A marketplace of ideas, images and information

As technology becomes increasingly important to how we teach and learn, Occidental College is pioneering bold new approaches to education and collaborative learning on campus. The new Global Crossroads project, created by Second Story, part of SapientNitro, is a large-scale environmental installation driven by content created within an accompanying web application. The project is an exciting example of how Oxy is using digital media and technological innovation to bring its student body together.

This system aims to reinvigorate the familiar educational processes of inquiry and exploration and to provoke collaboration across varying disciplines. As they work within the web app to create “projects" based on either a thesis or a provocative question, students can view their work in a number of ways, from outlined lists to maps to more visually organized canvases. The interface allows users to work together on projects, access content submitted by others, investigate new areas of interest, and interact with fellow contributors, strengthening Oxy’s broader sense of community. 

While the web app drives the creation of student projects, the media wall, used to highlight particularly thought-provoking projects, exposes the importance of visual and digital literacy and storytelling techniques. Its distinctive form factor imposes thoughtful and deliberate constraints on how work can be displayed, encouraging students to think creatively and consider new ways to visually present their ideas.

Contact McKinnon Center for Global Affairs
Johnson Hall, 202