OSS centralizes content and learning management for students and faculty at the class level. This way, students document their own work within the context of their studies so that faculty can efficiently gather and organize student work. When students are taught to apply standardized taxonomies and other efficient database techniques to their documentation, media work is more easily retrieved, archived, presented, and evaluated. Once the goal of providing online workspace to all students has been achieved, it then becomes possible to realize the institutional portfolio: a school-wide portfolio of art and design projects. The institutional portfolio thus represents an archivization and aggregation of student documentation constituting a complete and historical body of work for the school.

In the highly competitive world of art and design, online skills are crucial for a creative institution’s ability to present work publicly and professionally, enhancing its ability to provide students and alumni with prospective jobs, gallery and museum exhibitions, and industry opportunities. When the institution is fully committed to insuring online techniques as a fundamental part of the student’s creative practice, graduating practitioners can then become more active participants in a 21st century global information society.