In the second phase of the Thinking Design project, my group members and I asked ourselves a lot of questions. We continued to use Voxer and Google Hangout to first share our experiences and findings. We then put them down on Post-its on Stormboard and from there, narrowed them down into key terms on Google Drawings, linking common ideas. With feedback from our instructor, we reorganize our thoughts with the focus on our audience, the end users. We also went back to analyze our survey responses and how they were connected with what we had already established. Our questions essentially developed around ways to improve and encourage teaching practices with creativity.
To start the brainstorming, I again created and shared a Google Doc that had both the checklist and rubric requirements. I included links to tools that we could access quickly during our Hangout meetings and tables to organize our thought processes more easily. I reviewed the Question Formulation Technique ahead of time to incorporate its steps as well. I also started and shared Stormboard as a tool to create our Post-its. Just like Google Docs, this program allowed all of us to sign-in with our gmail accounts and review each other’s contributions in Real Time. We all worked together through each of the check-listed items. In the end, I compiled our work from both phases, Discovery and Interpretation, into Google Slides. I took time to detail the layout and visuals, and added summaries of some key areas.
The greatest challenge of this phase was interpreting the instructions and figuring out what our end result was suppose to comprise of. At times, we found ourselves repeating steps that we thought redundant, and we were uncertain if we had fulfilled the phase to move on to the next. Essentially, with the extended time and feedback we were able to collect our thoughts and ensure we were all on the same page in understanding our discoveries. A separate small challenge that we faced was using Stormboard. Despite the fact that I introduced it, I had never used it before, same with the rest of the group; and although easy enough to use, we were limited to what we could do with our brainstorming afterwards. For example, sharing it through social media, downloading or emailing wasn’t possible unless we upgraded our subscription.
Now, in terms of sharing this second phase process with students and colleagues at my school, I would first go through each of the brainstorming tools together. Give them a chance to play around and get comfortable with online collaboration and communication, while guiding them through it. Then, instead of using two or three ways to collect ideas, I would ask them to choose one to work with in their groups. The Question Formulation Technique is a great way to get the thinking process going since it allows members to find recurring themes and evaluate the value of possible answers. I find that analyzing our understanding through the questions and research is a great way to recognize what is still needed to be accomplished before moving on to the next phases.
TEDTalk, Teaching Design for Change, by Emily Pilloton gives a great example of how the concept of Design Thinking could be used successfully in education by elaborating on three points: Design for education, Redesign education, and Design as education. The project Pilloton was involved with analyzed the existing areas of the school that needed improvement, with a multi-layer plan to change the physical environment, to change the mindset of those involved, and to connect with the community. In going forward with the Design Thinking project with my group, we may need to gain better insight on what already exists and determine what is or is not being utilized. We need to also think of support and resources that are attainable; as well as possibly reframing popular concepts in order to properly implement 21st century skills. To enforce creativity, we will have to practice creativity ourselves.
Dear Parents/Guardians,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to another school year that will be filled with exciting new learning experiences. We have made it our mission to reinforce technology into our classrooms to ensure that the application of 21st century skills is integrated in your child(ren)’s education in order to better prepare them for the information global world.
Our school goals include the development of individual students to be critical thinkers, to have the courage and curiosity to ask questions. They will be encouraged to examine beliefs, facts and opinions; while using the appropriate resources to seek answers and clarification. At the same time, they are to be reflective of their own thoughts and practice empathy and humility. We believe that technology has many educational tools that will further enhance learning to reach higher levels of understanding without jumping to conclusions and assumptions.
With our increased access to new devices and technology, including laptops/chromebooks and iPads/tablets, our students and teachers will engage in more enriched conversations. Therefore, the whole school will have available Wifi for internet connection, that will also allow video conferencing, podcasting, blogging, and researching, just to name a few.
In this regard, it is crucial that our educational community, including yourself and your child(ren) are well informed and proactive when it comes to being digital citizens. The school will take the responsibility to keep the students safe under the mandate of federal and state laws. However, we encourage you to apply the same expectations outside the school, and into your homes.
There are many concerns in the use of the internet and so we believe the following guidelines will assist you and your child(ren) to be conscientious of your involvement online:
- Security: keep passwords hidden; they should not be shared or displayed in any format that could be easily accessed by others; create them non-personal and unpredictable.
- Privacy: keep personal information such as your address, email, and phone number hidden; it is best to avoid any means of allowing others to trace or identify you.
- Photos & Videos: keep mindful of the imagery that is posted or viewed to be appropriate in nature, and does not release information of your location or of yourself.
- Property: understand Copyright laws and the consequences of plagiarism and illegal downloading; know which sites are official and credible.
- Permission: CIPA exists to protect minors from inappropriate websites and digital media; any encounters must be reported to prevent others from further access.
- Protection: avoid and report any suspicious emails or pop-up windows that could put you in danger of virus, malware, phishing, ransomware, and identity theft; ensure proper software is setup.
- Conduct: know proper netiquette; refrain from taboo language or lingo when emailing or messaging work/school; keep personal social media, such as Facebook, separate from your professional accounts; cyberbullying will not be tolerated.
- Identity: all posts are released into the Cloud and will be difficult to completely remove, know how you will present and voice your digital identity; be aware of how much you are involved.
Please refer to these websites for additional information that you can review with your child(ren):
1.http://ikeepsafe.org/parents/
2.http://www.cyberwise.org
3.http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/cyber-safety/
We appreciate your patience as the school undergoes the transition of change in this digital age; and as we move forward in this journey together please feel free to contact the school for any further support. If you have questions or concerns in regards to your child(ren)’s education with the application of technology please feel free to contact me by email or at the school office. For now, let us have another year of successful learning.
Ever Onwards,
Mrs. Kay Chao