This is Design School: Teaching Design Education and Career Paths Through Podcasts

Description

This session will address the theme of Dessau by exploring the use of podcasting as an educational tool to bring insightful design education and career path conversations into and beyond the classroom. I will use This is Design School, a podcast I co-produce, as an example.

Design faculty have limited classroom hours and demands to fit theory, history, practice, and training into existing courses. It can often be difficult getting young designers engaged in texts that are meant to help support lectures and practices, that they will need to know in order to be successful creatives.

The medium of podcasting meets students where they are and provides them with access to topics they likely would not have otherwise explored. Podcasts are a form of communication that younger generations of students are already used to engaging with and which have the ability to pique and sustain their attention. The relationship between design education and design practice becomes very apparent when they feel they are granted access to people in the industry when and how they want. In turn, design practitioners are able to provide insights that they are currently seeing. This offers a unique opportunity for design educators to stay abreast of what is currently happening in the field, share it with their students, and for students to be prepared for their current and future design practices.

Takeaway

Participants of this presentation will leave with a list of resources for how This is Design School can be integrated into a design curriculum and how the medium of podcasting can be used as an accessible tool for engaging with students around design thinking. An example syllabus or design brief along with supportive prompts to gauge student interaction with podcasts will be provided.

A portion of the presentation will revolve around practicalities and participants will be given instructions on how to create their own podcast. Equipment will be available to interact with during the Q&A.

Abstract

Podcasting is a growing field of communication that encompasses many industries on topics ranging from celebrity interviews to in-depth analysis of philosophical ideas. This is Design School is a podcast created for design students and emerging designers. The format of host and guest designer provides an opportunity to explore a wide range of topics in the design field. While not alone in format and subject (example: Design Matters with Debbie Millman), This is Design School acknowledges that its primary audience is seeking wisdom and guidance in exploring the full potential of design practices for their continued growth and development.

The opportunity to use technology to educate students on history and current practices meets the demands of education while providing valuable access to a wide range of creatives that are working in the field. These are creatives that most student and emerging designers would not have access to otherwise and which most design education programs would not have the capacity to bring in to the classroom for in-person conversations. Special attention is paid to selecting creatives with varying perspectives, levels of experience, and cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The podcast shows the breadth of creatives working in the field of design and allows students to see themselves reflected.

The initial goal of This is Design School was to bring a voice to young designers so that their peers could aspire to work harder and feel less alone in the process. It turned into an opportunity to share insightful wisdom that would otherwise sit in the pages of books and papers, that often go unread until later in a career. This is Design School is dedicated to uplifting conversations from groups that would not otherwise be heard and, in turn, provide inspiration for how design changes lives, becomes a valuable asset to business practices, and is an instrument for social change.