Let's Talk About Tech!

As you grow up and learn new concepts in the world, you create memories from those experiences. Whether those memories are positive or negative, they may stick with you forever, and you will be able to share your adventures. As a teacher and graduate student, I have had experiences I can share and relate to with other students, teachers, or faculty.

For me, this was participating in the Michigan State University Educational Technology Summit.

We brainstormed applications and tools used in our classroom and graduate-level classes during a QuickFire activity. This information would be the content that we would present for the conference. We created categories and teams to discuss those topics. Well, for me, I was in the MSU Library resources group. I expressed my thoughts about using the library website with my partner. As a beginner at MSU's interworkings, I thought about how we would present the information. The design thinking process and QuickFire combined all this planning into one lesson. We evaluated the details we discussed and went through the five phases of the design thinking process (Plattner, n.d.). As a team, we went from asking ourselves what the “problem” was to imagining how to fix it. The "test" for this scenario was the presentation of our thoughts. As we worked together, we simultaneously worked through the other steps of the design thinking process.

Design Thinking Process

As graduate students, we shared our affordance and constraints from brainstorming and our experiences with attendees. We elaborated on our thoughts in this collaborative, which led to questions from our experiences. I thought of our dream MSU library hub, where our ideas could lead to a better user experience for all.

Occasions like this allow for collaboration and a constructive environment to share ideas to enhance experiences and are necessary for continuous improvement.

References

Dillman, B. (2022). Ed Tech Summit: MSU Graduate Student Perspectives of Spartan Ed Tech [PowerPoint Slides]. Google Slides. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jBXFSNcQEu9MWTmWGHJn-oOZkGei82Ovc2HtDg7f4eY/edit?usp=sharing

Michigan State University. (2022). MSU Educational Technology Summit. https://edwp.educ.msu.edu/event/msu-educational-technology-summit/

Michigan State University. (n.d.). MSU Library. https://edwp.educ.msu.edu/event/msu-educational-technology-summit/

Plattner, H. (n.d.). An Introduction to Design Thinking Process Guide. Institute Design at Stanford. https://web.stanford.edu/~mshanks/MichaelShanks/files/509554.pdf

Terrar, D. (2018). What is Design Thinking?. Agile Thinking.
http://www.theagileelephant.com/what-is-design-thinking/

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