Design Thinking Archives - Page 2 of 4

Apr 14 2019

Join the Launch Book Club

By John Spencer Design Thinking 2 Comments

If you've been enjoying this design thinking series, you might want to take a deeper dive by checking out Launch: Using Design Thinking to Boost Creativity and Bring Out the Maker in Every Student. You might also be interested in joining a Launch book club. I'm a…

Apr 08 2019

Great Design Can Begin Anywhere (6 Starting Places for Design Thinking)

By John Spencer Creativity, Design Thinking 2 Comments

A few years ago, our yard was canvased by a thick sheet of snow -- well, thick for a southwestern guy who has just moved to the northwest. I'm pretty sure my friends in Michigan would have called it a "dusting." However, my kids spent…

Apr 06 2019

What Is Design Thinking?

By John Spencer Design Thinking 4 Comments

The term “design thinking” is often attached to maker spaces and STEM labs. However, design thinking is bigger than STEM. It begins with the premise of tapping into student curiosity and allowing them to create, test and re-create until they eventually ship what they made…

Apr 02 2019

The Future Belongs to the Makers

By John Spencer Design Thinking 14 Comments

This is the first in a month-long series on design thinking. This is an elaboration of an article I wrote in 2015. My Maker Journey When I was in the eighth grade, my entire goal was to go unnoticed. Fly under the radar. Keep away…

Jan 14 2019

Seven Strategies for Building Empathy in Students

By John Spencer Creativity, Design Thinking, Podcast 2 Comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB-M4dvAgWs&t=64s Subscribe to YouTube Channel A few days ago, my son said something that surprised me. He said, "Dad, we have the best cafeteria lady at our school." And I said, "Wait, what?" But then he went on to describe how this woman chose to…

Sep 30 2018

Seven Things That Happen When Students Share Their Work

By John Spencer Creativity, Design Thinking, Podcast 3 Comments

When my middle son was in the third grade, he volunteered to share a joke with a big audience at a family camp. As I watched him standing in the line with older kids and quite a few adults, I felt nervous. What would happen…

Aug 01 2018

cardboard arcades from the LAUNCH Academy

Five Key Takeaways from the LAUNCH Academy #launchacademy

By John Spencer Creativity, Design Thinking No Comments

A.J. Juliani and I led our first ever LAUNCH Academy last week. At first, I was nervous and even overwhelmed by the epic feel of the ARC building. Seriously, this looks like something out of Hogwarts. (Picture by Autumn Elizabeth) But if the building was epic,…

May 19 2018

Using Design Thinking to Innovate in Your Own Practice

By John Spencer Creativity, Design Thinking, Podcast 5 Comments

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to deliver an opening keynote and closing talk for EdEx, a conference in Eindhoven (in the Netherlands). When Jochem first shared his idea of a weeklong design expedition, I imagined teachers working in a makerspace, designing a…

Jan 30 2018

What the Netherlands Taught Me About Design Thinking

By John Spencer Design Thinking, Podcast No Comments

Last week, I stepped off the train and walked into the bustling streets of Eindhoven. I had never been to the Netherlands, much less Europe, so I became the obnoxious American taking quick snapshots, attempting to soak up the feel of the city. My first…

Jan 15 2018

How Nature Inspires Better Design (and What This Means for Students)

By John Spencer Design Thinking, Future of Learning, Podcast 4 Comments

We want students to be makers and designers. But there's a surprising source of inspiration for design: the natural world. This is the key idea behind biomimicry, which encourages engineers to pay close attention to nature in order to improve their designs. The following post…