Upcycling challenge

Sourced from: http://www.unclebobs.com/getstorganized/index.php/the-art-of-upcycling/.

This week I have been busily thinking about what I can do for Assessment 1 - my design challenge.  I have thought along many different lines including cooking, weaving and musical challenges however my eyes were opened last and this week at my work in After School Care where we had been planning for and discussing sustainability and the effects of human activity on our natural environment with the students. We completed many activities in relation to this and they were largely based around the concept of recycling our waste and ways we can re-use it.  This is where we explored the topic of upcycling.  Now I always knew that it existed and of simple things you could do such as using jam jars and turning them into pot plants however my eyes have been opened since researching this topic and there is no limit to the possibilities of upcycling!

 

 




 

Sourced from: http://www.danlikesthis.info/tag/upcycling/.

 

 Bath tub garden:

Taking an old bath tub which is not being used and decorating it with glass mosaic and adding soil and plants to turn it into an outdoor garden bed.

Sourced from: http://www.skinnerinc.com/news/blog/upcycle-antiques-mid-century-design-auctions/.

 

Suitcase cupboard:

 Re-using an old suitcase as a bedroom wall cupboard by adding light fixtures, drawers and hooks for hanging.

Sourced from: http://www.davison.com/creators/2009/03/13/luxurious-luggage/.

 Tea lights:


Using teacups and sauces which are strung together and hung upside down with electrical fitting to be turned into hanging lamps and lights.

Sourced from: https://www.greenmoxie.com/gorgeous-diy-upcycled-teacup-lights/.









Cork armchair: made using old corks from wine bottles and sticking them altogether to form a large, sturdy armchair.

Sourced from: https://www.pinterest.com/bignyc/chair-mania/.










As you can imagine researching these ideas had my head spinning with design challenge options for children however it was important that I did not create the challenge to be too much for the age group I decide to plan for.  Over the last week at After School Care I put some ideas to the test by asking children to upcyle recyclable goods into pot plants.  They used old tin cans and decorated and painted them and they also used old milk cartons and cut them to size (see photos below). Although these pots and plants looked wonderful and the children had a great time creating them I decided that over the next week I must brainstorm further to see what creative potential these children have to design more upcycled products.

Furthermore, upcycling also has environmental benefits in that things that would usually be wasted can be re-used and re-designed for another purpose thus saving our environment. I feel that this is an important discussion to be had with children as they are after all going to be our future generations and how we teach them to treat the planet will impact the future they have in our environment.  Therefore I have decided that my design challenge will be an upcycling one.






Concept/mind mapping

Concept/mind mapping:

This week we explored the design cycle and how a product develops from initial idea to completion.  You can see my interpretation of this cycle above in the form of a mind map which I created using bubbl.us.  This was the first time I had used this particular program however I did have previous experience with online mind maps as I used iMindMap for a University assessment piece last year.  I found that this program was incredibly easy to use as a new account could be created for free within minutes and the program could be used directly after this.  There were also lots of icons on the screen to tell you how to use the function such as 'tab' to create a new bubble and 'CTRL Enter' to create a linking bubble off another idea.  In addition, there was an option available to customise your bubble and text colour or use the colours provided by the bubbl.us team, this allowed you to either be creative or get your information across efficiently with colours pre-selected.

I discovered that there are many benefits to online concept/mind mapping as opposed to traditional concept mapping with a pen and paper.  These include; the option to change and select different fonts and colours to enhance the mind maps aesthetic appeal, quick and easy edit options and the opportunity for people to share their work across a range of platforms just to name a few.  This could be beneficial to students within the classroom as this function is a quick, easy, editable way to share information between peers and educators on a range of different topics.  A Stanford University paper also relates concept mapping to three main theories created by Joseph Novak which outline how this form of text and brainstorming can enhance students learning.

According to Novak (1960) there are three theories which concept mapping is based around which are Dual coding theory, Schema theory and Cognitive load theory.  Dual coding theory discusses that verbal learning and visual learning go hand in hand and that images and graphics such as those used within a concept map can enhance student's learning in terms of recall and understanding (Stanford University, n.d.). Schema theory refers to students ability to use prior knowledge to understand and deconstruct a text down to key ideas (Stanford University, n.d.) often represented in brainstorming similar to the mind map function.  The final theory, Cognitive load theory relates to ensuring that the working memory is not overloaded and that there are opportunities to group information into smaller, more manageable chunks or refer to prior knowledge (Stanford University, n.d.).

From the information above it is clear that concept/mind mapping has a purposeful place within a 21st century classroom to enhance students learning especially in terms of organising key ideas, linking this to prior knowledge and retaining knowledge.  The way of the future however, may be to use concept mapping as an online learning tool where students have ultimate control over all elements including text information, colour, layout and sharing options.

Design thinking and Computational thinking

This week marks the beginning of my journey in the Design and Digital Technologies course and it is clear that I have a lot to learn. Over the past week we were taught how to make a word cloud and asked to put in it words we felt related to the topic (you can see mine in the previous post).  I used a variety of words and phrases to describe this topic area but two stood out for me, these were, design thinking and computational thinking.

I was interested to learn that the Curriculum outlines two separate areas under the Design and Digital Technologies subject which are taught to students from Foundation level through to Year 10.  These are Design and Technologies and Digital Technologies.  So what is the difference you may ask.  The difference is that Design Technologies has a focus on developing technologies for society.  Here students are asked to relate their learning back to four main strands which are engineering principles and systems, food and fibre production, food specialisations and materials and technology specialisations (ACARA, n.d.).  The curriculum highlights that students "will have the opportunity to create designed solutions addressing these technologies contexts" (ACARA, n.d.).  This area therefore gives the students an opportunity to use 'design thinking' which refers to "applying the methodologies and approaches of design to a broader set of issues and problems in business and society" (Design Think Movie, 2012).  This means students do not only have a vision that is created, but will be able to consider all aspects in their planning and design including sustainability and ethics.

Digital Technologies on the other hand has a focus on 'computational thinking.'  This is broken down into two strands which are digital systems and representation of data (ACARA, n.d.).  Although both areas require an element of design, one is focused heavily on Information and Computing Technology (ICT) and the use of digital systems and the other is a more creative approach to technology encompassing a wide range of areas not solely ICT.  I am not quite sure yet as to how the two areas can be taught hand in hand but I am sure my learning in this course will educate me and make me feel prepared to be able to teach in these two areas.

Both areas seem fundamental learning's in today's society where both innovators in design technology and ICT are of high demand with the ever changing and growing societal expectations.  Therefore I feel that their place within the Curriculum is crucial to assist the learners and innovators of the future.

Week 1 Reflection

Word Cloud or Wordle:

This week we learnt how to create a word cloud/wordle using the 'WordItOut' site.  The first step was to come up with a list of words you felt related to the Design and Digital Technologies Curriculum.  I had a range of words but some which stood out for me were innovation, investigation, sustainability, explore and play.  This words were key ideas for me as although the Design topic area requires planning and critical thinking it also requires students to be creative, innovative, explorative and consider the ethics and sustainability factors related to their design.  The other element to the Technologies curriculum is Digital Technologies some key words that stood out for me in relation to this were ICT, computational thinking and understanding.  In this area students are required to "identify, use and explore digital systems" (ACARA, n.d.) and this requires computational thinking expertise in the ICT area and understanding of the different systems and their purpose.

Once I had created this list of words I typed them into the box on 'WordItOut' and pressed create and then the site developed a word cloud using my words in a range of different colours and fonts.  After the original template was developed I could go back and edit fonts and colours until I was satisfied with the end result.  I could then save this word cloud and email it to myself for future use.  I think that this program would be useful in the classroom when students are brainstorming about a new topic as they could complete individual word clouds and then come back together as a class and see which words were common, and from here the teacher could use these words in a word cloud created on the interactive whiteboard.  In this way students have an opportunity to use ICT and brainstorm alone, and then work collaboratively to ascertain what the overarching ideas for the topic area are as a class.  

In addition, there are other benefits to using a word cloud related to catering for different students learning styles.  According to Howard Gardener and his theory of multiple intelligences there are eight different intelligence areas which are musical/rhythmic, visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, bodily/kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic (White, Hayes & Livesey, 2013).  Using this word cloud function would assist those students who learn best through visual representation and using something like this in association with written text, 'hands-on' kinaesthetic opportunities and a range of other activities including music or drama which blends the intelligences for one topic area would assist students to gain maximum learning potential within the classroom.