Successful design thinking workshop prototyping a new distance learning course, 19/02/11, Inspires Learning

February 19, 2011

Successful design thinking workshop prototyping a new distance learning course

Follow-up to Design thinking workshop to prototype a new distance learning course from Inspires Learning - Robert O'Toole

It worked! It worked just as planned! We now have an initial lo-fi prototype of the distance learning course to show to the rest of the team. The structure was perfect, with the addition of using a long whiteboard in the CAPITAL Rehearsal Room at Warwick, upon which we posted out fictional students. One half of the whiteboard contained profiles of the students before they would start the course. The other end contained statements about how they would change and what they would achieve by doing the course. We then created the prototype course timeline on the floor. This helped to make it tangible, communicable, contentious and testable. A video walkthrough was created (i'll add that when I get the all clear from the various participants). Thanks to all of the participants! Especially Jo, helped to make it fun. I have some good feedback from the students who took part. They were particularly good at working in this way. There's also much to be said about the synergy between design thinking and open-space learning.

Here's the whiteboard with our fictional students (gone a bit sepia because of the strong lighting in the room):

Whoteboard