Design Thinking Action Lab
Week 1
Assignment:
Description
Include the following items in the assignment submission box:
1. A photo of your workspace – at work, at home or elsewhere (*)
2. Three words that describe the space.
3. What you would change in that space and why.
4. Is there a change, however small, that you can make in your workspace right now? If so, go for it, and report what happens.
My Workplace – The Change Has Just Began
Personal workplace scenario: I work as a freelancer and at home. Face to face and online. So far, and because of space constraints I only have one student per class. Picture Nº 1 shows my workplace when I am working alone, or online. Picture Nº 2 shows my workplace when I am teaching a student.
Three words that describe the space.
bright, friendly, cozy
What you would change in that space and why.
I would like to have a table with wheels so can we work more comfortable instead of being tight on a 1metre x 80 cm desk. Tough, we feel fine being close I think a table would bring more autonomy as I would not be checking what they are doing just because they we are one next to the other. Also, I would be able to have more than one student per class, which would be highly beneficial for my beloved learners’ learning process, as they would be interacting with peers and not only with me; and for my bills (not a minor issue)
I would like to have a white board so we can stand up and share ideas by writing while chatting. Movement is important when learning, our bodies are designed to move, some people think best when they are moving, it fosters creativity, and it could help us relax. I usually ask my learners to come to the kitchen to bring coffee, water, or something to eat into the class and in the meantime we have a wonderful opportunity to chat or to discuss about something we are working on.
I would also like to have a panel on which to share inspiring quotes or ideas we need for a project.
Is there a change, however small, that you can make in your workspace right now? If so, go for it, and report what happens.
Yes, I can hang some quotes right now, and a piece of paper to start brainstorming ideas for a project I am trying to do with all my students.
OK, I have made a little change with what I had at home: One one side of the closet I thought we could collect inspiring quotes, and on the other side I just put up a piece of paper with some ideas we have been discussing for our project.
Let’s see if there’s any reaction.
I had two students after I made this little change. They did not see it at first but I intentionally moved around the room and they saw it.
They both stood up to read, and I offered them sticky notes and invited them to add anything they wanted. And this is the result:
I invited them to add a quote if they felt like doing it, but they were both more attracted to working on our project.
One of my students told me “Hey Debbie, I like this!”
“Hey, I liked it too!”. Do you think it has to do with the element of surprise, after all we just stood up and wrote on a piece of paper instead of using a Google doc? It was so simple, yet so much fun and productive.
The following day I had a class with a medical doctor who works for the Governor of our Province. When he saw the papers, he stood up, took a close look at it, and told me he was going to participate in the project. He said he was sure he could bring some material to help my band of learners.
Note: I wouldn’t have shared this project with him, he is way too busy and honestly, never thought it would be of his interest.
Lesson learnt: See how much we can lose when we don’t share and open projects to everybody. He was so enthusiastic to be able to participate. OMG!!!!!
Reminder: Buy color scotch tape, some colorful paper, sticky notes, and markers