What to Look for in the Next Few Years

Thinking of the future of design classes is always essential. What do we need to teach and how do we need to teach it? There is a lot of discussions about online classes and hybrid classes for universities. While there are a lot of positive ideas out there, a lot also is left out of the planning. I have attended and taught classes in all three formats: in-person, hybrid, and fully online. They each have benefits either for the student or for the school, but for now I want to think on some future aspects being discussed in media circles.

Converting Classes to Online

I do not think the conversion to heavy online classes will take place in the design schools in the next few years, maybe eventually. A holographic teaching position would be really fun in 30 years. Currently online schools will remain strong, but I think there is still a push to get back on campus for traditional schools.

To have a successful online class, incorporating many of the apps that I have discussed is very useful both for making teaching more accessible and more engaging by the students. Being able to use these in a class is an essential skill for future teachers. Regular weekly engagement between the students and with students/teacher are essential for online classes to work. Incorporating the apps into a hybrid version of the class will provide many opportunities for improving student success as well.

Hybrid Over F2F

Next, I expect to see more growth in hybrid formats for the design classes. I believe this can be used to provide new learning opportunities not available when just in the classroom. Having students be able to install different apps on their computers at home and do group work is a skill that will carry over to the work force. Being able to incorporate many of the online resources from museums and teachers across the globe will also provide a much more multi-cultural learning experience.

With students often working and having numerous life commitments than just the traditional full time student of years past, this can help with their schedule and ability to participate in a class when it only meets a limited number of times. This offers a benefit to students, but also to the campus as it can share the room space between more classes and teachers.

Student Evaluation

As more programs are being developed, this includes more evaluation techniques for students. Having a greater ability to evaluate a student on different unique levels will be a big development over the next several years. Instead of an exam and/or a submitted project, the evaluations can encompass more learning skills applicable to the work force. This can be working in teams, communication with different media, research abilities, and self-motivation in addition to the traditional design skills and software exams.

As a last thought on what to expect in future universities, we need to look back at K-12. I still believe students learn better in a room with other students where they can focus more on the questions being asked or discussed than working the Zoom software screen. This will change with more integration with online learning in K-12 schools, but we are not there yet.

I do see the hybrid options being very positive in a design program, with the best of both direct interaction and online qualities, but being aware of the online aspect is essential for a good teacher to succeed.