The Transformational Promise of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) for the Professional Education of Architects

The ever-expanding use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) is especially significant to professional education in relatively isolated nations such as Taiwan. Interaction with university faculties outside the country would vastly improve the Taiwanese education of architects, for example, and this is sufficient reason for the full implementation of ICTs in architectural schools in that country. This article 1) explores how ICTs hold a promise for transforming the process of professional education in architecture, 2) examines the issues and difficulties of implementing ICTs in the teaching of architecture, and 3) discusses how a greater use of ICTs in architectural education would enhance both the ability of students to work collaboratively and the opportunity for professors to enjoy much greater participation and collegiality in the world-wide academic community of architectural educators. Particular attention is given throughout the paper to the epistemological and educational paradigm of constructivism and the cultural considerations of implementing ICTs in an Asian nation such as Taiwan.