Abstract:

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has led to the acceleration in digitalization and hybridization in education. Especially in design education, distance learning can be considered more challenging due to its dependence on learning by doing and learning with/from peers through face-to-face interactions. However, the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the need for utilizing digital tools in design education as well. Bearing this in mind, this study presents an in-progress online learning platform called “Planet Platform” developed in the scope of an Erasmus+ KA2 project by a multidisciplinary team of academic and industry partners from various countries including Belgium, Greece, Italy, France, Germany, and Finland with the aim to cultivate the Design Thinking mindset in higher education students. In the scope of this case study, which is carried out in the 2020-21 Spring semester, the Planet Platform was used and implemented in four different project-based courses. In total, more than two hundred students from three academic institutions located in Belgium and Greece utilized this online learning platform as a complementary self-learning tool. The aim of the case study was to elicit information from students regarding the effectiveness of this platform in enhancing their learning experience and further developing it. For this reason, A Design Based Research (DBR) methodology, which is an intervention method that helps researchers follow an iterative design process in real-life and examine technological advancements in learning, was utilized for improving the platform with students’ feedback. Following a DBR methodology, the Planet Platform has been tested and evaluated by the students and their feedback has been received through pre- and post-surveys, online interviews, and reflection reports. Students’ opinions that were collected through these three methods were compiled on NVivo and the data was analyzed through thematic analysis. According to the results, the most essential properties needed for the development of an online learning platform according to students, were: skill development, personalization, adjustability, ubiquity, communication and interaction. The findings of this study may be useful especially for the developers of online learning platforms and design educators interested in pedagogical innovation and unconventional learning tools in the field of design.

Keywords:

Pedagogical innovation, game-based learning, independent e-learning, open educational resource.