Learning Space Toolkit

Toolkit for Educators from IDEO

nhstokes — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 14:50:55 +0000

What might a toolkit for designing learning spaces look like? One example comes from design firm IDEO and Riverdale Country School, who collaborated on the Design Thinking Toolkit for Educators. This project is based on the model of Design Thinking, which the project website describes as “the confidence that everyone can be part of creating a more desirable future, and a process to take action when faced with a difficult challenge.” That description captures an important aspect of the rationale for creating a toolkit: the idea that everyone can and should participate in the design process. As one of the video clips on the website suggests, people who don’t call themselves “designers” are nevertheless continually involved in designing experiences. Karen, the subject of that video, talks about realizing that “as teachers, we were designing all the time. With the right tools, we had the potential to design a better system.” That’s the point of offering a toolkit (as opposed to just a fixed plan to follow)—providing methods that different users can adapt to their own needs, ways of designing responses to the differing challenges that they come across.

The Design Thinking for Educators toolkit is intended specifically for K-12 settings, but the methods it provides are general enough to be used in higher education and in libraries. The kit itself is available as a free download on the project website. After an opening section introducing design thinking and the design process, the rest of the kit is made up of methods that can be applied during each phase of the process. These materials are themselves intentionally designed to create a certain experience—one highlighting both action and flexibility. Each method appears on its own page, with space intentionally left blank for users to write notes. The description specifies the estimated time needed for this action, the number of people involved, the intended outcome, and suggestions for troubleshooting, as well as outlining the steps to take when completing the activity. The methods are arranged in a sequence, but users don’t have to follow it rigidly; as the introduction suggests, “every challenge requires a different approach and a different set of methods. You should select the ones that are most valuable for you.” The kit ends with a page formatted for readers to add a description of their own newly-created method. Overall, the toolkit asks not only to be used, but to be remixed to create new iterations of the process.

Learning Space Toolkit at ELI 2012

admin — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:44:55 +0000

Join members of the Learning Space Toolkit at the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative 2012 annual meeting on Tuesday, February 14 during the 1:30-3:30pm poster sessions. We will be on hand to provide an update on the project and to gather feedback on the tools and resources under development.

Help us shape the toolkit

nhstokes — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:00:28 +0000

We are conducting a brief survey of potential users to gather feedback on priorities for the tools we are planning to develop. The survey is organized by the six sections within the toolkit (Roadmap, Needs Assessment, Space Types, Services, Technology, and Assembly instructions), offering an opportunity to rate the importance of the content planned for each and let us know if anything is missing.

The survey is available here. We appreciate your feedback.

LSTK Members at ALA Annual

nhstokes — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:46:35 +0000

There will be members of the Learning Space Toolkit attending the ALA Annual conference in New Orleans. We are eager to learn about your own learning space projects and to share details about the Toolkit. Please feel free to contact us directly to set up a time to talk:

Kristin Antelman (kristin_antelman@ncsu.edu)
David Woodbury (david_woodbury@ncsu.edu)
Maurice York (maurice_york@ncsu.edu)

Workshop #2

nhstokes — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:45:43 +0000

The project held Workshop #2 on April 5-6 at NCSU Libraries. Key activities/outcomes were:

brainstorming space types, “building blocks” and attributes of spaces
refining and prioritizing the list of site visits
reviewing the NCSU user research done so far (video diaries) and instruments that have been developed for future work (survey, focus groups)
beginning the design process for 6 tools: use case builder, technology context mapping, service design, adjacency, and space/activity matching tools

We also decided that browsing would be a key–or possibly the key–way in which Toolkit users would interact with the content on the site. So a near-term deliverable for the project is a taxonomy. The taxonomy will include the elements we brainstormed at the workshop (space types, “building blocks,” attributes of spaces) plus possibly other elements that will enable successful navigation of the site’s content. This is a site that does something analogous to what we’re thinking about:http://www.servicedesigntools.org/

Learning Space Toolkit project launches

nhstokes — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:49:22 +0000

The North Carolina State University Libraries has received a $313,000 grant National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to develop a Learning Space Toolkit. The Toolkit will provide a resource for designers, librarians, and other university staff who are planning or already involved in a learning space project. The NCSU Libraries is working with NCSU’sDistance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA) unit as well as the design consulting firms, brightspot strategy and DEGW.

The Toolkit will be based on user-centered research that will explore the real-world needs of students and faculty, the challenges they face in meeting those needs on campus, and how spaces, services and technology can help meet those needs. A prototype for a technology-rich learning space is being built and tested in the NCSU Libraries’ Technology Sandbox.

Stay tuned to this space for more information on the project as it develops over the next 18 months. Feedback from future users of the Toolkit is critical to the Toolkit’s success!