Across thousands of keyboard strokes and illuminated screens, a new learning method has emerged in the wake of the technological revolution.
The graphic design department is in the process of building a virtual classroom of sorts that could possibly expand the frontiers of educational growth.
Using Skype, Tumblr, Oovoo and other Internet messaging systems, students will be able to give feedback in different stages of another student’s work to help development. The idea was born from three EC instructors: Andrea Micallef, Eric Holman and Walter Cox.
“It’s one step beyond blogging in a way,” Andrea Micallef, design and visual communications professor said. “It’s such a great way of learning rather than this linear way with one person spewing wisdom and everyone trying to absorb a little kernel of wisdom.”
The project was made possible by a grant given to the graphic design department last year. With new computers and equipment arriving this summer, the virtual classroom is scheduled to launch in the fall.
“It would be an additional way for students to keep in touch with each other outside of the classroom,” Micallef said.
The virtual classroom would consist of about 24 students that would all connect via group chat. Although it is in its early stages of development, the project is on track to expand nationally and eventually globally.
Micallef also emphasizes the importance of interaction between students within and out of the classroom.
“It’s a good place to bounce ideas back and forth, but at the same time you get to know each other on a more personal level,” Dylan Cunningham, 20, graphic design major said.
Cunningham is leading the Skype group video chat and is one of 24 students in Micallef’s class participating in the virtual classroom.
“The art department is different than any other department because of the involvement of work,” Cunningham said. “You become more like a family.”
Students who have graduated and transferred to universities come back and take Micallef’s class.
“I think it’s a sense of community that we’re able to build,” Jorge Mostacero, 29, illustration and graphic design major said. “Andrea runs the class as if it were a design studio.”
Mostacero, who is a California State University, Long Beach student, designed a line of T-shirts for Whole Foods with knowledge gained from EC.
“One of the things I like about taking the design class here is that it’s not just the instructor teaching,” Mostacero said. “You also learn a lot from students.”
Learning communities are essential for growth, Micallef said.
“The closer connection we can create between students, the more pertinent the critique is,” Micallef said. “Not only is there a strong sense of community built, but also a strong sense of leadership and creative solving.”
Although the project will serve as a learning platform, it has the potential of creating a virtual community.
“The classroom connection creates the community. Virtual communication adds something special to the class but I don’t see it as a replacement,” Micallef said. “I’m just excited that there is another way to help students succeed because we all have different methods of learning and absorbing information.”
