I just learned that my proposal for a new Middle School class has been accepted. D3 (actually D to the power of 3) "Dream It - Design It - Do It" will be a year long (I think) class that will take place in our new FabLab. I want to teach my kids design thinking and provide them with challenges to solve. I would like to have part of the program that is reaching out and trying to solve some problem in the community around us. My pre K - 12 grade private school is 10 minutes west of downtown Los Angeles, so I am sure we can find a need/problem we can solve. I am just not sure where to start. I was fortunate enough to be part of the EduDesignShop at MIT this last weekend and am excited about trying to now teach design thinking to my students. Another part of this new class will be "free design time" when students can work on their own projects - fashioned after Google's 20% time. I want students to be able to build something they are interested in and have that as a learning experience. My question would be how do I find the design challenge and problems in my community to tackle. . .I am not sure where to begin. Thank you one and all for any suggestions.
D3- Dream It- Design It -Do It!
I've been teaching a similar class/ in a similar style for a while now. I have a ton of project ideas but a lot depends on what grade it is going to be used for as well as what problem would work best for you school philosophy. We've done art/tech installations as well as democratic (individual) projects. I find that the Middle- High school students do well figuring out what problem they want to solve while the K-5 have a harder time developing a problem and then a solutions. "canned" problems or at least an open ended prompt is best for these kids. The Stanford FabLearn Fellows are tackling some of this for you but it's not complete yet. They should have some guru topics posted soon though that show different projects and ideas to pursue.
If you want, let me know what topics you might want to pursue and I can give some specific ideas.
Mark Schreiber
Dear Mark,
I am so happy you reached out to me! Thank you! I would love ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you can give me!
I am teaching a mixed grade level class, I think it will be 7-8 grade students.
I would love to see your syllabus, your website (if you have one) and the projects you have done.
Looking forward to it. My personal email: catlynnd@gmail.com or cdavis@pilgrim-school.org
Best regards,
Catherine
I'll contact you via email soon. My website is www.designcase.co or I'll be putting more stuff on the Stanford Site soon too. http://fablearn.stanford.edu/fellows/Blog/50/Mark%20Schreiber
Have a great one!
Mark