Educating interaction designers – how are new tools for design changing learning situations?

Abstract

Institutions for design education are creating new courses and study programs within the field of interaction design, in order to meet the challenges that arise with the changing role of the designer and the expansion of the object of design. The DesignEd project analyses how new tools for design work are changing learning situations and knowledge requirements in design education. In this article I will present the research topics that motivate the planned and ongoing work on the DesignEd project. Ethnographic case study research has been carried out in a class of master level interaction design students at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. The preliminary findings from this study suggest the need for further exploration regarding the importance of computer programming skills for interaction design activities, and how cooperation can be facilitated in groups with different levels of programming competencies.