This case study illustrates how DS106, a computer science course in Digital Storytelling from the University of Mary Washington (UMW) and accessible as an open course on the web, is being explored in a corporate environment at 3M, an American multinational corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota, to build community, collaboration, and more effective global communication skills. Our assertion is that the pedagogy and assignments of DS106 can be adapted for use within a corporate intranet, using creation and communication tools available internally to all employees.
Our approach is to work in a layered ‘open organisational web’ guided by a specialist facilitation role: that of the ‘Salon Patroness’ or network connector. This 3M-DS106 Salon model may help address challenges faced in a ‘default closed’ corporate environment, providing a zone of safety to encourage the evolution of a more open mind-set necessary for increased creativity and innovation.
In its first iteration in Fall 2013 the 3M-DS106 Salon participants were interviewed at the end of the course. They identified learning, challenges, and a desire for integrating the course material into their professional work. The use of digital storytelling tools on 3M related projects in real time, within a community of learners to provide support, was deemed an effective practice. Via their internal blogs participants documented growth in media skills and an evolving reflective practice. Based on these initial results, 3M has sponsored a year long 3M-DS106 experience to address participant requests for more flexibility, time and practice while incorporating more 3M specific communication & collaboration tools.

Keywords

3M · corporate · creativity · DS106 · innovation · open · workplace learning