From a novice to an expert : exploring the use of social media in a learning community of designers

Abstract

Understanding the practical skills, creative approaches and attitudes needed in order to succeed as global pioneers in the creative industry is crucial for students in design learning institutions. They also need to figure out the connection between their learning and the nature of the creative industries. However, with the limited resources and room for experimentation within the confined walls of their classrooms, students tend to find difficulties in developing their potential skills and discovering their passions. The different forms of social media are generally known for the great opportunities they provide for engagement and collaboration and for enhancing learning experiences. This study explored how social media could enhance the design learning process in higher education institutions and improves the pathways of the design graduates into the creative industries.

Drawing upon an in-depth investigation into the design students’ uses of a social media platform (SMP) over a period of 14 weeks in two higher education institutions, the research followed a qualitative paradigm utilising a combination of activity theory, case study and Straussian grounded theory methodological approaches. The study investigated the roles and uses of the SMP in design learning. It revealed how the design students use the SMP to develop creative artworks with the involvement of industry designers. Four key research questions guided this study: (1) How do the student designers use the SMP as a tool to support and facilitate their design learning? (2) How does the use of the SMP enhance the design competency of the student designers? (3) What are the characteristics of the SMP that support the students’ design learning process and the barriers to using such technology for design practices? (4) What are the perspectives of design educators on the implementation of social media technology to enhance the design learning process in their classroom? Data was collected through observations, analysis of the student artefacts, interviews and field notes.

The study proposed a framework that provides clearer theoretical understanding of how student designers execute their design practices via the use of SMP, including the factors, phases of design process, and interrelationship between elements involved and principles that preside these interrelationships. First, the uses of SMP in bolstering the design learning process of student designers were conceptualised. The motivating and inhibiting factors that have influenced the SMP use of the student designers were then examined by probing into the reasons behind their engagement with the technology. Results revealed a set of interrelated factors covering pedagogical, personal, social and technological facets. Finally, an affordance framework that accommodates the essential strategies and practices required for the development of designers in the creative community is proposed, with its theoretical roots in the social constructivist approach. Spanning along the novice to expert continuum, this framework depicts six dimensions of affordances of SMP that emphasise their functionality associated with the creative pedagogies in design learning.

Overall, besides theoretical conceptualisation and empirical evidence, the study can also offer practical guidelines for using social media technology in supporting design learning and building creative communities effectively.