiative at Tipperary Institute this decade. I think this wifi service is the fastest mobile internet access on any campus in Ireland (Sample at right. See more). Pressures from HEANET, the internet service provider, have resulted in the wifi node being saddled with an authentication facility. Although that's a little annoying, it's the same network constraint that most students will encounter while working remotely so it's a worthwhile irritation. And if the authentication boosts my network speed consistently, I've no complaints. At the moment, the new authentication forces me to sign in several times an hour but still avails free wifi throughout our small campus.

Easy Online Storage with Dropbox. Three years ago, students would cluster together at the end of each marking period, trying to burn DVDs or swap content for post-production. No longer--they use Dropbox instead. This is one of the most valuable ways I have to share large files among production teams. Animators and audio producers in our creative multimedia programme cannot live without it.

Both of these IT enablers help students produce more work. Some of the work could slot into the online video game market--a segment that is growing at 15 per cent annually. Online games are significantly outperforming the overall gaming market. When an animator or an audio producer has a high-speed internet connection to a collaborative Dropbox freely available, it's as though they're sitting in the same physical space as other creatives. Our Tipperary creatives could easily work with Dublin developers and conceivably produce some very clever work.

The Irish government could market Ireland as a hub for gaming, without having to build physical structures to accommodate a company of 100 employees. Many of the most creative people already work from locations best suited to foster their creativity. They just need fast internet connectivity boosted by open wifi and shared virtual space like Dropbox to get the job done.