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Many courses are going online in the last few years as a way to become more convenient and accessible to people, especially university courses. Currently during the midst of a global lockdown, not only are many universities rushing to adapt to the sudden change, but many university lecturers can be found lost in their respective industries of how to conduct each of their courses all online. Lecturers must also critically think about how well will these lessons translate to students from being in class to now being online especially with courses that are hands-on and physically utilize tools to learn the lessons. Many found this change to be so sudden that there wasn’t much to prepare and to adapt due to the current unprepared circumstances of the global shutdown and quarantine. Nonetheless, universities are adapting to the online environment of conducting courses with this period, who knows, the future of courses could possibly be conducted more online. Here’s how one university, Raffles International College Bangkok, is conducting 3 courses efficiently online. 

 

1.Fashion Marketing Management Online Course:
Fashion marketing management is mostly theoretical in contrast to fashion design courses, which are typically practical. The theoretical modules like in History for fashion are taught with PowerPoint analyzing key points. Students are given reading materials so each class would just focus on key features that they would not find in the textbooks. All of the theory classes need in-class practice to balance the creative and thinking process. Half the class is spent demonstrating how to apply theoretical lessons into design as a designer or business. Therefore, the 3 to 4 hour classes are broken down as follows: 40 minutes of lecture, 20 minutes break, 40 minutes of lecture, 20 minutes break, 40 minutes of video clips highlight and runway reviews, 20 minutes break, 40 minutes of demonstration using Photoshop, Illustrator making inspiration boards, and finally the last 1.5 hours the students are to do their own report about the topic covered and complete their own inspiration boards/design. At the end they would email me for feedback by the end of the class. 

For fashion design practical classes like drawings and computer design. We do 3 sessions of 40 minutes of step by step demonstrations using pictures, pre-recorded videos, and discussion. Classwork contribution to their projects or assignments due in weeks 4, 6,9, and 11. As you can see the class is well segmented and clear in structure. 

Fashion Marketing Management Online Course

 

2.Interior Design Online Course:

The course is mostly conducted with students sharing files, using multiple platforms for communication between the lecturer and classmates, and using technological tools such as an iPad to demonstrate drawings. For the most part, the online course isn’t reinventing the wheels here, but just doing the best that they can with the online and tech tools that they have to conduct classes like they normally would in a physical class setting. Work is assigned and discussed just like elsewhere so there isn’t much to change to transition to with taking this course online. 

Interior Design Online Course

 

 

3.Fashion Design Online Course:

Videos are recorded for students to effectively learn at their own pace and leisure. There are a massive amount of short videos and stop-motion like pictures for the different practical classes. For the different classes, they’re all conducted online through online platforms such as Zoom. However, the biggest aspect is for students to have the necessary equipment for the practical studio classes such as sewing and drafting; thus, it’s significant students have these tools while they’re in home quarantine. For Pattern Drafting classes, they are taught through videos and step-by-step picture tutorials to demonstrate the different steps of pattern drafting. A 40% scale of the skirts are used for Drafting 1 and 60% scale of the bodice and sleeve are used for Drafting 2; therefore, students can work from home on A4 size paper. For Sewing classes, videos and step-by-step image tutorials are also used. Scaled down projects are worked on in life video class. Students have sewing machines available, so the lecturer can guide them through the process of sewing by machine. As for the other students, they can be guided by hand with hand sewing processes. For both drafting and sewing, the original curriculum is followed and is adapted to working from home through a smaller scale. To sum up, instead of real-life demonstrations, students receive online instructional videos, step-by-step image demonstrations, and life demonstrations through Zoom. The other design-related classes are more project-based and the projects get launched through Zoom meetings and followed up through one-on-one meetings for checking the students’ progress with feedback sessions, which would happen the same as it would in a physical class setting. 

Fashion Design Online Course