East-West Collaboration in Online Pedagogy

Cumulus Conference Proceedings Roma 2021 | Track: Design Culture (of) NEW NORMAL, 2021

Covid-19 has been disturbing the formal societal life, education not be excluded. With computer science progress, the ecology of distance working has been flourishing. To prepare for the regular situation of the epidemic, this study has started to explore an iterated online education model toward the unpredictable environment. The researcher took Politecnico di Milano, Tsinghua University, and Tongji University as research objects, and engaged a mixed methodology to conduct the investigation, which constitutes literature study, case study, interview, and comparative study. Meanwhile, a Randall Collins' s Interaction Ritual Chain theory was integrated to analyze the concrete conditions, the data were classified into three aspects of online education, the group symbols, the high-intensity emotional energy, and the group unity. Within this study, the three aspects correspond to the touchpoints, the form, and the performance of online design education respectively. Based on the outcomes, the researcher gave suggestions to the current condition.

Technology is transforming the practice of architecture and design from the conceptual stages right down to the actual construction. One would assume technology is being readily integrated into current design education. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The purpose of this study is to explore the integration of online education into the curriculum of architecture and design. The three primary obstacles to integrating technology with education in these disciplines are identified as: 1) the limited evidence of online education in the fields of architecture and design (Sagun, Demirkan, & Goktepe, 2001); 2) the reluctance of design educators to teach in an online environment (Bender & Good, 2003); and 3) the lack of multidisciplinary coursework currently available between architecture, design, and other related fields (IIDA Report, 1998). This paper will discuss online education in the context of traditional architecture and design studio instruction. A case study of the development of a collaborative, multidisciplinary online course offered between five major universities will be presented as a catalyst for change. The paper concludes with reflections on the pedagogical advantages and disadvantages of this new educational model and its implications for instructors involved in online education.

Reitan, Janne Beate, Lloyd, Peter James, Bohemia, Erik, Merete Nielsen, Liv, Digranes, Ingvild, & Lutnæs, Eva (Eds.) Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference for Design Education Researchers (Volume 4), ABM-media, Oslo, Norway, pp. 1965-1982. , 2013

Education in the 21st century demands a model for understanding a new culture of learning in the face of rapid change, open access data and geographical diversity. Teachers no longer need to provide the latest information because students themselves are taking an active role in peer collectives to help create it. This paper examines, through an Australian case study entitled ‘Design Minds’, the development of an online design education platform as a key initiative to enact a government priority for state-wide cultural change through design-based curriculum. Utilising digital technology to create a supportive community, ‘Design Minds’ recognises that interdisciplinary learning fostered through engagement will empower future citizens to think, innovate, and discover. This paper details the participatory design process undertaken with multiple stakeholders to create the platform. It also outlines a proposed research agenda for future measurement of its value in creating a new learning culture, supporting regional and remote communities, and revitalising frontline services. It is anticipated this research will inform ongoing development of the online platform, and future design education and research programs in K-12 schools in Australia.

Advancements in technology have always exerted a significant impact on creative practices in art, design and communication. However, have our creative processes (as visual communicators) and pedagogical activities (as art and design educators) responded adequately to the ever-increasing complexities of living, creating and learning in a global society that is culturally complex, technologically driven and operates twenty-four/seven? This paper provides an opportunity to review Creative Waves, the world's largest online international student design project and the first to be endorsed by ICOGRADA (International

International Journal of Technology and Design Education

Education in the 21st century demands a model for understanding a new culture of learning in the face of rapid change, open access data and geographical diversity. Teachers no longer need to provide the latest information because students themselves are taking an active role in peer collectives to help create it. This paper examines, through an Australian case study entitled ‘Design Minds’, the development of an online design education platform as a key initiative to enact a government priority for statewide cultural change through design-based curriculum. Utilising digital technology to create a supportive community, ‘Design Minds’ recognises that interdisciplinary learning fostered through engagement will empower future citizens to think, innovate, and discover. This paper details the participatory design process undertaken with multiple stakeholders to create the platform. It also outlines a proposed research agenda for future measurement of its value in creating a new learning c...

International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 2018

While technology-enhanced learning is changing quickly, design courses have been slow to adopt these technologies. However, that gap may be narrowing. Existing case studies in which the functioning of blended, online, and a combination of blended and online design courses are explored reveal a trend toward incorporating social media and internet platforms in collaborative design projects. There is an evolution in pedagogical thinking about how design courses can successfully incorporate up-to-date digital technologies; there are also significant problems when adopting these technologies into studio- based courses. To overcome identified barriers, this study explores the use of a digital platform that supports online collaboration on creative design projects in a blended learning environment. The paper presents insights from 3rd year design students and their experience in using a digital collaborative design platform which allows students to annotate designs and provide in-context feedback for faster iterations in real time. Results are discussed in the context of broadening learning opportunities for design students in a blended learning environment and providing students with an authentic learning experience because it represents technologies that are increasingly part of a professional practice.

2018

Design education usually takes place in a studio setting, in which visual and spatial artefacts are produced, shared, improved, presented and commented. This specific setting comes with qualitative properties that allow for situated learning with object-oriented focus and interaction, combined with a rich collegial context in which ideas can flourish and certain values and ethics are cherished. Using our education platform for online learning, we noticed the lack of support for typical creative and social design studio aspects, while factual classroom education was well supported. This paper describes how we attempt to translate the qualities of the studio education setting into an online environment for design education. Our approach is not to build a Virtual Design Studio (VDS) from the bottom up, but instead, to build on top of our universities' online education platform of choice. The paper commences with a short description of design education in a studio setting. Then a nu...

Advanced technologies have made significant changes in our daily life, and these changes also affect the use of technologies in the delivery of Higher Education. Currently, most Australian universities engage some degree of technology in the delivery of their face-to-face curricula, while the implementation of online learning in Higher Education is still new. The literature indicates that online learning provides flexible/convenient learning opportunities for students who cannot attend on-campus courses, to expand or change their career paths, and this is one of the benefits of using online learning in Higher Education. Nevertheless, the implementation rate of online learning in design education is low, and this is likely to be linked to the design academics' fear of using online learning in delivering practice-based curriculum. This paper investigates the perceptions toward online learning, specifically Australian academics, in the fields of communication/graphic design.

2011

The last twenty years have seen a fundamental shift in the design profession. Where once design was neatly segmented into specific practices based upon form or output (graphic, product, fashion, etc.), design is now often practiced holistically, less concerned with final forms but with overall change affected. Additionally, advances in production and communication technologies have reshaped the design marketplace. Design is truly a global affair where an artefact might be designed on one continent, produced on another and sold

Could you trust someone you had never physically met to successfully collaborate with you on a design project? As online communication technologies rapidly evolve, the creative industries continue to move towards globally networked and interdisciplinary modalities of practice. These inescapable shifts in the ways designers work have challenged many long held assumptions about the nature of individual design processes. Such revolutionary changes mean that designers must increasingly master new skills to effectively communicate and collaborate in online environments with colleagues from different cultures, disciplines and locations world-wide. Since they may never meet face-to-face, the success of this new working methodology relies on high levels of trust between practitioners, both personally and professionally in order to achieve effective design outcomes. In turn the need for design educators to equip students with skills to thrive in the face of this new industrial paradigm is highlighted. Trust is integral to developing the personal and professional relationship building and collaborative skills necessary for contemporary digital working practices. By being sensitive to, and cognisant of these issues, educators can initiate and implement strategies that help create the right conditions for trust to emerge between participants in online learning scenarios. In reality however, the relative suddenness of this shift has seen some educationalists engage in unconsidered responses to this challenge. In the rush to embrace online technologies, the social and cultural dimensions of online pedagogies are often neglected while the relative functionality of digital tools and spaces is given prominence. Drawing upon three specific case studies of very different applications of online learning in a design context, this paper aims to highlight the impact that fostering positive, interpersonal, interdisciplinary and transcultural relationships between students in online design education can have upon their levels of trust and the effectiveness and outcomes of their online collaborative processes. The projects examined were conducted by COFA Online and The Omnium Research Group at The College of Fine Arts (COFA), University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Each case study examines particular dynamics associated with global, local and cross-cultural contexts. They include: • Global - Fully online Masters of Cross Disciplinary Art and Design • Local - Blended Learning at The College of Fine Arts • Cross-Cultural (Australia and China) - The Collabor8 Project, East-West online design collaboration By triangulating data that examines student/teacher experiences through online surveys, interviews, responses to targeted online discussions and peer reviews, this paper outlines online pedagogical approaches that have successfully engaged students in active, collaborative and trust building online learning environments. It also pinpoints problems that can occur in online teamwork related to trust, communication and interpersonal relationships, and investigates several potential solutions. If strong human-to-human relationships are seen as the foundation for effective collaborative design practice online, educators will be helping emerging generations of designers maximise their creative potential in a globally competitive market where online collaborative, cross-cultural, interdisciplinary creative skill-sets are demanded as the ‘norm’. Keywords: online, collaboration, pedagogy, cross-cultural, blended learning