[MAKING] CONNECTIONS

[MAKING] CONNECTIONS is a low-tech, hands-on approach social
network building made popular by sites like Facebook, MySpace,
and Twitter. The centerpiece of the project is a 4’x12’ photo wall
comprised of photos of the 80+ people who attended the event at the
North Minneapolis YMCA’s Youth and Teen Enrichment Center this past Saturday (03.20.2010).
Upon arrival, each guest had his/her photo taken by a D.E.M.O. staff
member or volunteer.

As a critical mass of photos began to appear
on the wall, guests were asked to literally “make connections” by
linking pieces of color coded string between their own photos, photos
of those they knew prior to the event (purple string), and photos of
those they met for the first time at the event (orange string).

The end result was both a recorded visual record of the event’s many
attendees and a real-time visualization of the peer-to-peer connection
and community building process that took place over the course
of the evening.

VIDEO: Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson reminds us that we all had a capacity for creativity at one point in our lives. As the likes of Tim Brown (IDEO) and Tom Friedman (NYT) have pointed out, the type of education one receives is as important now as the amount of education one receives...

VIDEO: Rapid Prototyping in the Classroom!

The path to innovation is dependent on the process of experimentation and prototyping. Makerbot Industries has just made that process a lot more accessible with the introduction of a desktop 3d printer, appropriately dubbed the "CupCake CNC," that is available for under $1000! Now, that's still a good chunk of money, but compared to other 3d printers, which can cost $15,000-$60,000, it's a steal.

Makerbot promises to not only bring rapid prototyping technology to small shops and firms, but also expands its reach into the (k12) classroom without requiring a substantial investment or grant request. The possibilities are endless...

VIDEO: Left Brain/Right Brain LEGO Commercial

LEGO just released a great commercial that is a perfect illustration of the topic of "play" discussed by IDEO's Tim Brown in the previous entry. The new TV spot shows a father (on the left...left brain) and son (on the right...right brain) working together to build a LEGO house. The father's creation is a perfectly organized left-brain house that, not surprisingly, looks like what most adults think a house should look like. The son's creation, as you'll see in the video, is pure right-brained creativity and "play." He's not "self-editing," as Tim Brown would say, to build something based on what he thinks others will want to see. Rather, he's building something based solely on what he himself can dream up! All of us, at some point, have a natural comfort level with this type of working (or playing)...but somewhere between the age of 5 and 25 it seems to evaporate.

Now, perhaps I'm over-analyzing this a bit (after all, the father's house is pretty cool), but LEGO's message is a clear one...have fun and PLAY! Agreed.

VIDEO: Tim Brown on the Role of "Play" in Innovation

In this talk at the 2008 Serious Play conference, Tim Brown of IDEO (we tend to like them if you can't tell) discusses the role of "play" in innovation and creativity. At first glance it seems obvious that play would be a part of creativity, but as Brown points out, adults (even those in so-called creative fields) tend to self-edit to the point that anything that could conceivably be called "play" is cut short. Using design legends Charles and Ray Eames as examples, he points out the fact that great ideas often come as a result of not simply stopping when a good idea has been developed.

The openness of play, a time for generating and testing ideas without fear of judgement, is an essential part of innovation. That openness, however, has been drained out of many of us by the time we reach adulthood. Kids, Brown states in the video, "are more engaged with open possibilities."

We at DEMO are strong believers in helping kids maintain and even further develop their natural comfort level with creativity so they don't have to go back and attempt to re-learn it as adults...

ARTICLE: IDEO'S Thoughts on 21st Century Learning

http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20090218/ideos-ten-tips-for-creating-a-21st-century-classroom-experience

Originally featured in last February's issues of Metropolis magazine, this article highlights IDEO's 10 core beliefs for learning in the 21st century. While the list is general and sheds little light on how one would actually implement such measures, it is, nonetheless, very thought provoking.

We particularly like the fact that they not only acknowledge the need to strengthen core skills (math, reading, science), but also advocate adding more emphasis on the so-called "soft skills" (creativity, collaboration, communication, empathy, and adaptability). In fact, their 3rd point calls for end of the term "soft skills" altogether. We agree, especially since such skills are now required by many employers. The trick, as they mention in their final point, is figuring out how to measure (and justify the value of) these skills in a world focused on hard numbers and right/wrong answers...

WORKSHOP: Google SketchUp with the Walker

Click the link below to view the blog post I wrote reflecting on the SketchUp / Digital Design workshop DEMO taught in partnership with the Walker Art Center this past Saturday:
http://blogs.walkerart.org/ecp/2009/11/19/reflections-on-my-net-google-sketchup/

Above image courtesy of Walker Art Center.