Web mediated design courses: challenges and realities in teaching electronic collaboration

During recent years, computer media and networking have become more and more popular among educators. Within this technological emergence, the World-Wide Web (WWW) has proven to be a valuable tool for design education in terms of connecting students to each other, an extensive fund of information, and for delivering various multimedia learning materials. Experience from Web-mediated Virtual Design Studios (VDS) suggests that learning approaches taken from face-to-face design courses need to be reconceptualised to take into account the unique opportunities offered by distributed computer media. This paper presents the techniques used to teach students about communications technology through a project-based design experience and explores the results from web-mediated design log books and presentations.