Creativity and learning through

UX thinking and Design

Patricia Charlton

London Knowledge Lab

Institute of Education

Patricia.Charlton@pobox.com

Empowering Young Students

with how to problem solve through understanding and using some

core ideas behind UX designs and tools

– Why and How

• Computational thinking and computer science

• Curriculum

• Technology enhanced learning

• New trend in hack events

The age of the smart machine

“vision came together for me that morning realized I that the people I had been interviewing were on the edge of a historical transformation of immense proportions, as important as that which had been experienced by the eighteenth and nineteenth century workers. I saw that a world of sensibilities and expectations was being irretrievably displaced by a new world, one I did not yet understand”(pg xiii)) (Zuboff,(1984) )

Interdisciplinary thinkers

“It is like when a tree falls in a forest - if no one

is observing it we don’t know if it makes a

noise”

(9 year old - the effect of observing electrons -

quantum mechanics conundrum)

“It looks like a city”

(6 year old when shown an old

PC motherboard)

“Reshaping” the way we learn

What is the creating-to-discover

learning strategy?

Why is the creating-to-discover

approach important?

What do we mean about extending the

strategy?

Collaboratively creating-to-

discover strategy The use of environments that assist us in externalizing our thinking, making explicit our thinking can potentially accelerate innovation by using external artifacts to represent our ideas. So as well as creating a new technology to support and exchange learning and social needs within an education setting the designer, the creator, the innovator can potentially learn more deeply about process of problem solving and computational thinking. However, the cognitive mechanisms that support this creating-to-discover process are far from clear. – What kind of thinking allows internal (our internal thinking) and external

models (the visual - physical interaction) to be knit together seamlessly?

– How could novel concepts arise from the building process, and what type of thinking (cognitive processes) supports such generation by building?

UX design requires: Interdisciplinary thinking to

explore the creative mind

Psychology of Flow: creative space of the mind

Creating-to-discover to explain, share, discover, extend ideas

Extending: Act becomes artefact and knowledge co-construction possible when we collaboratively problem solve

Developing resilience and robustness as a natural strategy of learning when encountering risk, failure and challenges

Transit Video

The ‘VEX’ FACTOR

Familiar Frequent Specific

Irritant Expensive Mobile

Task 1

In your teams, describe

some problems you

know.

Familiar Frequent Specific Irritant Expensiv

e Unpredict

able

Task 2

Talk about the

problems and choose

one.

Familiar Frequent Specific Irritant Expensiv

e Unpredict

able

The ‘VEX’ FACTOR

Familiar Frequent Specific

Irritant Expensive Mobile

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Task 3

Act the problem out.

Balsamiq

Acquisition

Inquiry

Discussion

Practice

Production

Conventional

To practice-based production

Categorised learning activities

Analysis shows more active learning

Modelling the potential pedagogical

benefits

The creating-to-discover strategy is extended by the use of

environments that assist us in externalizing our thinking…

…

To expand the mind

to become evermore able

…

To understand more about the

nature and impact of our decisions

…

To know how to be responsible for

our decisions

…

To understand more about the

world we live in

…

UX thinking and design are

tools that can helps us

….

To be innovative and to

create new ways of being

…

To be creative in exploring

the world we live in

…

Challenges

Interdisciplinary thinking is challenging but it is what is needed now and in the future:

– Understanding multiple perspectives and why they are important;

– Understanding the risks - failure - but innovation and creativity in changing and shaping the future;

– Having a vision of how things can be changed and taking on the challenges;

Collaborative interdisciplinary thinking and research is what designers have been doing for years :-)

References

Csikszentmihalyi, M (1996) ‘Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention’ Harper Perennium Publisher, 1996

Charlton P., Magoulas G., Laurillard, D. (2012) Enabling Creative Learning Design through Semantic Web Technologies, Journal of Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 21, 231-253

Laurillard, D., (2012) “Teaching as a Design Science”, Building Pedagogical Patterns for Learning and Technology, New York, NY, Routledge

Zuboff,S.(1984).In the Age of the Smart Machine,.New York, Basic Book

Apps for Good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LPiZqQKYlk

http://www.balsamiq.com/

Nass, C. and Reeves, B. 1996. The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television and New Media Like Real People in Real Places. Stanford, Cambridge University Press.

Thank you for listening