It seems in the last few weeks, the topic of mobile devices and college students has come to my attention frequently. There has been quite a bit of discussion online and on college campuses about the distraction factor of student cell phone usage (i.e. texting, instead of listening to the instructor).

The first wave came from an email I received from the department chair at The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. His email was proposing a design wide faculty meeting based on the feedback he received from instructors about “technology distractions”. Observations were made that students are missing key points, due to laptop and cell phone usage during class.

The second wave came from an article on Wired about the very same issue. In this case, the private college took part in a research study that introduces iPhones and iPod touches into the curriculum. The study was a two-fold experiment. The students could choose a device to utilize in their studies, and the instructors must integrate the devices into their curriculum’s. The goal here being to reach the students with the tools that they already are accustomed to. The college had fantastic results. The experiment was a success.

The third wave, and connector for me, is my experience teaching design to 16-17 year old pre-college students. Also known as the future undergraduate design students of the world.

I noticed at the beginning of my class in September, the abundant texting going on with my students. The first thought in my mind was, ‘wait, this could be a distraction problem’. As I began to think about this situation, I decided not to bring up the topic of their phone usage during class, and took the opportunity to observe their behavior. There are some interesting results from my observations.

I found out of all the students (ten total) that one or two may have had a distraction issue when texting. The other students could very easily multi-task and take part in discussion. I also polled the class about their experiences in their high school about their texting. The consensus was in each high school, there was some sort of reprimand for (getting caught) texting during class. These reprimands ranged from withholding of the device, or contacting parents, or detention. They also gave me some great insight on how to text message friends while keeping the phone concealed.

Also, most students could text without even looking at the phone.

So, what does this say? Are students distracted by texting? Or is it time for a fundamental shift in pedagogies. The students in my class answered questions with fast response times, and we’re able to take direction with ease. The model featured in the Wired article above, is just one of many examples of colleges and professors asking critical questions about their teaching model.

What is the answer to mobile tech in the classroom? Maybe a good start, is to ask the students about what they know.

Widely used at colleges and universities, Blackboard is the most common, privately licensed, Learning Management System. Students can use Blackboard to see grades, participate in discussions, share files and notes etc…

Recently I was invited to teach a class over at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. I was promptly emailed credentials on how to log-in to my Blackboard account, and begin building my course. A few problems with that though, and one big one being that I am not familiar with the interface! The other issue being the cumbersome, and somewhat antiquated, posting abilities.

Solution? Facebook.

After finding out that my students already had Facebook accounts, it seemed only logical to build a Facebook fan page. Think about it…

I need to post videos, links to blogs, links to syllabus and course materials, upload photos and media, and message the entire class. Facebook can do all these things. And, the bonus being my students and I already know how to use Facebook. It’s like second nature. Also, Facebook puts a nice presentation on posted items such as videos and links, making them more enticing to the end user.

Yes, there is a Facebook / Blackboard connector app, but my two attempts to use it, resulted in errors and warning messages that the URL I typed has Blocked this app to access it. This is probably due to lack of support by the college network admins, security, and just plain lack of knowing. Pretty far from a solution. I am also aware that some instructors enjoy the use of copyrighted media behind school login credentials. Great. Leave the copyrighted content in Blackboard or authenticate some other way. There is tons of terabytes of servers out there. Or there is also only displaying public domain content via YouTube or other services…

Using Facebook to empower you and your students is pretty much a genius idea. Not only can your students benefit directly, others can watch the progress of your class and through downloads, photos and other media. MIT paved the way with it’s Open Courseware concept. Having your class content open to the public is like “taking the cover off the magical box, and revealing the secrets that lie within”.

Graphic Design is about 90% thinking, organization, and reasoning, and about 10% making of objects. Design colleges are great at teaching how to make great design, but sometimes fall behind in the everyday components that Graphic Designers must use, in fear of hindering the creative process.

Starting October 24th, 2009, Matthew White of Dirk+Weiss will be teaching a pre-college class at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University.

The class, titled Graphic Design Techniques, is a college credit course for high school students seeking to learn more about a career in graphic design. Typically, students would look at magazines, posters, and books; and topics such as type, image, and form would be addressed. When making my syllabus and course materials, I really thought about what Graphic Design Techniques are in the 21st century.  Instead of the typical topics that you find in every college level graphic design curriculum, I decided to take a more eventual, and collaborative approach.

Here is a pull-quote from my class syllabus:

“Now more than ever, designers must realize the value of versatility. A designer’s skill set can influence all aspects of society. This course transcends traditional design techniques to explore contemporary design thinking.”

For example: Instead of showing stylized examples of graphic design, and lecturing about typography and the tools of designers, the class will collaborate and on projects and make pitch presentations to the class. While at the same time, learning Design Techniques such as:

• art vs. design
• designer collaboration
• connections between ideas
• design(ing) research
• reading the client
• presenting your work
• and more…

But what about type? Image? Form? Composition? How can a student design a class project without knowing about the rules of type?! Well, it’s not that those items will not come up in class. It is a graphic design class after all.

If it is a question of making pretty, and perfect examples of graphic design, then seven weeks is not a substitute for a design BFA. So emphasis will be placed on using whatever methods apply to the individual student, to design a solution for each project at hand. If a student is comfortable with illustration or photography, then use illustration or photography!

Since the course is only seven weeks, I would not expect a student to learn all about type, image, and composition, as well as learning a lot of the tools that make  ’Graphic Design’ happen. Also, if the students do decide to pursue a career in Graphic Design, they will take four years worth of classes that will teach them those fundamentals.

Also, I was thinking about how to connect my course content to the students, and possibly others. Why not share my course materials with the world? So, in leu of using the college online learning environment “Blackboard”, I have chosen to post all class materials, projects, and external media to a Facebook fan page, specifically designed for this class. Im sure Blackboard is a great tool, but it’s cumbersome nature as far as posting links with images, YouTube videos, and photo galleries, seemed to be a hurdle that I wanted to avoid. The students are already on Facebook, so why not bring the class materials to an environment that they already understand.

iPhone apps just seem perfect for high schools and colleges. Students have the devices, and teachers are looking for new ways to connect their classes with their students.  This update video showcases a few screenshots from two new apps, and discusses their origin and purpose.

The first app is for the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, and the second app (pending approval) is for Bunker Hill Community College’s distance education department. Each has different components, yet both share a connection…students.

Since the boom of the iPhone platform, tens of thousands of apps have been created. It’s not just games either. Smart, useful apps not only help out their users, they can also carry a price tag.

What about the education market? Recently, there have been some software development companies specializing in mobile apps for colleges, and have gotten a few big names. The problem we find though, is these apps are of a templated nature. One app to the next are almost identical. Basically, a logo attached to a bin of buttons. While we see that this could work, and probably just fine, it doesn’t quite have the ‘wow’ factor of a customized app, with a smart, clean design.

We have started our venture into education based apps. Recently we began to work with the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, to create an iPhone app for the students. While speaking with Deb Verhoff, librarian at AIB, she expressed the areas of interest that she finds useful, based on her experience in day to day library tasks. Basically, when people need information, they come to the library, books or no books. So, we have included certain college information inside the new AIB app including:

1. Current Student Artwork, pulled in from the AIB Flickr Account
2. Current Shuttle Schedules, for campus to campus travel
3. AIB News, via the AIB Front Desk facebook page
4. Blogs of college departments
5. Library Research/Book Lookup

Also, we have been contracted with Bunker Hill Community College to create a new iPhone/iPod Touch app for their distance education department: BHCC Online. This app contains student testimonials, video tutorials for navigating the online learning environment and all information related to courses and degrees that are available for Distance Education. The target of this app is mostly for current students, but also works for recruiting new students for the Distance Ed program.

In both cases, the development process is focused on customization, and smart and effective user interface design. We would love to create something for your college, just let us know!