To the Final Test with Posts and Tweets
Students of the undergraduate course in Economics and Management of Arts, Culture and Communication (CLEACC) live in the digital age, but they probably never thought of tweeting and posting as important parts of an exam. It's exactly what happens in the Method, Critique and Research In Artistic Disciplines II (Module II) classroom. The course is an introduction to Italian contemporary design. Half of the grade is determined by a traditional written test about the lessons' content. The other half is determined by an oral exam regarding a blog and a Twitter account that students have to keep.
"Twentysomethings' cognitive processes are different from fifty-year olds'", says Stefano Mirti, the non-academic Design professor and head of EXPO 2015's social media, who conceived the exam. "Using tools students are familiar with is useful for teaching purposes". Students are asked to start a blog on Google+ about design and Milan, or the place they come from. When it comes to picking up a topic, it doesn't matter if it's handmade hats, fast fashion, peanut butter, umbrellas or traditional festivities. It must be very specific if they want to become micro-experts in their field. They must employ that same grid that is used to analyze designers' work. Their digital presence should be significant. "They must create a Twitter account too. It's a way to make them understand that every medium has its own rules". Every Saturday Design In Bocconi (https://paper.li/designinbocconi) collects students' posts and tweets. The latter are aggregated here: https://twitter.com/designinbocconi.
"Writing a blog means doing interviews and meeting people", says Chiara Lunardini, a student of the 2009-2010 course who now works at the Triennale. "I understood that I had to put myself on the line and have no fear. Purely factual lessons would teach me only half the things I've learned". The exercise had a positive effect on jobs too. "Before starting my blog about the world of wine I knew little about Internet", Costanza Pedroni acknowledges. Four years later, she's in charge of marketing and communication activities of Wanderio, a web application that plans your trip from doorstep to final destination combining every kind of public transport and private transfers.
Using Google+ and Twitter has another benefit. "You cannot have a CV and a Facebook account and pretend they're well-separated", Mirti says. "They're not, for better or worse. The labour market has changed. Students must realize that kinds of expertise that were nonexistent only five years ago now are hugely important".
Mirti started using blogs as an evaluation tool in 2008. He witnessed the progressive iPad-ization of students' life. He made an effort to recap lessons on a book in ePub format. When he announced it to the class, a student raised his hand: "That's amazing, thanks. But would you please bring photocopies with you next week?". The good old paper isn't obsolete yet.