Extending knowledge domains for new media education: integrating interaction design theory and methods

Abstract

Over the last 10 years, new media has ascended to a prominent place in many fields that utilize communication technologies. At the same time, new media education has evolved in such a way that students are often not prepared to understand the social context of new media design and development. To produce new media professionals who are adequately prepared to meet the needs of an online hyper-social marketplace, new media curricula must reflect those human-centered theories and practices found within the discipline of interaction design, in addition to formal new media technical knowledge. The authors propose a new three-by-three theoretical model, referred to as Knowledge-Operators-and-Domains (KOD). Applying this model suggests an approach that extends the practical boundaries of new media to include a range of human-centered theories and practices, such as ethnography and usability-based studies.