Group items tagged

Computational thinking is a phrase that has received considerable attention over the past several years - but there is little agreement about what computational thinking encompasses, and even less agreement about strategies for assessing the development of computational thinking in young people. We are interested in the ways that design-based learning activities - in particular, programming interactive media - support the development of computational thinking in young people. Over the past several years, we have developed a computational thinking framework that emerged from our studies of the activities of interactive media designers. Our context is Scratch - a programming environment that enables young people to create their own interactive stories, games, and simulations, and then share those creations in an online community with other young programmers from around the world. The first part of the paper describes the key dimensions of our computational thinking framework: computational concepts (the concepts designers engage with as they program, such as iteration, parallelism, etc.), computational practices (the practices designers develop as they engage with the concepts, such as debugging projects or remixing others' work), and computational perspectives (the perspectives designers form about the world around them and about themselves). The second part of the paper describes our evolving approach to assessing these dimensions, including project portfolio analysis, artifact-based interviews, and design scenarios. We end with a set of suggestions for assessing the learning that takes place when young people engage in programming.

"In the article Room for Beliefs: Linking Classroom Design and What We Value, Debbie Miller helps us think through the ways that our room design reflects the things we value about student learning. She provides three important questions to think about when we map out our classroom designs that we want others to be able to answer when they visit our rooms:

long article on creativity, innovation, and people who are dedicated to the process of coming up with ideas....

"This toolkit contains the process and methods of design along with the Designer's Workbook, adapted specifically for the context of K-12 education. It offers new ways to be intentional and collaborative when designing, and empowers educators to create impactful solutions. At IDEO, we've been using similar processes, methods, and tools for years in tackling some dauntingly complex challenges. More often than not, we've experienced how Design Thinking helps to get to the next step. "

"What does it mean to see the world like a designer? What is "maker thinking?" What kinds of thinking dispositions characterize a tinkerer? These are some of the questions at the heart of the Agency by Design project, a multi-year research and development initiative at Project Zero, a research organization at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. "

Information architecture design -- explained in six black & white comic book illustrations -- useful in thinking about the design of websites and navigation

Quotes about design. I particularly like Saul Bass's "Design is thinking made visual" quote

Article re how the color and shape of rooms affects the thinking that goes on inside the rooms... "They tested 600 subjects when surrounded by red, blue or neutral colors-in both real and virtual environments. The differences were striking. Test-takers in the red environments, were much better at skills that required accuracy and attention to detail, such as catching spelling mistakes or keeping random numbers in short-term memory. Though people in the blue group performed worse on short-term memory tasks, they did far better on tasks requiring some imagination, such as coming up with creative uses for a brick or designing a children's toy. In fact, subjects in the blue environment generated twice as many "creative outputs" as subjects in the red one. Why? According to the scientists, the color blue automatically triggers associations with openness and sky, while red makes us think of danger and stop signs. (Such associations are culturally mediated, of course; Chinese, for instance, tend to associate red with prosperity and good luck.) It's not just color. A similar effect seems to hold for any light, airy space."

IDEO founder David Kelley sat down with 60 Minutes this week to discuss the philosophy behind "design thinking" - an innovative approach that melds product design with human behavior.

Blog for Agency by Design group at Harvard's project zero.

This is a great resource showing a designer at work. Good for inspiration and noticing the attributes of design thinking.

Create a unit (re)design template and/or classroom walkthrough template that will allow educators to think about technology integration within the context of student agency and higher-order thinking skills steeped in important disciplinary concepts

Interesting interview regarding the potential future of Digital Media Literacy

Guide for using design thinking to generate innovative solutions for classrooms, schools, communities.

Great classroom design ideas.

When TED launched its educational website for younger students last week, I think teachers everywhere realised they had to up their game. The 3-10 minute videos are designed to encourage curiosity and show how the world works using compelling animation and the audible explanations of a gifted teacher.  Even if you're not in high school, the videos are sometimes fascinating, sometimes kinda strange, but generally very cool. Here are some of the best videos that are designed to amaze and challenge your brain.

might be useful for older students: Gamestar Mechanic is a game and online community that teaches kids how to design their own games. Designing games builds Systems Thinking, 21st Century Skills, Creative Problem Solving, Art and Aesthetics, Writing and Storytelling, and creates a motivation for STEM learning.

Summary via The Scout Report (May 2012): "How does math get used in the "real world?" The short answer is that it is used to create hip-hop music, in fashion design, and through a number of other endeavors. This interactive website combines video and web interactive to help young people develop algebraic thinking skills for solving real-world problems. The series is funded by The Moody's Foundation, along with assistance from WNET and American Public Television. The sections of the site include The Challenges, Video, and Teachers. In The Challenges area, users will find video segments profiling the various young professionals who use math in their work, along with interactive tools to help students solve the challenges they are presented with. Moving on, the Teachers area includes resources for teachers, such as a training video showing how to use project materials in the classroom, along with student handouts. Visitors shouldn't miss the Basketball challenge, featuring NBA player Elton Brand talking about the problems presented by free throw shooting. [KMG]"

A nicely designed site about thinking before you post. Would be good for some students at school to have a look through. G3 maybe for their safety unit?