The repercussions that the pandemic has brought upon the education sector has been profound. Ever since teaching has been compelled to be shifted online, learning and educating has been challenging, especially for the Design Education, as it is a very practical- based pedagogy and a discipline that requires a real-life prototyping. The limitations of Online-learning has raised many questions and provocations and individuals have been looking for new ideas to curb the Online-Learning challenges. It includes reconsidering design syllabus,  re-constructing design learning processes, altering course modules etc.

Design students from across rural areas, constantly battle the lack of synchronised access to fast Internet and continuous supply of electricity. The challenges are based on gender, women students have had a disproportionately larger share of household work and caregiving as have women teachers coping with children and chores at home. Many students and teachers do not have the space and quiet at home, which they had in the university. The physical and mental strain of online teaching – eyestrain, headaches, exhaustion – experienced by all, also needs examination, given the intense full time nature of design domain.

To reflect on the above said challenges, Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology organised a Design conference called ‘Unbound: From Place to Space’ held on 29 Aug 2020, where Design teachers, students and practitioners can debate and express their ideas and views on how the Design community can survive the ‘New- Normal’ and think about possible new outcomes post Covid-19.

Making the best of this platform, both students and faculties of JD Institute of Fashion Technology, actively participated and shared their insight on various themes of the conference. Out of the many, Preeti Karia, Pranvi, Pooja, and Swarnaprabha from PG Diploma in Fashion Design and Business Management were selected to represent our institution at the conference. They were expected to submit an abstract in accordance to the topic given to them which was, ‘Educating for practice’.  Post the selection, the students prepared a brief video containing the data about their topic and made a google form and requested their fellow classmates to fill them and the results for the same were attached.

The video was kept crisp and up to date with respect to the theme, and well-explanatory as shown above. The students casted focus on how the institution helped them during the adversities of the pandemic. Apart from the students, our faculty, Srishti Singhal, Assistant Professor, Department of Fashion had also been a part of the conference. She explained how during the current situation, students and faculties can expand horizons and bring about a shift in the Fashion Design Education. She elucidated on the maximization of Digital learning and various softwares that have created an escape scenario to accommodate the ‘New-Normal’.

She also puts forth a very intricate and detailed understanding of how she personally copes with online-teaching and the new teaching methodologies that she has adapted to easily decipher  Design Education and Fashion Designing and its various practical subjects effectively to the students. Overall the interactive session was meticulously drafted to create an impactful understanding. We are proud of our Jediiians’ who pitched new ideas to curb Online-learning challenges in the field of Design Education.

JEDIIIANS PITCH IDEAS TO CURB THE ONLINE- LEARNING CHALLENGES AT UNBOUND