Future designers: Introducing creativity, design thinking & amp; design to children

Publication date: Available online 6 November 2017 Source:International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction Author(s): Dimitris Grammenos, Margherita Antona ‘Future Designers’ is an interactive and participative crash course that aims to introduce to children the concepts and practice of creativity, design, and design thinking. The course targets multiple learning styles and intelligences, combining various learning approaches and tools, including lecturing (using a variety of media such as images, videos and music), creative question & answer, constructive –personal and collaborative –hands-on activities, play, humor and fun. The full course lasts 4–5 h and can be delivered in a single or two sessions. This paper reports five pilot studies of the course, conducted over one year period with the objective of assessing the feasibility of the course and the attendees’ satisfaction, as well as obtaining feedback. The pilots took place as follows: in-house with 8 primary school teachers, 4 post graduate students and 2 children; in a real classroom with 22 children 10-12 years old; in a classroom environment with 25 primary school teachers assuming the role of children; in a school environment with 20 children 10–11 years old and their parents, as well as in a school environment with 27 older children (12–15 years old). The outcomes stemming from all pilots are very promising and indicate that ‘Future Designers’ is an engaging and fun experience fo...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - Category: Child Development Source Type: research