Using Design Thinking for Educational Technology Integration

We often find ourselves standing at the crossroads between the use of technology tools as trendy or as evidence-based practice. This workshop uses a design-thinking approach to selecting and using technologies so you can create learning activities that support, extend, and enrich learning experiences. Participants will be given an overview of the design thinking process, articulate a learner-centered challenge and explore tools and technologies that may help address this challenge.

Incorporating technology into teaching and learning can be improved through the process of design thinking. Design thinking taps into a designer’s toolkit and how they engage users in creating and experimenting to spark new ideas and then use feedback to improve those ideas. In educational contexts, it can be a helpful process as it focuses on finding a solution to a known problem or challenge using a series of steps that will have you working in a more human, collaborative and iterative way. There are various methodologies and approaches to design-thinking, but for this ‘express’ workshop, we will be building a technological solution through the first three steps: Empathize, Define, and Ideate.

Learning outcome for the workshop:

Use design thinking to explore ways in which an educational technology can address a learner-centered challenge.

Format:

• A brief introduction/overview of the design thinking methodology
• Completion of a Learner Empathy Map
• Defining a Learner Challenge
• Selection of a technology/tool to ideate a solution to the challenge
• Gallery walk to share solutions and suggest new approaches

You will leave equipped with an understanding and a process on how to integrate technology into your curriculum in a way that meets learner needs. Use of a laptop is strongly recommended, although tablets and other mobile devices may be appropriate.