HOW DESIGNERS USE THE WEB IN TEACHING

A Case Study

Ilpo Koskinen

School of Design, University of Art and Design Helisnki

Keywords: Design, Web, Design process, Pedagogy.

Abstract: This paper looks at how experienced design teachers use the Web in teaching students in studio

environment in the Bauhaus tradition. It develops a framework for understanding possible functions of the

Web over the design process, and examines Web use practices in one of Europe’s largest design programs,

situated in Helsinki. In the absence of department policy, instructors have developed various ways to

integrate the Web to teaching. In particular, the Web is used at the more industrial end of education,

reflecting changes in design over the last few decades.

1 FROM STUDIO TO THE WEB

Teaching designers at universities largely takes its

cue from traditional crafts enriched with a dash of

art following principles crystallized in Bauhaus.

Essential to teaching is that it takes place in the

studio rather than the classroom (Blashki 2002;

Hummels & Frens 2008). This paper is a case study

of how designers have integrated the Web to

teaching in one of Europe’s largest design programs.

With the exception of classes in philosophy, art

history, and computer science, in which learning is

based on models stemming from the mother

disciplines, in such traditional design disciplines as

ceramics and furniture design, knowledge is

transmitted from one generation to the next mostly

using a traditional master-apprentice model. A

typical design class begins with an intensive

classroom period, and continues through concept

design to prototyping, which is done in studios.

Throughout, crucial to the success to this creative,

constructivist, and multi-sensorial process is a close

connection between teachers and students.

However, even though the basis of design

education has not changed much over the last 70

years, globalizing economy and changes in student

population have brought about a few changes. In

particular, design education stresses

multidisciplinary teamwork, multiculturalism, new

technology, and research. Most design tasks today

are “wicked” (Rittel and Webber 1984) and require a

multidisciplinary team. Multiculturalism is based on

two trends: the increasingly global nature of

academic teaching, and to the fact that globalizing

economy requires people who are able to negotiate

their way through multiple cultures. Designers have

been in the forefront in adapting new technologies to

their work, and new working methods such as user

studies and system analysis are a routine part of

design (see Valtonen 2007).

For many reasons, then, intensive

communication is at the heart of the educational

process. It is necessary for success in master-

apprentice relationship, but also in today’s complex

teamwork processes. Obviously, it is also at the

heart of many other processes, including the key

process of socialization into the design profession,

reflection (Schön 1983), and the creation of dialogue

necessary for creating and maintaining a community

of practice (Lave and Wenger 1991; Fischer et al.

2007; Stahl & Hesse 2006). On one hand, design

education has many “affordances” – like

communication – that favor adopting the Web; on

the other, it has many affordances – like multi-

sensoriality – that work against the Web (for

affordances in design, see Norman 1998).

How, then, is the Web integrated to this

environment? This paper analyzes design education

in one of Europe’s leading design schools, and looks

at how the Web is actually used in the classroom to

support education. Specifically, it probes two

questions: (1) how experienced design teachers use

the Web in their work; and (2) what explains these

variations. However, this paper focuses on

193

Koskinen I. (2009).

HOW DESIGNERS USE THE WEB IN TEACHING - A Case Study.

In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Computer Supported Education, pages 192-198

DOI: 10.5220/0001965601920198

 SciTePress

traditional designers, who build chairs, spaces,

products, and interactive systems, not media

designers or software engineers. This paper focuses

on designers trained in art rather than technology.

2 INTEGRATING THE WEB INTO

DESIGN PROCESSES

Despite changes described above, design pedagogy

still largely follows traditional master-apprenticeship

model. In preparing for classes, teachers typically

construct the design task often with companies,

organize funding, materials, find and schedule

expert lecturers, book studio and machine time, and

organize access to possible equipment outside

university studios from universities’ outside

networks. From the student standpoint, a typical

design class starts with an introduction, which

consists of lectures, readings, and other knowledge

content that guide students to the topic of the class

(i.e. issues like sustainability or banking services).

This phase typically takes place in the classroom.

This phase is followed by the design phase, which

consists of:

• Concept design: students create concepts, often

through a user-centered process. This typically

takes place in meeting rooms and open spaces

with a lot of wall space that becomes a

knowledge environment (Nugent et al. 2008).

• Studio phase: often called prototyping, the focus

is next on constructing the ideas. This typically

takes place in studios and workshops.

• Presentations. During the class, there are gates

for feedback, and at the end of the class is

critique. Students typically prepare

presentations of their work and rehearse

pitching their ideas in front of the teachers,

fellow students, and sometimes also experts

who come from the outside.

After the class, disseminating design work

usually borrows its methods from art and industry

rather than science. Thus, its main “centers of

coordination” (Latour 1990) are not only articles and

books, but also exhibitions and expos. With fashion

schools leading the trend, design work is

increasingly exhibited on the Web (see fashion

shows of Central St. Martin’s, London at

http://www.csm.arts.ac.uk/37495.htm).

Given this background, the Web may have

several functions in design classes, if integrated to

the process. At the heart is the design process, which

provides for the structuring of Web use.

• Knowledge content. Most design classes inject

knowledge that has its origins outside the design

world. This knowledge can be communicated

early on in the process, but also later using the

Web.

• Teamwork. More often than not, design requires

teamwork. The Web can assist in

communication beyond just e-mail.

• Design work. Web tool may be used to support

design work provided that it supports design

methods that are typically visual and tangible,

requiring a multimedia-based rather than a

textual-only environment. (See Dreyfus 2001).

• Reflection. Modern pedagogy sets a separate set

of requirements. The aim of design education is

to raise professionals capable of analyzing

problems and solving them in a reflective

dialogue with materials, equipment, mentors,

and customers. To these ends, design classes

typically utilize tools that encourage dialogue

and reflection, including blog and studio diaries

(see Enyedy and Hoadley 2008; for example,

see Tisch School of the Arts at NYU at

http://itp.nyu.edu/itp/).

• Communication. Finally, for any design work to

have any impact, it has to be communicated to

outsiders, which sets another set of

requirements for using the Web. Typically,

designers prepare interactive multimedia

presentations and videos to communicate their

work.

Combining the process and these functions of the

Web gives the following framework for integrating

the Web into teaching. (Table 1).

Table 1: Framework: The Web in Design Education,

Phase by Function.

There are many things that ease integration of

the Web to design education. Designers are typically

agile with technology and even if not technically

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194

agile, they are typically favorably predisposed to

technology and interested in investing time in

learning it. They learn complex 3D modeling

programs like Ideas, Rhino, or CATIA. Designers

are well versed in 2D graphic programs such as

Photoshop, Illustrator, and layout programs like

InDesign, and although design is not a visual form

of art, a good deal of design works with visual

representations such as sketches, technical drawings,

and prototypes that can only be communicated with

photographs, animations, and videos. Most designers

are taught far more complex e-communication skills

than most university students, including knowledge

of multimedia programs and even programming,

sometimes databases, elementary Web skills

(elementary HTML and scripting language (typically

JavaScript and ActionScript)).

However, a set of other reasons makes the

integration slower, some of which are familiar from

other fields of e-learning. To mention only a few,

personal reasons and tradition consist of issues like

IT skills, interest in developing teaching, and

teachers’ preference to traditional studio-based

teaching methods. For example, knowing 3D

software does not make one an expert in designing

for the Web, and especially among older designer

generations, Web skills may be wanting, and many

things important in design are difficult to deal with

on the Web, including the tangible feel of shapes

and materials, and the interplay of the hand and the

eye. Organizational reasons consist of issues like

the encouragement and support from management,

IT security policies, and access to resources outside

one’s immediate work real, like virtual teaching

platforms and CSCL support staff. Work-related

reasons affect whether Web can be used or not. For

example, some classes require extensive teamwork

and media use, and some classes are taught from the

distance, which makes Web use almost necessary,

while studio-based classes in, say, glass design, have

qualities the Web can support only in a limited

sense. Depending on the particularities of the design

program, these factors play out either for or against

using the Web extensively. For example, traditional

design schools typically work mostly in studios, and

place stress on the skills of the hand rather than

teamwork, communication and presentation skills.

3 DATA AND METHOD

This study is conducted at the School of Design in

the University of Art and Design Helsinki. By

European standards, the School of Design is large. It

has about 800 students, and annually, on average

160 students graduate from its programs. This paper

focuses on its MA programs rather than BA and

doctoral students. At that level, it has five programs:

industrial design, applied arts (glass, ceramics, and

exhibition design), furniture and space design, and

textile art. Approximately 40-50% of students

admitted to the School are not native Finnish or

Swedish speakers, making English the language of

choice in teaching.

The curriculum is organized into three on

average nine-week “modules,” the first one starting

in mid-October, the second in early January, and the

third in mid-March. In addition, there are joint

studies from early September to mid October. At

each module, there are typically 5-7 alternatives

from which students can choose, in principle freely,

but in practice following their selected specialty.

Thus, a textile design student typically takes classes

in textiles rather than in glass design.

Figure 1 and 2: Up: Studio Space, with Students Building

an Embedded System into a Car. Down: The Structure of a

Module (Module 3/08, March to May).

In 2008-2009, the School offers 22 modules.

With the exception of two modules that are based on

HOW DESIGNERS USE THE WEB IN TEACHING - A Case Study

195

lectures, all other modules have a significant

practical component that takes place in studio

environment. Picture 1 is from a studio and Picture 2

describes one module in Spring 2008.

Teaching staff can be categorized into three main

groups. Professors coordinate and often teach

modules. Currently, there are 12 professors who

teach. The School’s 18 lecturers and 2 assistant

professors focus on BA education, but also

participate in MA modules. The most numerous

group consists of part-time teachers, who are

typically either practicing designers, visitors from

local universities, or foreign guests. They typically

run shorter than a-week-long workshops, and deliver

lectures and lecture series on knowledge-based

contents.

Data for this paper was collected from three

sources. First, I went through the Web page of the

School, and other documentation on paper for the

academic years 2007-2009. Second, I sent a question

to secretaries responsible for coordinating teaching,

as well as computer staff responsible for running the

Web (N=6). Third, I interviewed deans and those

teachers who have integrated the Web to teaching

more closely to analyze how they have used the Web

(N=7). Since the number of cases was low (the

maximum number of modules was 22), analysis was

qualitative, following Miles and Huberman’s (1994)

suggestions for analyzing qualitative data.

With one exception, no integrated e-leaning

platforms (for example, Scardamalia & Bereiter

1996) have been used in the School. This exception

was one part of the joint module in September,

between 2001-2004, which used a learning

environment developed in Media Lab, a sister

School in the University. The program is not used

anymore, for it proved to be unreliable, its usability

was wanting, and its pedagogic model proved not to

be suitable for design education. The university

offered Virtual University services between 2003-

2006, when the service closed.

For ethical reasons, I will refer to modules using

numbers rather than their names.

4 DESCRIPTION: HOW

DESIGNERS USE THE WEB IN

TEACHING

Currently, there is no School-wide strategy for

adopting the Web, and currently, no support or

incentive to integrate the Web to teaching exists.

Thus, the current structures stems from the teachers’

interests and independent actions. At the moment, 6

BA classes and 9 MA modules have a Web page.

Another observation is that there is a clear dividing

line between BA and MA education what comes to

education on the Web. At BA level, all six classes

are integrated to the Virtual University; at MA level,

none of the classes uses this service. Only a handful

of the School’s more than 40 teachers have training

in higher education and didactics. Perhaps not

unsurprisingly for a design school, at higher levels

of education, classes reflect teachers’ interests and

personalities not only what comes to the main

contents, but also to adopting teaching methods and

tools.

Table 2: Integration the Web to Design Process. Columns:

1. Preparation of the class; 2. Introduction; 3. Concept

phase; 4. Studio phase; 5. Presentations; 6. Aftermath. No

data could be found for module 6 due to non-response.

Table 2 looks more closely at Web usage at the

School through the framework exhibited in Table 1.

Table 2 shows that in terms of the design process,

teachers use the Web consistently in the early phases

of the design process (i.e. phases 1-2), but with

much less intensity later in the concept design and

studio phases of the process. Early in the process,

teachers use the Web to advertise their modules to

students, and after students have registered to

classes, to share content, materials, structures, and

news for students. In essence, the Web is an

information-sharing device. Also, there is a clear

line between heavy Web users (modules 1-5) and

other modules. It is as if the Web is either used, or

used only minimally.

Table 3 takes a closer look at the functions of the

Web. It has two important messages. First, it

elaborates Table 2 in one important respect. The

Web is mostly used for delivering knowledge

content – like sharing lectures, schedules, and other

instructions in PDF format – and only occasionally

M 1 2 3 4 5 6 ∑

1 -+++ + - 4

2 +++- + +5

3 +++- + +5

4 -++- + - 3

5 ++++ - +5

6 n.d n.d n.d n.d n.d n.d n.d

7 + - - - - - 1

8 + - - - - - 1

9 + - - - - - 1

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for other purposes. Second, it elaborates the division

line observed above still holds: heavy use

concentrates on Modules 1-4, which also have

integrated the Web extensively into the design

process.

In terms of which kinds of Web techniques are

used, only two classes are currently using the Web

in an interactive way. In Module 1, the instructor has

been using a commercial served based in

Switzerland for sharing materials and for

communicating with students. The instructor of

Module 4 lives in Spain, and flies into the country

every few weeks. In her absence, students are

required to keep a blog for keeping the process

going.

Table 3: Functions of the Web. Columns. 1. Knowledge

content; 2. Teamwork support; 3. Supporting design work;

4. Supporting reflection; 5. Communicating to outsiders.

No data could be found for module 6 due to non-response.

M 1 2 3 4 5

∑

1 + + - + - 3

2 + - + - +

3 + + + + - 4

4 + + + + - 4

5 + + + + - 4

6 n.d n.d n.d n.d n.d -

7 + - - - - 1

8 + - - - - 1

9 + - - - - 1

The other two modules that use the Web

throughout the process use it mostly as a bulletin

board rather than an interactive forum for, say,

sharing mid-term reports, or for doing interactive

exams. It is used to deliver information about the

class from teachers to students, and if information

from students are delivered, it is filtered through

teachers. At the School of Design, the Web is mostly

a top-down technology rather than a marketplace of

ideas, or a forum of dialogue between teachers and

students.

5 TOWARDS EXPLANATIONS

There was no rank-order correlation to how the Web

is used to any standard background variable like the

age or the gender of the instructor, nor to the

properties of the class like the number of students, or

the age of the class. It was impossible to predict the

reasons for adopting the Web using these

background variables.

However, a few recurrent things were related to

Web use. Most importantly, with one exception,

industrially oriented designers have adopted the

Web quicker than others. As Table 3 shows, at MA

level, the rift between industrial designers and others

is pronounced. At BA level, out of 6 classes using

the Web, the same division line is just as apparent.

One of these classes was in industrial design, and

three in textile and fashion design.

The most likely explanation lies in some of the

features typical to these design subspecialties. Both

of these specialties are oriented to teaching designers

capable for working in industrial settings. They put a

premium on teamwork, process, and communication

skills, and often prepare students for working in

international companies in which IT is essential in

coordinating design work. The main difference

between these specialties is that industrial design

works in 3D digital environment, while textile

design is easier to integrate to the two dimensions of

the Web. The difference is not crucial, though. In

contrast, more artistic disciplines place premium on

artistic skills and the skills of the hand that afford

integration to the Web with difficulty. Interactive

uses of the Web mainly take place in industrially

oriented modules. (Table 3).

Table 4: Breakdown of Web Usage by Design Discipline.

Sub

specialty

Modules using

the Web (%, freq)

Interactive

techniques (N)

Industrial

and textile design

50% (3/6) 2

Other

department

25% (4/16) 1

However, two qualifications are needed. First, it

is important to note that even in the more industrial

end of design, Web use is still fairly low. These

affordances do not explain Web usage as such.

Using the Web is far from a standard thing to do at

the School of Design; to understand the Web, we

have to look at variations between how individual

teachers orient to teaching and using technology in

teaching. Second, there is an interactive blog

environment created for one module (Module 4 in

Tables 2-3). This module makes an exception among

the more craft-oriented programs. The instructor’s

response to my query concerning use illustrates well

the prevailing attitude among instructors:

In this class, we got tired of the stiffness of

“official” net leaning environments, and

built an own one. We have a student tutor

who set up the system and maintains it. The

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197

idea has been to build on open services

people already use for other purposes that

do not require teaching. We sought an

environment for contents, not the other way

around. We use blog and Skype. (27 Nov,

11:11).

The absence of policy and managerial support,

varying programming skills, restrictive university-

wide security policy, and practically non-existent IT

support staff leaves adopting technology to personal

initiative. These reasons are mostly personal. As

already mentioned, one instructor lives in Spain,

which makes using the Web a necessity for her.

Another instructor uses the Web for sharing his

lectures to make it unnecessary to keep a physical

folder in library. The third instructor uses the web

because his classes teach teamwork, and are too big

to be handled without technical devices. The fourth

instructor uses the Web to share materials because

she brings many people from the industry to the

classroom.

6 DISCUSSION

Design as taught in art schools following tradition

crystallized in Bauhaus presents an interesting case

for those interested in using the Web to support

teaching. Design teaching is essentially learning by

doing: the crux of pedagogy is doing and integrating

knowledge to designs through a controlled process.

This process is sometimes based on a traditional

master-apprentice model, but modern design goes

beyond this model in not only bringing art to the

classroom like in Bauhaus, but also in working in

multidisciplinary and multi-cultural teams. These

processes have properties that make integrating the

Web both easy and difficult, through variously at

various phases of the design process.

This paper has looked at the Web in one of

Europe’s largest design programs at the School of

Design in Helsinki. At this department, using the

Web is not governed by policy or by pushing one

particular pedagogical philosophy (see

http://www.edb.utexas.edu/csclstudent/dhsiao/theori

es.html#situated). Rather, instructors at the School

are largely left to their own devices what comes to

using the Web – or any other technology – in

teaching.

The paper has built a simple framework for

analyzing the Web at the School. The framework

breaks the uses down by two dimensions, by a

typical design process and by possible functions of

the Web during the process. What we have learned

through an empirical analysis is that Web use is

unevenly distributed – that is, there are instructors

who have adopted it to teaching extensively, while

many instructors do not use it at all.

If there is one background feature that seems to

explain Web use in the School, it lies in design

subspecialties: the more industrial end of design

education has integrated the Web more readily than

the more craft and art-oriented end of design.

Reasons behind this pattern are probably related to

the way in which designers at the industrial end

work, stressing communication and team working

skills rather than skills of the hand or individual

personality. However, there are significant variations

at work behind this division line. The main

conclusion has to be that Web use mostly goes back

to the preferences and IT skills of teachers and to the

type of the class. For example, the largest classes of

the School routinely use the Web throughout the

process.

Still, this is only a propensity. The main result

has to be that even though the Web certainly has

many uses in teaching design, it is far from being the

tool of choice for design instructors. Why? Is there

something in the nature of design that makes it

difficult to use the Web? Can we bring the studio to

the Web?

Apparently, our data suggests that there are

natural limits in this transition. The affordances of

the Web are some ways highly limited what comes

to what sophisticated design requires. Issues like

touch, feeling, hand, bodily skills, and being able to

get immediate bodily feedback, are crucial for

designers. Design is not just visual, but also a

tangible and bodily. Especially in the artistic end of

design, some designers take these qualities seriously,

and see the Web as too limited a tool to be really

helpful; for them, it may actually misdirect design.

However, some other things can be externalized

easily, including dialogical issues like

communication, coordination, and instruction

(Eneydy & Hoadley 2006). Also, some design fields

work through digital means, esp. industrial design,

but also textile design; more generally, those design

fields in industrial practice is digital (Valtonen

2007). When these skills are in the center of the

profession, then the Web gives attractive options for

education. Furthermore, some features of design

education almost necessitate using Web-like tools.

In particular, modern design is increasingly

dispersed over a vast geographic area. Coordinating

a class in Helsinki while the instructor lives in Spain

would be practically impossible without the Web. It

has a place in design education, and no doubt will

CSEDU 2009 - International Conference on Computer Supported Education

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grow in importance.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank people at the School of Design

for assistance and data for this paper.

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