In this article, the author provides an overview of Second Life[trademark], or simply SL, which was developed at Linden Lab, a San Francisco-based corporation. SL is an online society within a threee-dimensional virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents, where they can explore, build, socialize and participate in their own economy.…

Proposes a broader framework for understanding design creativity by distinguishing different levels of creativity, namely personal and social/cultural creativity, and their interaction. Within this framework, the possible role that the computer can play is discussed by analyzing the procedure of rule formation and the phenomenon of seeing emergent…

This article describes several very useful applications of AutoCAD that may lie outside the normal scope of application. AutoCAD commands used in this article are based on AutoCAD 2000I. The author and his students used a Hewlett Packard 750C DesignJet plotter for plotting. (Contains 5 figures and 5 photos.)

Computer aided design (CAD) has been producing 3-D models for years. AutoCAD software is frequently used to create sophisticated 3-D models. These CAD files can be exported as 3DS files for import into Autodesk's 3-D Studio Viz. In this program, the user can render and modify the 3-D model before exporting it out as a WRL (world file hyperlinked)…

At most universities throughout the world Computer Aided Design is taught using commercial programs more suitable for business and industry than for teaching. This led us to write our own design program (GIcad) starting from the best-known standards on the market, but always avoiding unnecessary commands in the first steps of the learning process.…

In this article, the author first explains what an authors gallery is and suggests additional uses and modifications. Next, readers are taken through a day-by-day description of creating the gallery while having the theory behind this pedagogical choice explained. The step-by-step discussion is supported with student examples and concepts drawn…

This paper describes a pilot study for an alternative design process by integrating a designer-user collaborative session with digital models. The collaborative session took place in a 3D AutoCAD class for a real world project. The 3D models served as an interface for designer-user collaboration during the design process. Students not only learned…

In this article TENCompetence will be presented as a framework for lifelong competence development. More specifically, the relationship between the TENCompetence framework and the IMS Learning Design (LD) specification is explored. LD authoring has proven to be challenging and the toolset currently available is targeting expert users mostly…

Employers require pristine drawings that convey clarity and precision for the production of goods. Can a change in sequence of instruction be expeditious and help teachers better prepare their students for the workplace? Research suggests that combining traditional drafting and computer-aided drafting (CAD) instruction makes sense. It is analogous…

Computers have changed the ways students study components of design. Once on the computer, students tend to get so excited that they usually neglect to make preliminary sketches. Rather than rely on design software to provide visual solutions, this author chose to use design assignments that are intended to foster thinking in his students. In this…

Graduates of the automotive technology program at Pittsburg State University (PSU) generally enter the workforce in some type of automotive management role. As a result, the program does not require students to purchase their own tools, and it does not have room for all 280 majors to roll around a personal tool chest. Each instructor must maintain…

The "Virtuosi" research program is a computer-aided design program that enables designers not only to manipulate two-dimensional pattern shapes, which has been done before, but to work these patterns into three-dimensional styles. (JOW)

Describes innovative technology education programs at Lafayette High School in Virginia and Keiser College in Florida that explore three-dimensional computer design and animation. (JOW)

Drafters must be detail-oriented people. The objects they draw are interpreted and then built with the extreme precision required by today's manufacturers. Now that computer-aided drafting (CAD) has taken over the drafting profession, anything less than exact precision is unacceptable. In her drafting classes, the author expects her students to…

In this paper we present the results of research work, that forms part of the activities of the EU-funded project SLOOP: Sharing Learning Objects in an Open Perspective, aimed at encouraging the definition, development and management of Open Educational Resources based on the Learning Object paradigm (Wiley, 2000). We present a model of Open…