Please join us for a weekly conversation about design thinking in K12 education. We will have a variety of moderators with a wide range and depth of design thinking experiences. Each week, we will connect the dots to the design thinking methodology and how it can and will play a bigger role in today’s K12 educational arena.
I’ve been thinking a lot about brainstorming/ideating lately, y’all... and how the ideas our kids are able to come up with are limited by their experience with what’s available and what’s out there. How do we build their mental libraries of what’s in the works?
#dtk12chat
Who’s going to think of a bio robot ray without cardiac cell, 3D printing, biomaterials, light sensitive cell knowledge?!? https://t.co/2QoX1M3F4T#dtk12chat
Great question! I ask them to imagine (again based on experience), but things like, what would Disney do? What would Harry Potter do? What would Alber Einstein do! Imagining outside themselves. #dtk12chat
I run into this, with my own Ss, & when I'm trying to encourage Ts to incorporate PBL in their classes... I think "passion projects" are big when you can allow for them because Ss can start with the experiences they DO have, however limited #dtk12chat
@LindseyOwn I can get pretty disheartened though when colleagues share articles ab kids making prosthetic limbs for infants in 3rd world countries, and I'm like, well, we rewrote a scene from Hamlet using slang #dtk12chat
Thanks. They actually did a truly great job and their learning was evident and they were pushed outside of their comfort zones to perform, so I was pleased. But you always wonder if it could have been bigger, more impactful, more service oriented, etc #dtk12chat
There all different constraints, etc that make different learning experiences possible & important in varying communities. We can continue 2 push envelope, ¬ everything has 2change the world. Easy to forget sometimes. Especially w/everything we c on social media. #dtk12chat
Right?! Little kids don’t have the boundaries in their minds. But they also don’t know what’s *really* possible. That’s one of my other questions... how do we move kids from magical imaginary invention to real functional invention?
#dtk12chat
Agreed. And we're looking at the long view here—if young people learn to understand others and see new possibilities together, they'll be doing those projects, or other impactful work, at some point in their lives. #dtk12chat
We do a huge passion projects event in our middle school, but so many kids can’t get past “LEGO robot” or “cupcakes.” I want to build their libraries to extend what’s available for them to think of as their passion! #dtk12chat
I don’t know what’s really possible either. That’s why we need all kinds of people. When we tried to get our class rubber chickens in space, I talked to my Ss about needing all the peeps to make it happen.
Floaters, Atmospherers, and Grounders #dtk12chat
We should appreciate all those creative applications! And, FWIW, using the 3D printer to print other people’s models - even if prostheses for folks in need - isn’t a creative application. Handy use of technology, but just production. Not creation. #hottake#dtk12chat
I don't have it the way I want it yet, but so far I try it from a, "What's a new skill you want to learn?" and "how can you make a plan to approach that goal?" etc... So maybe one learns to cook a few meals, one designs a schedule to practice Spanish every morning etc #dtk12chat
Love this. And I'm a big believer in developing creativity in every realm and through every media (reading @intentionbook#criticalcreativity will convince anyone of the value of rewriting Hamlet using slang). #dtk12chat
so glad you said this! I've felt the same way. While I don't doubt the impact this can have, it sometimes feels like a way to 'sell' a maker program to funders #dtk12chat
@LindseyOwn We also do a lot of "HMW share this information?" Like, a LOT. So much is just trying to expose the Ss to those experiences they haven't had & that knowledge they haven't seen & then try to eke out a relevant design question to challenge them to engage... #dtk12chat
Teaching Shakespeare to 5th & 6th graders was one of my most favorite classes... and I didn’t like Shakespeare before I started teaching it. There is room for inspiration, creativity, empathy, humanity in all good learning. #dtk12chat
In reply to
@ElaBenUr, @LindseyOwn, @AshAusp, @IntentionBook
Cool. & a great chance for s's to reach out to expert—or look at sources—for inspiration. My s's projects go in many different directions I can't support, so I send 'em out to other @OlinCollege profs to inspire/help them. I like the message that people will help you. #dtk12chat
I will say, I lucked out as a humanities teacher - I think those content areas, literature in particular, are simply made to design around and dig deep with questions #dtk12chat
In reply to
@lndeutsch, @ElaBenUr, @LindseyOwn, @IntentionBook
On kind of a different topic... & these are very rough thoughts/Qs/ideas.. thinking about this idea of the role of ambiguity in learning & design,ambiguity some Ss r dealing with around gender & ways DT can support this & learn from this. #dtk12chat
On kind of a different topic... & these are very rough thoughts/Qs/ideas.. thinking about this idea of the role of ambiguity in learning & design,ambiguity some Ss r dealing with around gender & ways DT can support this & learn from this. #dtk12chat
I'd be tempted to start with some of the cliched social media posts ("You're a mom of boys if" type of thing) and ask Ss to redesign them somehow in surprising ways - maybe to undo gender stereotypes or to reinforce them as a statement piece... that's off the cuff, IDK #dtk12chat
I was just wondering about how to support this today—applying the notion of ambiguity and creativity of design thinking to support it, and also learning empathy and openness from it—sounds promising. I'll be grateful to hear your approaches. #dtk12chat
Also thinking about redesigning what schools are calling multi-gender bathrooms. Often just another checked box but no empathy toward Ss real experience. Area rich with opps 4 empathy, understanding, & redesign #dtk12chat
yes... maybe broaden the topic? maybe around identity in general, how do we identify ourselves, why, what is the history of making this choice, what are the implications of this? have they ever considered a different way to describe themselves/ #dtk12chat
In reply to
@lndeutsch, @LindseyOwn, @AshAusp, @quickmuse
Hey #dtk12chat gang, does anyone feel really good about their method for progress reporting? I would like to get closer to a sturdier model for assessing and reporting; standards-based, compentency-based, or whatever
