Rethinking Teaching: How ICTs Can Positively Impact Education in Architecture

The expanded use of new information technologies has significantly affected both the initiation and the maintenance of professional education. This trend is especially valuable for relatively isolated countries such as Taiwan, where architectural education could be vastly improved by encouraging regular interaction with faculties and practicing professionals outside the country. New, far-reaching information and communication technologies (ICTs) can facilitate such exchanges. This article 1) explores how ICTs hold a promise of transforming the process of professional education in architecture; 2) examines the issues and difficulties of implementing ICT in the teaching of professional architecture, and 3) discusses how instructional technology and school reform can, under the right conditions, become mutually reinforcing partners in supporting student learning, specifically in rapidly developing nations like Taiwan. Particular attention is given to the increased potential for collaborative work that crosses international and cultural boundaries, molding studies and exercises to the interests of students and teachers rather knowledge that has recently evolved, and how this maximized use will benefit architectural education.