Title: Designing within a computer-mediated communication environment : Three studies into the potential of online learning environments for collaborative design work in international educational contexts
Abstract: Computer-mediated communication has become a common part of higher
education and of designers' professional practice in the twenty-first century. This research
sets out to investigate student-centred group enquiry-driven learning in a distributed
environment. The aim is to examine how students and instructors interact in online
learning environments in the conduct of online collaborative design work in international
educational settings, and thus provide the basis for the identification of factors that
contribute to successful online collaborative work in design education.
Through the study of three examples of online collaborative design work, the
research addresses the following specific questions: (i) how do distributed groups of
students use synchronous and asynchronous interaction when seeking collaborative
solutions to design problems? (ii) how do instructors use the facilities provided by an
online collaborative environment in interacting privately and publicly with students and
with each other? (iii) how do students handle the challenges of group dynamics and
partnership in online collaborative group work? Together, addressing these questions
enables design educators to develop an understanding of the ways in which the use of
online collaborative work can be of particular benefit for design education, for instance in
facilitating the forms of international and inter-disciplinary collaboration that lie at the
heart of contemporary professional design practice.
This practitioner research suggests that, in the hands of committed design teachers,
technology can support innovations that will improve student performance, help students
develop cognitive design skills and can introduce a real-world design context for student
learning. The findings indicate that a balance between dynamic synchronous and reflective
asynchronous engagement is critical in establishing successful online collaborative design
environments. The importance of privacy issues in the space used by design students is
another interesting finding that can inform restructuring of collaborative interfaces for
future design education.
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Language: en
Type: dissertation
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