An inspired solution is easy to spot; the process that produced it is not. DesignEd investigates innovation in education to find out what it takes to get from ill-defined problem to well-designed solution.

“All occupations engaged in converting actual to preferred situations are concerned with design” – Donald A. Schoen (1983, 77)

As EdLabbers, we believe that teamwork and innovative practices can create something new or improve something that already exists. Keeping in mind the diversity of talents in the EdLab, we invite you to participate in the DesignEd Boot Camp: a start-to-finish design challenge engaging individual talents and collaborative process.

You will work with special guests to address real-life situations (hint: if the Boot Camp is geared towards education, who are our users?). You will cultivate essential design-thinking skills as you assess user needs, set realistic goals, plan actionable strategies, build prototypes, evaluate your results and reflect on your actions. The process will include hands-on experience in interview techniques, brainstorming, prototyping, documentation, communication and presentation.

Our hope is to equip you with a “designer’s mindset” with which to view a wide spectrum of challenges beyond education and design solutions. So let’s put our thinking caps on and get ready to address the world’s problems!

@ EdLab : http://edlab.tc.columbia.edu/

Thanks Harshita for the pictures!

http://jay.tc.columbia.edu/critter/view/htdocs/main.php

To read more about the development and background of Critter click here or here:

Please also watch our new promotion video:

http://edlab.tc.columbia.edu/

or join our events and seminars on wednesdays at the EdLab Atelier:

http://edlab.tc.columbia.edu/index.php?q=node/415

What´s EdLab:

EdLab is a research, design, and development unit at Teachers College, Columbia University. EdLab envisions and pilots knowledge projects for a fundamentally different education sector that is attuned to the emerging post-industrial world. EdLab engages in work that has the potential to contribute to the improvement of educational institutions today and the broader evolution and reconfiguration of future educational services.

Our work is divided into five foundational areas: Reimagining Schooling, Innovations for Online Learning, New Directions for Online Publishing, Efficiencies in Educational Research, and Charting the Future of Libraries. Please visit the Projects page for more information.

Our Mission:

The possibilities for enhancing education in all its forms are greater than they have ever been. Driven in part by new technologies of communication and knowledge representation and in part by new understandings of how individuals and groups learn, the prospects for advances in the design of educational tools, processes, and institutions have never been brighter. However, with new possibilities come new challenges to develop educational opportunities that truly meet individual and societal needs. The EdLab addresses those challenges directly by pioneering new forms of educational tools, processes, and institutions.

The mission of EdLab is to engage in conceptual development, demonstration projects, and new educational research to explore and document diverse possibilities for the future of education.

EdLab will pursue this mission by involving scholars and educators at Teachers College and around the world in a continuing conversation about the future for education. The work will be shaped by an evolving assessment of ongoing changes in the conditions for education.