In a new initiative aimed at breaking cultural and geographical barriers, students are using online applications to bring their ideas and visions to life, while forming valuable professional and personal connections. Working together, each design team of up to four students have delivered an impressive portfolio of print and digital design collateral.

SAE Australia’s Design Course Committee Chair and Senior Lecturer, Rachael Shea, said the online collaboration project was helping students to stay engaged during COVID-19.

“We’ve run the project twice now, and the feedback from students has been excellent, with some of the relationships formed between students continuing outside the class,” Rachael said.

“Working in groups that include people from a variety of cultural backgrounds requires us to think more consciously about our assumptions, and stimulates our curiosity. This is an opportunity for students to practice communication, collaboration and empathy skills in quite a sophisticated way.”

Looking to the future, Rachael is committed to fostering further cross-border collaboration with SAE colleagues in Germany and New Zealand.

SAE Byron Bay student Christel Cherryadi was grateful for the unique opportunity to team up with peers in other locations. “Having the chance to work with students from different places and cultures brings a new perspective to the overall collaborative activity than we’d normally get just working with students in class from our home campus,” she said.

Dareen Maisara, from SAE Dubai, said she appreciated the diversity of the group. “SAE has so many campuses around the world and it was my first experience working with students from a campus abroad,” she said.

“It was fun to get to know them and hear their ideas. It opened up so many doors to discussion and feedback. I would love to be a part of something like this again.”

With international travel restricted, giving students the chance to collaborate with their peers across borders was vitally important for their development, Rachael Shea added.

“Being exposed to people from varied backgrounds is important in generating a wider perspective of thoughts and ideas. I can only applaud the passion of our students for the success of this project.”