An examination of the potential of interactive video for supporting teaching and learning in design and technology

Design and technology in schools highlights the need for pupils to identify with the needs and opportunities in a (design) context and to consider the attributes of a well designed product which might meet those needs. It is generally apparent that whilst this element of design capability characterises the move from “making” to “designing and making” in schools it has not yet been fully developed. This paper describes the development of a prototype interactive video (IV) application which helps pupils to understand how design criteria may be specified by considering the design context. This IV application will be used to evaluate the feasibility of using flexible learning approaches to support students investigating design contexts and specifying design criteria. The IV disc makes use of conventional video material developed for use in National Curriculum Technology. The evaluation of this original material was reported at DATER 90.