Seventeenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

The rapid migration to remote learning has presented difficulties for teachers and learners alike. While educators and students around the world are adapting to changing circumstances quickly, the urgent need for new approaches, methodologies, and pedagogies are undeniable. Traditionally, design studio teaching is linked to one-on-one teaching activities and to the exchange of feedback prompting many design educators to think it does not lend itself to online delivery. The goal of this research and ideation project is to explore new ways in which educators can better adapt to the remote learning environment and teach design and other similar creative subjects remotely to a global audience. This project is a part of the MIT AND FIT interdisciplinary workshop, and the core methodology used is the Synchronous and Collaborative Remote Experiential Learning (SC·REL™) pedagogy developed by C.J. Yeh and Christie Shin. A digital platform, MIT AND FIT Remote Learning Hub, was designed and developed to facilitate the 2020-2021 MIT AND FIT Workshop which ran remotely from January 4th, 2021, to January 18th, 2021. Subsequently, MODA: Experiential Museum of Digital Arts, a fully immersive 3D platform for exhibiting NFT arts was designed and developed in Spring 2022. MIT AND FIT Remote Learning Hub is a new paradigm for distance learning which incorporates many exciting metaverse-related technologies and concepts. The overall workshop learning experience was rated 9.36 out of 10 by the workshop participants. This exit survey result showed a promising future for remote learnings for design education that are collaborative and experiential.