Chapter 7: Exploring ISTE Standards for Students “Innovative Designer” - Part 6

 Chapter 7: Exploring ISTE Standards for Students “Innovative Designer” - Part 6

Date/Time:17th April 2024 Wednesday 6:41 pm - 18th April 2024 Thursday 6:33 pm

This is my 6th blog post on the ISTE Standards for students, and this time exploring a different standard “Innovative Designer”. This module added a lot of clarity into this standard as well. This is a challenging standard and requires effort in understanding. I will try to explain the ISTE standard using several examples from the module as well as from my own teaching & learning practice. Let's start digging in.

ISTE Standard Knowledge Constructor 1.4 says that students should have an understanding of the design process and the use of technology within the design process to solve real life authentic problems. So basically the standard requires that students have clarity about the design process and the different types of technology that can be used within the design process to accelerate the process of creating solutions for real life problems. 

So let’s unwrap design thinking a little for clarity and understanding. I see it as a strategy to solve problems and finding innovative solutions to solve problems. It seems as a more human centered approach which means it considers the human element vital to producing solutions. It observes humans and how they interact with a product and service to understand the problem from a human point of view. It looks at their needs and how to improve the service or product or create a new one. The design process consists of five steps beginning from empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test.

In the “empathize” stage the consumers are observed and how they react with the product within the environment. The consumers are observed with empathy that means without bias and judgment. This helps see the problem with more clarity. In the second stage “define” the  problem is defined considering human observation. In this stage the difficulties and challenges are considered that the humans are facing while using the product or service. This also considers their needs and requirements. In the third stage “Ideate” different ideas and thoughts are considered to solve the problem and identify a solution. These ideas are brainstormed, can be in a group discussion face to face or in an online collaborative forum. People discuss the pros and cons of these ideas. 

In the end a few worthy working ideas are shortlisted. In the fourth stage “prototype” a first sample of the product or service is created. This is based on the short listed ideas in the third stage. In the fifth stage “test” the prototype or the first sample is handed over to the consumers for testing. Based on their feedback the product or service is reviewed and modified. So it is an iterative process, where the designer goes back to either of the stages to review and revise the product and service based on feedback. The process goes on till a perfect product or service is created that meets the consumers or users needs. I hope this adds clarity to the design thinking process.

Now let’s explore the four indicators of the ISTE standard “Innovative Designer” and see how technology fits in the design thinking process.

ISTE Standard Innovative Designer 1.4a says that students understand the steps in the design process and they can apply the steps in the design process to solve an authentic problem and create an innovative solution. They also understand that a creative artefact means any product or service created using new methods, this can also be modification or changes made to the existing product. The artifact can be a 3D model, a robot, a computer program, a simulation or a prototype. They also understand that there can be a number of ways to solve authentic problems, these could be through questioning, project based learning, design thinking, science experiments or by working on social issues (pollution, hunger, poverty, recycling etc). 

I liked the example shared in the module, where a teacher of a high school works with her students to find a solution for Parkinson disease. Her students take the role of scientists and conduct experiments on a zebra fish , to see if estrogen would prevent degradation of neurons in the brain responsible for Parkinson disease. So what I understand is that her students are actually following the steps of design  thinking. They work in control and experimental groups. When the experiments do not yield the desired results , they do not stop but they focus on the data from the experiment. They formulate a next question to move forward in their experiment. They come up with solutions, test it again and again. So it is an iterative process, tested, and revised after feedback. 

I remember working on a mindful chatbot for children studying in street schools and orphanages. This was a requirement for the ISTE Artificial Intelligence Explorations. I gathered initial and original data from the children in the street schools and orphanages. Based on their needs and requirements, and their struggles /challenges I was able to define the need of a mindful chatbot, that students could chat with when they were stressed or had anxiety. I came up with different solutions on how to create a chatbot. I remember doing some work on IBM Watson. It was tested and revised based on feedback. And this could be a great idea to work upon. This could be rightly linked to the ISTE standard Innovative Designer 1.4a. 

ISTE Standard Innovative Designer 1.4b says students understand that they can use digital tools to plan and design a design process, they understand design constraints and calculated risks. Let’s break this into three parts, understanding digital tools, exploring design constraints and defining calculated risks. So let’s think of the digital tools that can be used during a design process, tools for brainstorming ideas , these could be Google Keep, mind mapping tools online (mindmeister, popplet, bubbl.us. Coggle etc) , Google Jamboard etc. students could also use project management software, they could also use note taking tools online, they could use tinkering studio to create 3D artifacts, and they could use flow chart tools online too (can create flow charts in Word, Powerpoint etc). Next they need to understand design constraints which include time constraints, financial constraints, lack of expertise in an area, lack of resources, any other hurdles or obstacles in the way. Next they need to understand the calculated risk, which means to what extent it is safe to carry on with the experiment to achieve a desired goal or outcome.

I like the experiment shared in the module about elementary year students working with their teacher to create an underwater robot. While creating an underwater robot they have to ensure that the water does not go into the control box. So they had to take calculated risk with the underwater robot. They have to find ways to create a waterproof robot. They are working towards creating a robot to clean the oceans. They have access to resources and the teacher guides them through the process. 

I could think of a project  I did with the students at the street school some years back. It was about creating a robot that could alert for pollution in the area and then help in reducing the pollution in the area. The robot would identify the area with the highest number of pollution, then collect it and recycle it. This was some years back and students came up with unique designs of a robot or controlled vehicle. This standard could be applied here, students could go back to their design to ensure that both pollution is reduced to zero and recycled in the best way possible. Just a thought but it could be applied here. 

ISTE Standard Innovative Designer 1.4c says that students need to understand that the design process is an iterative process and needs a lot of tolerance and patience to work with messy problems at times. Students also need to understand that some problems do not have a single solution. They would need to try again and again. They have to develop first samples or prototypes of a product and service , share it with consumers for feedback and modify based on feedback. This goes on till the product or service meets the requirements of the users or customers. There was an interesting example shared in the module where a middle school teacher mixes arts with technology. His students connect their instruments digitally. They try to create new music digitally. This helps them to be more creative. It is a great opportunity to try out and experiment with new ideas.

I can link this to coding in different languages. Students try out different codes till the program finally works. Students can code in Scratch and they can see their code in action. They could revise and modify the code to create a new program. It can be done in code.org as well. They could also create a 3D product in Tinkercad. The  product could be reviewed and modified further based on feedback from the consumers or users.I think makerspaces in schools could provide students with a great opportunity for trial and error. These makerspaces could have robotics, 3D printers, simulators, instruments for science experiments etc for students to have hands-on experiences and actually create a running product. I do still need to explore this ISTE standard a little more for more clarity.

ISTE Standard Innovative Designer 1.4d says that students understand that they will not find solutions to problems immediately at times or at first attempt. They might need to do trial runs till they find a solution. They also need to understand that they have to have a lot of tolerance and patience during the process. The problems may be open ended with no solution at times. At times there might be more than one solution. 

There is an interesting example shared in the module, where the students have to build a bridge to save students in the book they read. The teacher provides them all the resources, these include plastic cups, pipes, water bottles, toilet rolls etc and the teacher guides and assists accordingly. Students run their robots on the bridge to see whether the bridge is strong enough or not. If the bridge fails, they have to go back to the drawing board and sketch a new design or make changes to the existing design. The teacher also gives them an experience with the budget of the project, students have to buy the resources for the project from the project budget. They learn to work as project managers too. 

I can think of an idea where students could be asked to create a product or service that creates electricity just like solar panels. They could think of resources that are easily available in Pakistan, they could be purchased at a minimum cost and lead to production of electricity. There are examples of windmills used for producing electricity. There are also examples of electricity being generated from water waves too. This is a growing problem in Pakistan, and due to lack of enough dams or reservoirs to store water, the civilians may face longer electricity shortages in the years to come. It is an authentic real problem that we will be facing in future. The students could be given resources to work around this challenging situation and create an innovative solution to solve the problem. 

Also while skimming through the module I came across some interesting project ideas that incorporate the ISTE Standard Innovative Designer. These include creating a chatbot that would offer heart healthy meal choices to students. Students also create a chatbot for stress reduction and emotion management. Students create a model to demonstrate how energy in a specific habitat using a robot. There were many other interesting ideas worth pondering. 

Overall I think it was a great experience skimming through this module too. I have a lot more clarity of this ISTE Standard as compared to before, though I still need to explore the 1.4c indicator about prototypes a little more. The examples shared in the module were really helpful in understanding the ISTE standard.

Happy Reading 🙂

Regards and prayers

Sheeba Ajmal