Are you ready for The Global Day of Design on 4/26? #GDD16

Over 300 schools and 20,000 students are now signed up to participate in the Global Day of Design!

Any new challenges for Elementary students?

Yes, we’ve got new challenges listed for Elementary and Middle School students! The University of Arkansas released a collection of STEM Design Challenges based on children’s literature (they are awesome) and we’ve got the link to these challenges for you (click here to access these elementary design challenges!).

Don’t forget, we have almost 20 other Design Challenges listed on the Global Day of Design website for you (globaldayofdesign.com) that can be used in K-12 classrooms on April 26th, or any time of the year!

What is the Global Day of Design all about?

Students need to make, build, and tinker. The Global Day of Design is one-day that focuses on using Design Thinking in school. Our goal for the Global Day of Design is to inspire a transformation in schools around the world to incorporate design thinking into an everyday practice with our students from all levels, ages, and subjects.

When is the Global Day of Design?

This year the Global Day of Design will take place on 4/26/16. We will be sharing students designing, building, making, and tinkering on Twitter, Facebook, Periscope, and Instagram using the hashtag #GDD16!

*Note: If your school can’t participate on 4/26 pick a date that works for you and still use the hashtag to share out!

What is Design Thinking?

Maybe you’ve heard the term before or even read some articles on Design Thinking. Here’s co-founder John Spencer’s description of Design Thinking from a K-12 viewpoint:

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 to a real audience (sometimes global but often local). Design thinking isn’t a subject or a topic or a class. It’s more of way of solving problems that encourages risk-taking and creativity.

Here is The LAUNCH Cycle video we created to explain Design Thinking to K-12 Students (watch it, you’ll love it!):

Where did Design Thinking originate?

So, it’s debate where design thinking originated. Some claim that it started in the sixties with The Sciences of the Artificial. Others point to Design Thinking, which focussed more on urban planning and architecture. Still others point to Robert McKim’s work in Experiences in Visual Thinking. My guess is that, like all great ideas, it has been an evolution, influenced by thousands of people. We know that our work around Design Thinking has been influenced by people like Tom and David Kelley, Tim Brown, John Maeda, Peter Rowe (as well as organizations like Stanford d.school and IDEO). Our goal is to continue to read some of these texts in-depth and watch the evolution of the idea.

Design Thinking Resources:

• FREE Design Challenge (just put $0 in for the amount)
• FREE Online Video Course – The Ultimate Guide to Design Thinking
• Can Design Thinking work when we don’t have devices?
• Curious about Design Thinking? Here’s a framework that can work in any classroom.

How Can I Sign Up for the GLOBAL DAY OF DESIGN!?

Glad you asked 🙂 Here is the Google Form to sign up your class and/or school for the Global Day of Design. We will send out an email each week as the date comes closer with Design Challenges, Maker Projects, and other resources to make this year’s Global Day of Design a success!