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The ID-Online Asynchronous Learning Network: a 'Virtual Studio' for Interdisciplinary Design Collaboration

Starting in 1996, the authors, Surya Vanka and Jim Budd developed ID-Online, an Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN) for Industrial Design Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The primary objective of ID-Online was to deliver enhanced design instruction via asynchronous access to design resources and enhance network-based communication between instructors and students. This paper provides an historical overview of the development of ID-Online. It discusses two years of development, use and evaluations. It then leads into the authors' recent initiatives to advance the concept of a developing design community in the digital realm. The paper concludes with reflections on the benefit, and pedagogical pros and cons, of the use of asynchronous learning technologies in design education.