The following paper was re-presented by Douglas R Seidler at the Boston Architectural College for foundation faculty on March 19, 2008.
This paper was originally presented at the International Conference on the Beginning Design Student.
Download Abstract (pdf)
Download Picasa Web Albums Handout (pdf)
Using Free Web Technologies
to Increase Understanding and Visual Learning
Douglas R. Seidler
Lead Faculty, Foundation Design
The Boston Architectural College
Presentation
Paper Abstract
A challenge facing foundation design instructors is balancing limited weekly contact time with the need to provide clear, direct, and regular feedback to guide students in understanding the fundamental concepts required for success in design school. Foundation design students at the Boston Architectural College (BAC) meet in studio with their instructor for three consecutive hours per week. This limited contact time makes it difficult for instructors to provide feedback to students more than once a week. This presentation will detail how the Author incorporated free web software to increase the amount and quality of feedback foundation design students receive in their first semester at the BAC.
The Author teaches a section of the Masters A Foundation Design Studio, which is the entrance studio for all Master of Architecture and Master of Interior Design students at the BAC. This presentation will focus on the Author’s work with the eight students enrolled in his section of Masters A Foundation Design Studio in Fall 2006.
Using free web technologies by Google, the Author redefined the typical BAC studio environment by creating a virtual class meeting each week. In June of 2006, Google launched Picasa Web Albums, a photo-sharing web application. Picasa Web Albums is available free and allows users to store and share 250MB of photos. At the beginning of the semester, the Author informed the students that the studio would use Picasa Web Albums to supplement in-class studio time through mid-week deadlines that the Author would post online with critique. These interim deadlines provide an opportunity for the Author to give pointed feedback to each student at the half-point of each assignment.
At the mid-week deadline, each student sends the required images via e-mail to the Author. The Author uploads these images to a new Web Album and provides a written critique for each student. The Author distributes the combined critiques via e-mail to each student and posts individual critique under each image in the Web Album. Students are encouraged to visit the web album and provide additional discourse on any or all images. The Author has found that the amount of time needed to conduct this virtual class meeting, including image organization, written critique, and upload time does not exceed two hours per virtual meeting.
Figure 1: Mid-week student submission with instructor and peer feedback
The limited contact time in foundation studios at the BAC restrict the instructor’s ability to provide the clear, direct, and regular feedback required for understanding the fundamental design concepts needed to succeed in graduate school. The use of Picasa Web Albums as a forum for supplemental asynchronous studio meetings provides students the ability to see, read, and digest the foundation concepts and critique introduced each week in the design studio.