Blending Education and Design

Allow me to dream and muse for a moment. Allow me to dream of a blending, a fusion of education and design. Allow me to imagine, just for a moment, a new design all together different from what we know.

A Design that enhances learning. A Design that creates a learning environment.

An environment that makes learning easier, effective, comfortable, memorable, and attainable.

A design that leverages the beneficial natural behaviors and tendencies of learner while influencing the development of new and necessary behaviors and tendencies.

A design that is learner centric.

A design that grasps the needs, desires, and dreams of those we teach and serve.

A design that creates an experience.
Harness sight, sound, feel, and emotion.
Aesthetically pleasing.

A design that is as memorable as it is functional.A design that is customizable, personalized, mashable, networked, and communal.

A design that allows for inspiration to come from outside of what we know. The Medici Effect. Borrowing Brilliance.

So let us begin. Begin in a less obvious place. Address the less obvious problem first. Let us begin with the knowledge that there is no "One best way" no "Best practice" to follow. Let us begin with the knowledge that there are overlapping spaces of focus...not a sequence of steps to be followed.

Let us begin with what the learner needs. Let us not force design into the existing structure or organization. Let us not begin with, "Will it fit?"

An educational design that addresses the system and the future of learning; not the isolated little pieces of textbooks, computers, data, staff development, and buildings. Design that is a learning experience.

An educational design will embrace boundaries and constraints. We will not fear them. For it is within our boundaries and constraints that we realize what is desirable, viable, and feasible.  For once we know our medium, or the limits of our canvass, we are free to make discoveries, recognize patterns, and to as IDEO designer say, "Fail early to succeed sooner."

An educational design pored over and filtered through ice. Not that kind of ice, but the ice that if formed from the application of Lateral Wisdom.
 
(ICE4)
Imagination, Innovation, Ideation, Improvisation,
Creativity, Curiosity, Collaboration, Crossing
Exploration, Entrepreneurship, Experimentation, Examination

So let us pour our dream over ICE4 and see what sort of educational design we arrive at.