What is the problem you are trying to solve?

The lack of physical activity in higher education courses

1) Take a stab at framing it as a design question

How can we add physical activities as part of the normal learning experiences in higher education courses?

2) Now state the ultimate impact that you’re trying to have

Add a layer of physical activities to normal higher education courses to improve health and learning experiences, developing human beings as whole beings and not only brains.

3) What are some possible solutions to your problem? Think broadly. It’s fine to start a project with a hunch or two, but make sure you allow for surprising outcomes.

• A set of physical games that can be used as learning and/or assessment activities
• A digital experience that requires the use of gestures to reach contents or answer questions.
• A [digital] assistant to help manage the physical activity during classes / homeworks.
• Learning spaces that make people move more while taking courses

4) Finally, write down some of the context and constraints that you’re facing. They could be geographic, technological, time-based, or have to do with the population you’re trying to reach.

We are very used to the idea of the usual classroom setting. Even with diverse activities during class time, the physicality is almost never taken into consideration. We have against us the inertia of thought / traditions of the students and the faculty.

Occidental culture has a strong conceptual separation between “body” and “mind”: The priority is given to the “brains” learning and not to their “containers”.

What about people with disabilities? How to make sure that the solution helps to include them?

5) Does your original question need a tweak? Try it again.

How can we develop a general solution to add physical activity time to normal higher education courses?

How can we develop a general and accepted solution to add physical activity time to normal higher education courses?

I’m deeply upset by the number of people who are incarcerated in the United States, especially since many of those people are minorities, and many of those minorities are black.

Problem: Mass incarcerated individuals have little to no access to higher educational resources beyond vocational and training certificates.

Solution: Bring higher education to those who are mass incarcerated.

While there are a few opportunities for incarcerated individuals to obtain limited education: vocational courses, trade certificates, associates degrees, licensures, etc., I doubt this is enough to make them viable candidates at succeeding at life once let out.

Provide incarcerated individuals with necessary life tools: education on mental health, finance skills, job skills, etc.

Design question:

How to teach the mass incarcerated? Implement programs to pursue higher education in prison.

Education provides more opportunities.

Constraints:

Also consider the quality of education that would be available to those incarcerated. Like I’d rather not have it if it’s not good. Is it possible for colleges and universities to partner with local or state prisons?

Lack of funding limits the resources available to those who are incarcerated. I wonder if there is a way to bring higher education opportunities to those who are incarcerated and if so, to what capacity. I want those who are incarcerated to have a better outlook on life and

empower those who are marginalized and forgotten by giving them a chance to receive education.

Impact:

Not just preparing students for jobs but teaching them to think creatively and convert smart ideas into tools and services that benefit a wide range of communities. —> is it possible to do the same with those who are incarcerated? HOW?

Skills & deep thinking

Less of an avenue towards employment and more as a life long commitment to personal growth and inquiry. —> do the same for incarcerated

Thinking of how to improve society rather than one own’s life in regards to education.

References:

The 13th

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/26/america-has-locked-up-so-many-black-people-it-has-warped-our-sense-of-reality/

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/10/is-entrepreneurialism-at-odds-with-deep-thinking/503825/?utm_content=bufferb0db9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2016/10/20/higher-education-should-be-a-public-good-not-a-private-commodity/?postshare=221477185207253&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.1a884eb4a227

http://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=jcshesa

What is the problem you’re trying to solve?

Lack of accessible, well made continuing education resources for adults who need to re-skill.

 

1) Take a stab at framing it as a design question.

How can we improve continuing education for adults, particularly in the US?

 

2) Now, state the ultimate impact you’re trying to have.

We want adults to be able to re-train to stay employable in a world where the job market will be changing very quickly, even more quickly than it is changing now.

 

3) What are some possible solutions to your problem?

Currently: community college, online learning, master’s degree programs

 

Future: VR learning, adapting flexibility of current MOOC style to better online experiences, AI coaches to help with direction and motivation, high-quality content that can be delivered by a non-expert (ie, something that teaches the teacher too, creates more teachers), change how HR assesses possible new hires, get industry more involved in choosing continuing education topics

 

4) Finally, write down some of the context and constraints that you’re facing.

Learners might not have the learning skills to teach themselves new skills.

Learners might not have access to the technologies that best allow re-skilling.

Learners might not have access to the infrastructure to use the tools (ie broadband internet).

Lack of quality teachers to create curriculum.

 

5) Does your original question need a tweak? Try it again.

How can we help learners assess their own skills when they are looking to enter a new industry?

How can we create quality, low cost material to help students learn new job skills?

How can we make sure that continuing education resources are available to as many people as possible?

How can we give as many students as possible access to great teachers?

How can we help teachers reach more students?

How do we assess what skills will be most valuable in the job market?

 

Solution Brainstorming:

Nothing to say about the UX sketching articles—it’s something I think everyone at ITP has done at this point (or at least I hope so!). I was surprised by the fact that there’s a website usability.gov, and it looks the way it does…

I found the assertions in the Science Daily article interesting. Fully agree that “we have to focus learning to a greater degree now, rather than jumping from one trend to another.” At this point, I’ve learned the basics of design and design-thinking in almost every class at ITP (something like 7 times), but never gotten to a deeper level. It’s frustrating, and part of my issue with the curricular model here. I disagreed with the implication that we must double-down on things like “how to write code or be a doctor, or any of the things that require time and effort.” I doubt those two jobs will exist in the future. Plenty of coding is on its way to becoming obsolete. Robot surgeons are already becoming more accurate and safe than human surgeons. I think it’s the creative and strategic and caring jobs that will be the future. We need to develop our muscles to innovate/imagine and collaborate/care, not just invest in the things that require “time and effort.” Because if time and effort (computational power) is all that’s required, then machines have us licked! This is my premise for my 2nd design challenge.

I decided to explore two territories, pending feedback from Greg et al. I’m leaning toward the second direction—having some interest in how tactics for long-term behavior modification might affect long-term learning.

Design Challenge 1: Applied Learning

Design Challenge 2: Creative, Strategic Thinkers

For this assignment, I made a quick video showing how to make a smoothie. I chose not to include audio. I created two surveys on Google Forms to evaluate the effectiveness of my video as a teaching tool.

I chose to create a lesson centered on what I know best- creating and manipulating photographic images; specifically, digital ones. I struggled with determining the best way of conveying that, since there are so many ways of creating images; there are also many steps that play into creating “effective” images. This reflection will outline those challenges, the approach I took in tackling them, and the outcome of those decisions.

The primary challenges that I identified were:

-Determining/defining what an “effective” photo is

-Communicating and explaining the elements of a photo

-Navigating editing software

-Teaching in a manner that creates a foundation (for further learning)

A lot of what makes a photo effective for me, is rooted in intuition and feeling. That’s not completely helpful if I’m trying to teach a skill. So I had to acknowledge that my primary focus had to be on the technical aspects of image editing and creating a familiarity with the software that my subject would be using. I determined that a video tutorial would be best- as its not only instructional but it would allow me to break down the process step by step while explaining how to use the software. Before beginning the editing process, I gave a brief overview of RAW vs JPEG photos and the reason/necessity for each from a photographer’s standpoint.

To start, I didn’t define for my viewer what an effective image was. I simply reviewed the 3 questions that I think about when approaching a new image. They were: 1) What’s the focal point of the image? 2) What (in regards to image information) do I have access to manipulating? & 3) Is the image edited realistically or in a manner that reflects what I intend for it to depict?

Note: The second question refers to the amount of light, megapixels, etc that are present in the image when it was captured.

Before I recorded the tutorial- I edited the image and saved it. I did this to create an example for my viewer- something to both work towards and use as a reference. I also created a “scenario” to establish a purpose or an objective of sorts; this would give the viewer a path to direct him/her on navigating the 3 questions I mentioned above. I figured that this would help him/her think about the photo elements that I would later lay out, further.

After this, I created the tutorial. I then had my subject edit the photo without any prior experience with editing or the software. I showed him the reference (“final”) photo and told him to try to match it as best as possible. He saved his edit, and I had him write/think about what was challenging. I then had him sit and watch the tutorial. After he watched it, I asked him to re-edit the photo without referencing neither his first edit or my reference version. As he did so, I asked him to speak his way through editing it and to explain what he was doing. We then put all 3 images side by side while we discussed what worked/didn’t work.

His challenges:

-Communicating what he wanted to do/ gaps in his understanding of the elements

-Finding a focal point to drive his editing process (i.e. making the photo vibrant, making the photo “pop”)

-How to manipulate the elements of the image to alter something specific without distorting something else or messing up what was previously done

He found the tutorial to be effective, and I certainly noticed a change in the quality of the image- particularly in regards to appearance of colors and image noise/grain. When we spoke, he even discussed the elements differently- referencing specific terms and displaying a clear understanding of their roles. And to me, that’s most important indicator of learning- to see a shift in his knowledge and approach to thinking about it. Next time around- I should have a quiz of some sort to solidify such a shift for my own research.

Below are the 3 images (edit 1, edit 2, and the reference version).