One of the coolest aspects of working as an instructional designer is the openness to learning new things and working with talented people from a variety of fields.

Just this day (in early Dec.), I had the pleasure of sitting in on cumulating projects for landscape architecture. In a small studio with wooden floors, some dozen fifth-year students had their project plans for various land use spaces - an urban plaza next to a concert hall in Tennessee, a village in Utah, and a suburb in Florida. The room was an intimate space with warm gallery track lighting on the walls.

Bleary-eyed from "burning the midnight oil" the night before, they each took turns explaining their designs, which included aerial views, street views, and topographical concerns. Their designs took into consideration the car culture and American lifestyles. They considered the terrain and the climate. They considered aesthetics. They considered human psychology and the need for green spaces. They considered ecological concerns and needs. They looked at issues of efficiency in the use of space. They looked at materials. They looked at city codes.

Their projects were a mix of hand-drawn, computer-drawn, and 3D sketches.

Two of the students' professors were in the room, and one of their clients, who'd driven out from Kansas City (two hours away) also came to give feedback. The trio gave both appreciative comments and also critiques - about areas where the "geometry wasn't fully resolved" or where "walkable spaces" hadn't fully been designed well or where human movements (ventilation) through a space hadn't been thoroughly considered.

Would a city approve park benches that were 7' across given the movements now to make cities less friendly to the homeless? Would a particular line of benches need more tree shading? Was a pleasant public plaza poorly situated next to a busy road with cars likely going 60 mph? How would pleasant views be preserved of a city's city hall centerpiece? How could the inspiration of music be infused in a public space?

And a Webinar

Then, we segued into a WebEx webinar with a principal of an architecture firm who had visited the students several times and tasked them to work on a complex project based out of a real space in Utah. With only a minimum of technological hiccups, the half-dozen students who'd worked on this part of the project presented their ideas virtually...explained their rationales....and heard back from a former graduate of their program who'd made it big in a big city with a global firm.

Their project plans were splashed digitally across the wall with a digital projector. The principal's voice carried well over the computer speakers. The head-phone mike worked well.

Again, there was an amazing sense of synchronization - with the principal understanding the ideas of the students by their verbal descriptions overlaying the visuals they'd painstakingly prepared.

Here, too, was a warm mix of supportive observations and logical suggestions and critiques. It was clear that the students had evolved their projects with the help of these experts in the field, in a perfect live example of Vygotsky's ZPD. They addressed the changes they'd made and why and then where they chose not to make changes.

In some of the designs, some aspects were not defined in as much detail as the learners wanted... because they simply ran up against the deadline and so went with what they had.

While the technologies in the room were elemental (dusty computer, loose connections), with some basic effort, the technology was cleaned and augmented with a webcam and the necessary speakers and headset. The webinar software carried the day. And the impressive hundreds and hundreds of hours of work by the students and their evolving ideas were captured powerfully in the presentation.