Challenges of Online Education in Architecture Design from the Perspective of Professors and Students (original) (raw)
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ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION ONLINE AND IN-CLASS SYNERGIES: RESHAPING THE COURSE AND THE LEARNER
Architectural courses have been traditionally planned in the context of a physical classroom where the direct rapport of the students with the instructor is an unswerving condition for learning. This model was formed , however, at a time when learning was not impacted by technology. Although digital media have infiltrated architectural practice, they still elude architectural design education. The author argues that the integration of online educational practices in architectural curricula can benefit design education immensely by raising interaction and making students assume responsibility for their learning. To demonstrate the gains of online and in-class synergy in architectural education a blended course was set up at the postgraduate program of the National Technical University of Athens, School of Architecture. Current trends of online learning were carefully examined in regard to their compatibility with the architectural design culture of " learning by doing ". The course was eventually founded on the core principles of the connectivist model where learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse networks of connections (Downes, 2012). This approach was chosen because of its affinity to the design praxis where similarly students are required to make critical connections in order to map spatial phenomena and reconstruct the real. Course content was redesigned to comply with its new medium. Students were offered multiple channels of communication. They were also asked to contribute to the content material. Course data analysis demonstrated an unprecedented level of participation, exchange and student satisfaction as expressed in the surveys that followed the course's completion.
This paper will investigate how digital technologies can influence the teaching of architecture and what will be its impact on both students and instructors and their products. In this paper, I’ll argue that e-learning can substantially help in creating a new paradigm in teaching architecture. It will facilitate the applicability of Virtual Design Studio (VDS) in schools of architecture. This should not be seen as a replacement of the traditional studio but it is a must have facility in today’ schools of architecture. In addition, I’ll examine the value of applying VDS, in an accelerating globalized world, in promoting a more regional understanding of Developmental issues, challenges and opportunities which faces the Arab community in general and the GCC community in specific.
Rethinking the Human in Technology Drive Architecture - ENHSA International Conference Proceedings, 2011
In his magnum opus, " Truth and Method " , published in 1960, the German philosopher Hans Georg Gadamer (1900 – 2002) argued that since the enlightenment, scientific research method in general has become increasingly interrelated with the methods and norms of the so called natural sciences. As a result, humanistic fields of research have suffered as they were forced to adopt the methodology, the tools and eventually, the philosophy of natural sciences. Accordingly, for architecture this trend meant nothing less than a " process that reduced all that is worth knowing about the making of architecture to transparent productive knowledge " (Vesely, D. 2004). It can be argued that this reduction remains one of the central issues that confront the so called " digital " or " IT driven " architectures of today. This is outlined by the problems arising from the integration of a medium, digital tools in this case, that deals primarily with quantifiable elements in an environment (architectural design) that must take into consideration elements that are impossible to reduce to quantifiable variables. The roots, as well as the repercussions of this inherent dichotomy in contemporary architecture is a matter that merits serious discussion, and can be traced to the gap that has appeared between architectural praxis and architectural theory (Hays, M. 2000). Faced with the present digital revolution it is useful to recall Mies Van der Rohe's observations, when faced with the " new time " imposed by the industrial/technological revolution. Mies stated that we must set new values and point out ultimate goals in order to gain new criteria. For the meaning and justification of each epoch, even the new one, lies only in providing conditions under which the spirit can exist (Neumeyer, F. 1994). The issues outlined by Mies, remain in many ways, the issues with which contemporary architecture, facing the challenges of the digital revolution of present times, has to deal with. Ultimately, the question of digital (or IT) architectures is not only a matter of " what we design and how we design it " as illustrated by various digital architecture theorists (Kolarevic B.2000, Lynn, G., 1999, Mitchell, W. 1990, etc) but also a matter of WHY we design (Martin, R. 2005). It can be theorized that the WHY can stem from the process of architectural education and the architectural culture it cultivates. As a result, it is crucial to examine the reaction of the architectural educational system vis a vis the introduction of the digital in architectural design. Kastoriadis, in his essay " Psychoanalysis and the demand of autonomy " (Kastoriadis, K. 1989) layed out the following principles that he considered of paramount importance to any educational system: a) An educational system that cannot logically answer the question of those subjected to its education " why are we learning this? " remains incomplete, and b) an educational system that does not afford the maximum possible independence to those educated, is bad. In this regard, if we take for granted the changes of the digital revolution in the field of architecture, we must ask ourselves if the processes of architectural education that are emerging in the wake of the digital are incomplete, or even bad. This line of thought is further discussed in the paper while emphasis is placed on issues related to architectural education in the digital era (Ascanowicz, A. 2007). The discussion in the paper poses questions regarding the integration of digital media in the design process and highlights the need for a re-evaluation of both the role of Information Technologies in architecture as well as the educational framework that supports it.