Abstract:

Nowadays, the need to become familiar with Web 2.0 and learn about new Internet platforms as a way to promote the projects is something necessary for the industrial designer who began his professional career. Students of this discipline can consider this tool as an aid to publicize their work and an incentive to improve the quality of their proposals.
This paper presents the results of an innovative educational project designed to enhance students achievement by improving their motivation and involvement. It was developed during the course 2012-13 in the compulsory subject 'Product Presentation', given in the third year of the Degree in Industrial Design and Product Development at the Universitat Jaume I (Spain). The disciplines of this subject are related to the packaging and graphic design, spatial construction of scale models and advertising related to the presentation and diffusion of products.
As part of the final project of this subject we have included activities in which students learn how to photograph and present their work on the Web in a professional way, by creating a blog. In it the students have made critical and constructive comments on the work of their peers, practicing and developing their reasoning skills. This proposal has had a very positive impact on the results of the course, reducing significantly the dropout rate compared to other previous courses and improving the average rating of the final work. Overall, the students have shown a greater interest and involvement in the course, knowing that their final work was going to have international diffusion in an academic blog, thus providing them with an added goal.
The incorporation of this activity in the course for the first time has enabled students of the subject 'Product Presentation' to anticipate their needs on the way to the completion of their studies, to develop skills in enriching and necessary areas such as photography and new technologies offered by Web 2.0, to improve critical thinking and reasoning, and to publicize and promote their projects globally.

Keywords:

Industrial design, packaging, blog, Web 2.0.