During the forced self-isolation of courses, training, and other learning opportunities online, there are so many that it seems that it will be very difficult to return to offline education. Educational institutions for design and architecture have also adapted to the existence of the network. We decided to find out what new forms of design education have appeared how the education industry in this area will look after the end of the pandemic.

• Serious, relevant, and systemic education

The world is changing right before our eyes. And there are already the results of these changes.

The first conclusion: absolutely everyone will count money – the client has become more selective and demanding, and the business and service providers – more economical and thrifty. This means that we will choose the best options. For example, the assessment of a designer’s work is predicted to be more transparent and justified. Serious, relevant, and systemic education in the creative field will be in demand first of all.

The pandemic has brought education online. But this does not mean that students have stopped getting much homework. If you are experiencing any difficulties with assignments, you can google “do my project” and find help on special services. This way, you will make your project much faster and keep up with your fellow students.

• Critical thinking, readiness for changes, professional perfectionism in rethinking the world around us

The demand for designers will grow as more and more problems are discovered that the world has long tried to ignore: sustainability and inclusiveness. People are re-evaluating their values. Many design schools have taken a project-based approach to teach. The students work on “live” projects based on briefs that are formulated by the industry itself. It is important for them to be not only in the present but always in the future because school graduates are the future of the industry. It is important for teachers to react to external changes on two fronts – not only what to teach students, but also how to do that, and how designers can teach each other.

If we talk about what to continue to teach future designers, then this is critical thinking, readiness for changes, professional perfectionism in rethinking the world around us, speed. More broadly, the request for interaction in the community, solidarity in solving problems, the quick joint reaction of people to external changes, increasing awareness, co-creation, and human-centeredness – all this poses new challenges for design (both ethical and technological) and, of course, will be reflected in the products and services of the future.

• Transition to a blended format

With the onset of the pandemic, schools made the transition to a blended format. Now, during the quarantine period, classes are held online. After the quarantine, everything that works well online, that is, lectures, seminars, and so on, will remain there. And offline, students will have to carry out projects that cannot be implemented in an online format: photo and video filming, work in workshops, teamwork, project training, open defense, and much more. 

The distance learning mode, in which we all found ourselves during the quarantine period, showed that, firstly, the online format is not a panacea: it is not able to cover all the needs of students, and the current situation, where everything is online and often free, is temporary. Secondly, online education is not just offline digitization with “talking heads.” This is a complex, resource-intensive format, so it is worthwhile to approach the development of online or blended courses intelligently. Ultimately, the end result is only portfolio and industry immersion experience. The schools’ job is to give students the best opportunities to do this.