Atelier-D: Achieving Transformation, Enhanced Learning and Innovation through Educational Resources in Design

Programme Delivery Innovations
Year 2 of Atelier-D focuses on Programme Delivery Innovations (PDIs). These seek to develop and apply the findings generated in the CDIs which were by definition ‘course’ centred. The aim of Year 2 is to create a better design programme through the application of findings from selected CDIs. By better we mean a programme that matches the University’s strategic goals and offers a superior student experience in learning and related social interactions. The original proposal outlined three PDIs during the second year of the project. The studies of these PDIs will have to take place during the academic year of the Open University, that is, between February and October 2010. Currently the project team are defining these PDIs to exploit the findings from the CDIs conducted in Year 1. It seems sensible to build all three PDIs around the Level 1 course Design Thinking (U101) because this represents the Open University’s new model for distance design education students.

Here are some examples of possible PDIs to be explored in Year 2 of the project.

PDI 1. Partly an integration of CDIs on knowledge mapping and video conference tools to explore the ways Open Design Studio combined with Compendium knowledge mapping software and Elluminate supports teaching and learning of the design curriculum.

PDI 2. A PDI focusing on mentoring of novice students by more experienced students. This is something the Open University seeks to improve and, more generally, it’s an issue in new models of e-Learning. This PDI might involve the findings from CDI which exploited Facebook, and it might draw on CDI on peer assessment. One difficulty unique to the Open University is that students can take courses out of sequence if they wish. So it’s possible that a student studying a Level 1 course might be more experienced than a student studying at Level 2. In the same way a Level 3 student is not necessarily the most appropriate person to mentor a Level 2 student. However, it might still be possible to create a mentoring framework for the Level 1 students.

PDI 3. The team are currently exploring the creation and use of online design portfolios. This is closely related to CDI entitled 'Open Design Studio' which is exploring the use of Open Design Studio, a purpose built environment for sharing and discussing work in progress and final outputs.