We wrapped up our second annual Academic Month in July. Similar to last year’s Academic Month, it was a testament to how schools are jumpstarting with 3D and overcoming challenges to successfully implement CLO into their curriculum. This year’s Academic Month highlighted five institutions including Design School Kolding, Manchester Metropolitan University, Trainstation, Institut Français de la Mode, and Istituto Europeo di Design. The schools presented what they’ve been teaching in CLO, why they decided to start using CLO, and what their students have created in the software thus far.
Each institution highlighted key points in their roadmap to onboarding their students in the software. At Design School Kolding, for example, Christel Arnevik said that they began with a pilot project in order to better understand all the intricacies and software features. Surveys and questionnaires to test the Bachelor Program students’ 2D and digital capabilities were imperative so that they could understand how to establish a curriculum that would best suit the students’ needs. Upon receiving the results from each survey, they would construct courses and a tailored curriculum that aligned with areas that the students required the most help. The courses focused on relevant and contextual teaching, emphasizing “how-to’s”, and students received daily feedback on how they should approach the next lesson.
For Institut Français de la Mode, Jean Quesnel discussed how they took a “no limit” approach when instructing the BA-level design students. They explored CLO without the consideration of physical garment constraints and their motto was to discover, create, and share:
- Discover: Discover and understand what each tool does before going into detail
- Create: Start with the configurator and begin experimenting without too much concern with having a full scope of knowledge on the software
- Share: Print patterns and export the renderings to share with the class
They wanted their students to focus on how CLO can be used as a tool to experiment with their creativity without having to be concerned about actually developing a physical output. IFM implemented 20-hour master-level workshops that focused on read-to-wear, knitwear, and accessory design. There was also an emphasis on teaching and learning in an open environment so that each student can get the motivation and inspiration needed to fuel their creativity. At the end of the class, the students created a digital museum.
Anita Mitchell says that Manchester Metropolitan University implemented a blended learning model in their roadmap that incorporated hybrid learning with a phygital framework. They wanted students to view CLO as a significant driver to introduce concepts of sustainability and materiality through digital innovation and, like IFM, also encouraged experimentation among the students, taking a playful approach to their curriculum. There was an emphasis and practicing and students and staff met together as a collective to do so in community with one another.
Check out some of the other students’ final presentations:
