Oh oh oh oh!!
I was sitting at work today straining my eyes to death and then suddenly I remembered something I had seen on The Colbert Report awhile ago. He featured a woman named Emily Pilloton on it who has been designing products for people in impoverished nations who aren't able to afford more traditional products. I found the clip here:
So they've developed shoes to avoid damage from land mines, glasses that are affordable and can be adjusted for whatever your prescription, among other awesome creative inventions.
So, I was thinking about what kind of projects could give school a level of meaning that Dan Pink discusses for businesses, and it seems to me that this would be a great idea. Designing products with a positive social impact would not only be relevant for science courses, shop courses, and art courses, but even history classes! Why? Well, not long ago I watched a very disgusting BBC special on how filthy London used to be before modern sanitation. Apparently people would buy these special shoes to lift themselves above the muck. They didn't look like anything I had seen before. So that got me to thinking about the type of products that were made before our modern technology. It seems to me that developing a product using low tech equipment, or even improving on a once popular but now discarded design, could be something that could be incorporated into a history class.
I mean, I get it, history and humanities and everything in between are important to fostering creative and critical thinking skills. They develop a more informed citizen and improve democracy. But, hey, for a kid who can't think that far ahead making something like this would provide some immediate meaning to their daily work.
Also, this weekend there was a shooting outside of my place. The person hit was just a kid. So, yeah, physical science courses could have a student make something -- anything -- using wedges, levers, and pulleys, or they could aspire to something that helps foster a sense of empathy and responsibility.
I came home to research Emily. Apparently Emily and crew are doing exactly what I'm talking about already! I found this awesome video:
She also discusses physically designing better classrooms. I love it!!!! I especially love the game play idea. Imagine if young children could exercise and get their blood flowing while learning math, not only improving their learning but perhaps leading to less medicated students. Imagine a child's abundance of energy being treated as an advantage rather than a problem!
Learn more about Emily's Group Project H.
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