Design is, again, key to connections

Jeff Utecht recounts what kids do when they sit down at a computer in school: they customise before they set out to work. Customisation is key for those younger than 28 (at least - I still want to customise everything, too!). Last night, wishing Claire well in her new post as Principal Teacher English in Ross High, I had an empassioned discussion with Frank on design. He told me how his youngest students (aged 11) are amongst the most turned on to good design, appreciating what steps the designer had to go through, what qualities that designer had to succeed in making an Ikea spoon the best spoon around. I suggested that maybe they were surrounded to such an extent with customisable design that they had got their heads around that conundrum as they worked out how to make the best Bebo, since every day I get referrals from Googling teens wanting to customise their Bebo templates.

When I last reflected on the importance I attach to design, not everyone thought that design and customisation was that important compared to content and worldwide audience. I was expressing my views that Glow, Scotland's new national intranet and learning environment, should be fully customisable, that fourteen year old girls should be able to turn the background fuschia pink and that fifteen year old lads should be able to put the badge and colour of their favourite football teams on their pages. Above all, they should be able to trade their coolest designs around the Glow system, bringing audience to their page (and their schoolwork) because its design seduces the viewer.

Some image dumping is possible in Glow, but I don't think that degree of connected customisation will happen in the first version of Glow. I am feeling more sure, day on day, that design (read: customisability within cool design constraints) will help youngsters come back to Glow on a more frequent basis, that therefore more connectivity will take place on a more frequent basis, and that connectivity, not content, is king in the world of 21st century education. Basically, I think that design is what's going to make or break any online education environment and will ultimately affect the improvement in learning that takes place. If you've taught kids in the last week you'll know how important design is for kids - just remember all those new school bags, clothes, haircuts and bits of jewellery being compared and admired. And the kids in Frank's class who knew how an Ikea fork had been designed and why it was better than any other fork.

Design is not just a fetish that makes things look pretty and this is true in public service and even in the third world. Just go and listen to yet another TED Talk, this time from 'Open Source Architect' Cameron Sinclair. His point - you don't just design stuff, you must design improvement on what is there already or you create a blemish on the environment of the community you serve.

I don't think Glow in itself will create a blemish on the community it will serve - far from it, in fact, since the tools it is offering are certainly a step up from what is on offer in most classrooms. As educators outside the Glow system develop more connected models of learning, though, it is important that no-brainer basics of community building, including personalisation and customisation, form an ever-increasing part of the recipe. That will, in turn, mean that more teachers understand how connected learning really works in practice, in the classroom, and beyond it.

Photo from Jakub Sivek.

Update: This would be a cool gaming/Google Maps/Sketchup project for a design class.

Comments

[Andrew]

Design, as you know is close to my heart Ewan, as we have spoken about it's importance before. One of my biggest worries about many web2.0 technologies is the move away from design in favour of functionality, but IMO that seeks to diminish the importance of the expression of individuality that we all have (for good or ill) on our sites. Making 'something your own' is key to both motivation and involvement.

I remember being at a meeting about 'Glow' where 'Pimp My Portal' was suggested in jest - to me this concept isn't just an add on, but integral to it's success. Owning knowledge isn't just 'knowing it', it's making a connection with it.

[Ewan McIntosh]

I'm so glad to be working with you for the next 18 months at least. I know that design is this important for a lot of the new guys and gals hired in the new tech area of LTS. Let's hope that together we can help raise the game of design in the world of learning.

"Googling teens"? You'll have the Google police on to you! They are getting very stroppy, pointing out that Google is a brand name, not an adjective and not a verb (even tho it has been accepted in some dictionaries as a verb) They don't want their brand name devalued till it loses its capital. I suppose the powers at Google have a point. See article in latest Computeractive.

[Ewan McIntosh]

Thankfully your comment is helpful in pointing out Google's opinions, but FYI please do keep comments on this blog named and linked to your email or blog address. Cheers!