Learn swimming online. Google this, and you are into a weird and wonderful world of information in no time, with videos on how to teach your baby to paddle, as well as clips of swimming cats. But can we really swim after watching these videos? A similar action is teaching design course like architecture that needs a great deal of residency component. Most core courses in architecture programs need in-presence interaction between the student and the instructor.
However, at the beginning of the pandemic, architecture colleges were left with no choice but to continue teaching their students online. Not all faculties, departments and staff were equipped to shift online. In fact, most have never dealt with this. Besides, the pace of faculty members’ and students’ capacities and abilities to adapt to the new type of technology negatively affected the learning process. After a year of struggle, it is now evident that teaching basic design and design courses remotely embraces many challenges and require an enormous effort from faculty and students.
Though there are several limitations to teaching architecture courses online, we have seen some advantages as well. Today, many academicians and industry experts believe that blend-type courses can be a suitable alternative. They say blended learning could be a solution to enhance design studio courses with online technologies, as it involves both traditional face-to-face in-studios and is supported with synchronous communication via online meetings.
In this issue, we feature 10 Must-Watch Architecture Colleges in India that have effectively conducted education during the pandemic and moving forward by adopting the latest trends in architecture studies. They have realized the importance of using the latest technologies in the teaching-learning process and preparing students to be creative in the post-pandemic world. On the cover, we feature, NITTE School of Architecture, Planning, and Design. The college has adapted to the blended model of education that offers the potential to collaborate with other organizations and professionals across time and geographies.
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