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Amid the transition to online classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, GCA architecture professor Dave Boeck has found that the most challenging obstacle is figuring out all the tools available to use while teaching online.
“One tool is the use of my tablet for sketching either new drawings or over the top of existing drawings or student drawings,” said Boeck. “By using screen share and having them upload a sketch to a file I can access, I can take their drawing and sketch over the top of it and show them how to do what I’d like them to learn.”
Image credit: Dave Boeck
Despite this learning curve, Boeck said has found that an online classroom has its benefits, too. Among those is the ability to maintain students’ attention and create conversation through a virtual classroom using Zoom.
“Because of the closeness in Zoom, I can offer suggestions and give them feedback more effectively believe it or not!” said Boeck. “It’s the personal online contact that makes it most effective.”
With the transition to online learning, Boeck hopes his students will learn the value of staying connected to others and communicating no matter the circumstances.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture professor and Institute for Quality Communities Director Dr. Amber N. Wiley’s book, Model Schools in the Model City: Race, Planning, and Education in the Nation’s Capital, has received two major honors from the Urban History Association.
Research initiated by Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture alumna Naila Hasan during her master’s studies at the University of Oklahoma has continued through faculty collaboration and resulted in a peer-reviewed publication in HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce Esther Thorp, Tyler Boydstun and Chukwuma Nwokoye as the winners of the 2026 Construction Innovation Translation Hub (CIThub) Student Ideas Competition.