Abstract:

Background:
The changes imposed by the global crisis caused by COVID-19 have been utterly reflected in the field of education as much as in the other aspects of our lives. What was, up until recently, regarded as an alluring option of transmitting knowledge while keeping up with the digital era, became, under the new reality, an escape door for the learning environment, providing the safest alternative for traditional face-to-face learning. However, several issues have arisen in this challenge: Do online activities truly meet the educational needs of the students? Do we, teachers, manage to effectively transmit knowledge and arouse students’ interest, keeping them engaged? Are the contents of the curricula appropriate to be applied in the online environment? Are the opportunities of digital education fully understood and explored according to their potential?

Purpose of the study:
The main purpose of the study is to identify some strategies of teaching-learning behavior in the online environment regarding Architecture and Design education in times of the crisis generated by COVID-19. The research focuses also on the relation between the curricula and the role of the e-learning platform and other digital resources and technologies in covering the educational needs of the students, as well as on keeping them engaged during the remote learning process.

Methodology:
Employing qualitative research methods, this study is based on observations reflecting the online activity within five disciplines specific to architectural and design higher education, as well as on interviews and focus groups involving academics and students from three specializations. The idea behind the selection of the disciplines favors building an approach defined from multiple antithetical perspectives — humanist vs. realist, subjective vs. objective, abstract vs. concrete —, thus offering a meaningful in-depth insight into the problem of distance learning in times of crisis.

Results and discussion:
The research revealed several strategies to maintain the quality of the educational process while shifting from face-to-face to remote learning. The case studies brought into attention addressed three main issues: keeping students engaged, involving digital technologies and resources in the online learning process and reconsidering the curricula in order to fit the demands of the new reality. Whether these case studies involved alternating brief activities, encouraging students’ participation through presentations and debates, including manual activities performed on-camera along with the teacher, entering international contests as part of seminary work, or even entertaining with short extracurricular tasks, all of the strategies analyzed by this study showed an increased level of interest form the students, activating and encouraging them to participate, while challenging them to improve their work.

Conclusions:
Based on the results, it can be concluded that the challenges brought by the ongoing crisis upon the field of education can be overcome with creativity, dedication and receptivity. Keeping students engaged through various activities, knowing and exploring to the maximum the advantages of digital education, re-shaping the curricula in order to better respond to the students’ needs, all these prove to be valid and promising strategies for improving the online learning experience, regardless of it being a short term solution or a long term alternative.

Keywords:

Remote learning, architecture and design education, creativity, learning strategies, digital resources.