Can Open Learning Have a Future in the University?

Most universities offer centralized web resources that are designed to help staff and students manage their learning experience. The author suggests that these closed systems, variously called Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) or Learning Management Systems (LMS), are not the best solution for digital-media arts education. Instead, external user-centric web services should be allowed to flow into the university web systems. In this way students and teachers increase their participation in the broader production (and critique) of knowledge in the media arts and other disciplines.