Name: Filmbuilding: A Framework for Connection, Creativity, and Collective Learning
Start: 2026-10-09T11:50:00-0400
End: 2026-10-09T12:20:00-0400

All sessions are available online except round tables and special activities.

Filmbuilding: A Framework for Connection, Creativity, and Collective Learning

Friday October 9, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT

5 - Dining Room 3 - 6th Floor

ID: 33723

At a time when access to knowledge and the ability to meaningfully engage with it is increasingly fragmented, educators are being called not just to share information, but to cultivate connection, creativity, and collective agency. This session introduces Filmbuilding as an open, adaptable framework that transforms learners from passive recipients of knowledge into active co-creators of meaning, relationships, and real-world solutions.Filmbuilding is a collaborative, project-based approach in which participants co-create short films through an emergent, iterative process that prioritizes curiosity, lived experience, and shared authorship. Unlike traditional media education models that emphasize technical skill acquisition or predefined outcomes, Filmbuilding operates as an open educational practice that is inherently flexible, culturally responsive, and transferable across contexts.Drawing from implementations in various settings — including city-wide initiatives like Filmbuilding Malden, school-based programs at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, and partnerships with organizations such as METCO and international sister city programs — this presentation demonstrates how Filmbuilding functions as a connective infrastructure. It creates spaces where diverse participants collaboratively explore identity, community, and complex social challenges through visual storytelling.Aligned with the OE Global 2026 theme of “inventing together to uphold knowledge as a public good,” this session highlights how Filmbuilding expands access not just to content, but to the processes of knowledge creation itself. Participants engage in real-time collaboration, navigating ambiguity, negotiating perspectives, and building shared understanding; skills essential for both open education practitioners and global citizens.The session will illustrate how Filmbuilding fosters:Human connection through structured yet open-ended collaboration across cultural and institutional boundariesCreativity and curiosity by centering exploration over correctness and process over productCollective resilience by enabling participants to engage with real-world issues in ways that are experiential, relational, and solution-orientedShared ownership of knowledge by positioning participants as co-creators who shape, interpret, and contribute meaningfully to the learning processImportantly, Filmbuilding is not presented as a fixed program, but as a scalable and adaptable framework that can be integrated into diverse educational ecosystems, including K-12 classrooms, higher education, community organizations, and cross-cultural exchanges. Its alignment with open education principles lies in its emphasis on co-creation, accessibility, and the democratization of storytelling as a tool for knowledge production.Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how Filmbuilding can be applied within their own contexts to foster deeper engagement, strengthen community ties, and empower learners to collaboratively address complex challenges. The session will conclude with a Q&A inviting participants to explore potential adaptations, partnerships, and future applications within the global open education movement.

Speakers

Tom Flint

Founder & Director of Filmbuilding, Filmbuilding

Tom Flint is a moving image educator and filmmaker whose work sits at the intersection of film and cultural exchange. He is the founder and director of Filmbuilding, an educational initiative in which communities co-create films to explore and engage with real-world challenges. At... Read More →

Friday October 9, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
5 - Dining Room 3 - 6th Floor MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

Presentation

Speaker Modality In-person
Track Catalyzing Human Connection Creativity and Curiosity to Thrive

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OEGlobal 2026

Tom Flint

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OEGlobal 2026

Tom Flint

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