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Introduction
Introduction
This online course Teaching design thinking with digital technologies is aimed at teachers or tutors at any level of education including primary, secondary, further, and higher education. The course focuses on helping teachers understand what design thinking is and how it can be used with the support of complementary digital technologies, which can enable easy and effective implementation of design thinking in both a physical and an online setting.
This course has been designed by the project, Extending Design Thinking with Emerging Digital Technologies (Exten(DT)²). The project has been co-funded by Horizon Europe and Innovate UK and involves partners from Sweden, the UK, Greece, Norway, Belgium, and Ireland.
You can find out more about the project on the Exten(DT)² website.
Note: The course activities are practical in nature and involve tasks such as downloading files to your desktop, creating a set of commands and manipulating different web applications to produce artefacts. These tasks may not be easily completed using a mobile device (such as a phone or tablet). Teachers are therefore encouraged to use a computer with a standard desktop operating system such as a PC or Mac (or laptop version of these) when engaging with the activities to enable a more accessible and user-friendly learning experience.
Next go to Learning outcomes.
Learning outcomes
After studying this course you should be able to:
- Explain to your students what design thinking is and why the Exten(DT)² Digital Design Thinking Model can help provide solutions to challenges they face in school, work, or life.
- Demonstrate the added value of using digital technologies for design thinking activities.
- Experiment with digital technologies and reflect on which ones to use in design thinking projects.
- Identify problems relevant to your students’ needs that can be solved using design thinking applications.
- Develop an activity plan you can implement with your students next time you teach.
Key terminology
In this course you will come across some key terms related to either design thinking or the digital technologies used to support design thinking. You can find relevant key terminology below. You can always get back to this page while you are studying and find information as needed.
Exten(DT)² = Pronounced ‘extended squared’ – the name of the research project this training relates to. It is the abbreviated form of Extending Design Thinking with Emerging Digital Technologies.
design thinking = a process of problem solving that can help to develop 21st-century skills by co-creating, piloting, and improving solutions.
21st-century skills = critical thinking, creativity, problem solving etc.
prototype = an artefact or mock-up students create or develop (physical or digital).
empathise = understanding what others think, feel, and need.
ideate = generating different perspectives around potential solutions to a problem.
AR = Augmented Reality
Exten(DT)² Digital Design Thinking Model = a digital design thinking model to help teachers to use design thinking and technologies while teaching.
Exten(DT)² platform = an online platform that hosts the design thinking applications highlighted below:
ChoiCo – Choices with consequences = a simulation game about the consequences of the choices you make.
SorBET – Sorting Based on Educational Technology = a sorting game.
MaLT2 – Machine Lab Turtleworlds 2 = a game for creating 2D and 3D shapes.
nQuire for students = an application to create studies and collect data from others.
GearsBot = a virtual robotics application.
Authorable learning analytics dashboard = a dashboard that shows teachers how students engage with the above applications, so the teacher can intervene and provide support as needed.
Activity plan template = a template to help teachers structure and design activities for their students.
Accessing the Exten(DT)² platform
The Exten(DT)² platform is a single online space where you can create activities for your students using a set of applications, all of which are are covered in this course. All the applications are free to use in teaching and provided by the Exten(DT)² project.
In Section 3 of this course, you will be asked to log onto the Exten(DT)² platform and use the applications provided. To access the Exten(DT)² platform complete and submit this form to be issued with a username and password, so you are ready to use the platform before you progress to Section 3.
Next move onto 1 What is design thinking?