Desperate SBTS

Design Matters by Dean Shareski

I chose this presentation to watch because I myself am interested in design and what goes into a good design. I found some very interesting concepts to consider in this presentation. Dean’s main idea is that design is an important element to teach. To support this premise he cites the work of Daniel Pink and Sir Ken Robinson (one reason I found the presentation relevant). From Daniel Pink he takes the concepts of utility and significance, and how enhancing an item’s significance can actually add to its functionality. He asks how many of us have intentionally included design in everyday learning?
Dean’s has 5 suggestions for teaching design:
1. He emphasizes the importance of planning when asking students to create any kind of digital presentation. This is important for defining the purpose of the project. He points out that writing projects always have a defined purpose. This is also important for the purpose of assessment and analysis. How well does the project satisfy its stated purpose? An interesting observation of his was that teachers who have less confidence in their understanding of the technology being used will feel that they are involved in the project by guiding the students in their planning.
2. Dean believes that visual literacy should be taught. Much of what he has to say on this topic is familiar as it has been shared with us by Karen, including putting cameras in student’s hands, the rule of thirds, the prohibition against clip art, and the use of Flickr for useable images.
3. Less is more deals with the concept of white space to create emphasis and highlight what is important. Less is more in the use of transitions as well – another familiar theme. Transitions can be used effectively to signal a change of pace or idea in a presentation.
4. The use of constraints is also a way of creating emphasis. By requiring students to edit down their work, the teacher requires them to focus on the main idea (another strategy used in writing)
5. Dean believes that we should have our students study good design, that our assessments should include consideration of good design presentation design, and that we can encourage this by exploring the advance features of our software and through the development of personal branding (an individually identifiable logo or technique).
In this presentation, I found further support for the ideas of technology supporting creative learning beyond the reproduction of teaching techniques with technology for the sake of presenting lessons in the latest and slickest format. He emphasizes that just because you can (add transitions or clip art for example) doesn’t mean you should. Dean shows us that how the technology is used to present the students ideas is as important as the ideas themselves. Good design enhances significance. Design matters!

Filed by sepowell50 at 8:32 pm under Uncategorized
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