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.
photo: MacDailyNews.com
Indeed! This guy is not alone when it comes to the lure of the iPhone and its apps. We have been busy at Dirk+Weiss. Looks like the economy is starting to bounce back, as businesses seem to be coming out of the shadows once again.
This week, we had two new inquiries for iPhone Apps, finished a small business website and marketing plan, and started a new Dirk+Weiss initiative.What’s the inititiave? Well, lets just say its not about the small, but about the Huge. More to come…
Also, we have been cranking away at creating two new artist websites for one particular client. These sites are turning out quite nice, and utilize some great combinations of flash driven galleries, based on simple to use Content Management. They really showcase the works of the artists, by keeping the interface clean. These sites are in beta stage now.
If you haven’t seen our earlier post, Matt White (Dirk+Weiss) is teaching for the pre-college program over at the Art Institute of Boston (AIB) at Lesley University. So far, students have really stretched their brain muscle and come up with some great concepts. Not to mention the fact, that when asked to create and brainstorm ‘the perfect design scenario’, printed design was not the focus. The focus was on technology, smart devices, and interface. Keep in mind, these students are 16 and 17 years old. The future designers of the world! Nice! Check out the Facebook page for his class ‘Graphic Design Techniques‘.
We will keep you updated with our design adventure of course, and the development of the next great Dirk+Weiss initiative, which again, will be ‘huge’.
Thats all for now, and don’t forget to get on our email list. Scroll up to “Keep Updated” on your right side.
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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.
