Rising to the Challenge: Education, Pandemic and (Virtual) Skills Transfer

Education, Pandemic and (Virtual) Skills Transfer

Abstract

With the widening scope of design, the importance of the design studio has concomitantly responded by transforming its own character to become inclusive of the educational domains of history, professional practices, theories, technical, and material studies. The absorption of such domains, part-and-parcel of the studio setting, has irrevocably highlighted the importance of education within the container of the studio or rather ‘in-situ’ education. However, with the volatility of external factors, the challenges posed to design education are multiple. Especially in light of the rise of a global pandemic, educators globally have had to implement crisis strategies in response. This short visual essay outlines the obstacles of online teaching; moving from resistance to embracing the tools and features that online education provides. Sharing the gained experiences, starting at the rise of the pandemic, the text engages seven key points of interest, while practically demonstrating responses in the product design setting.