The blended design studio: an appraisal of new delivery modes in design education

Abstract

The design studio is widely accepted as the core of curriculum because it aims to include many curricular topics within a projectbased approach. Despite the importance of the studio in design education, it was observed that the delivery modes in studio teaching have not much evolved as a response to changing generations and developing technology. Having reviewed current trends in educational technology, this paper presents a framework for a blended design studio in which the strengths of traditional and online learning methods are combined. Among the new online learning tools Web 2.0 applications (such as Facebook, Blogs and Wikis) and learning management systems (such as Moodle, Blackboard, and WebCT) deserve particular attention. The uses of Web 2.0 applications and learning management systems in design studios have been very rare and are just emerging. This paper proposes a blended and social constructivist model for the design studio and presents the results of an empirical research in an exploratory case study which combined traditional design studio, a learning management system and social networking media. It is found that the blended studio suits well to the needs and preferences of new generation of design students who are often named as “digital natives”. The opportunities and challenges of using social networking media and learning management systems in design education context are discussed and suggestions are made for further experimentation and research.