Design education increasingly blends technology learning with sociotechnical challenges, but little is understood about how students simultaneously engage with both of these elements. In this preliminary study, we describe the results of two offerings of a design course focusing on disaster response at a major public research institution. We present a preliminary analysis of 52 students’ course reflections suggesting that sociotechnical challenges uniquely contextualize technology during project-based learning, presenting promising opportunities for future design education and research study.