Teaching Architectural Design in Virtual Studios

Abstract

Virtual studios have proliferated and a large number of design schools now engage in them. Typically, they bring together students in several institutions, although some are used to support teaching in a single studio. We have to ask why we engage in virtual studios. The process is not easy, certainly not easier than teaching at a desk locally. Some are driven by an instinctively feeling that virtual studios are important and represent an essential learning for practice of the future. For others, it is a context of research into the nature of design communication and processes. Many, however, search for ways in which we can use virtual studios to improve the educational experience of a student. Virtual studios have provided a valuable content in which to explore and test approaches to both collaborative design and pedagogy. While mere has been extensive earlier experience in virtual campuses, not least that at The Open University in England, virtual design studios have explored a different nature of collaboration and interaction, shedding light on a new range of tasks and methods. These lessons have been applied in many fields. For example, the lessons have been used to understand the nature of collaboration. Most directly, they have been applied to the context of teaching design and understanding better how students learn to design. The change in technology can open up new opportunities in what is taught, not only how it is taught. Most broadly, they have been taken in to consideration in the creation of virtual campuses for broader university teaching. All these aspects are explored in this panel.