Assignment 5 :Planning for the future

Activity A


Designing Schools For The Future!!


Introduction


To investigate the current issues in our education system, we first need to define the problem by looking at the common issues which arise in the existing environment. This can be done by observing, analysing and using different service tools and techniques such as ethnography to help identify and define common problems. It is my current role as a designer to research, articulate a clear and actionable proposal, and to help define information and deliverables needed to communicate research findings efficiently to the client.

Research methods

First of all I need to identify the people who can shed light on the question? This would be the students, teachers and staff of the school as they are the main subjects who will be interacting and are heavily involved in the environment. At the start of my process I shall take pictures to observe the school and the students and watch how they interact with their existing space.  I look at the relationship the students and staff have with the building and how they customise their current space to the way they circulate and work.  I will also be looking at what existing equipment is used to help the students learn and interact, and how they adapt that with their learning, taking into consideration how much light is sourced in the building. The pictures will also highlight the needs for the management of the school estate to reflect the values and principles of sustainable development. These pictures will be natural and informal looking at how the current students work is involved in the current community, observing how they get to school and what natural habitats are living locally. Is the school the building or the site? The community neighbourhood or the town? Is it scale define or scale free?  Does it make use of the best resources from the whole place it serves?  Does it exploit a wide range of experiences and subjects in different environments? Whether it be in different classes or environments surrounding the school, covering a range of all ages and staff. Even considering how the local community whether it be shops, libraries or surroundings (if any) communicate and engage with the children.

Mind mapping

Throughout the process I shall takes notes, videos, audios and sketches to help me understand how the students interact with the current school and environment surrounding it. 

Brain storming

The next step would be to find out what the students and teachers want in their future school design. With evidence gathered from beyond casual observation, I will look into detail at how the subjects connect with the existing space by brainstorming or mind mapping the different areas and topics which arise from my first findings.  I will also look at different things I as a designer will want to explore by producing a semi- structural questionnaire to follow as a plan, but deviations can occur to follow up interesting comments in more detail. A range of people within the existing school will be questioned, including teachers from different departments, pupils of all ages and parents. I will record and interview these people to gain a holistic approach. Furthermore I shall hold focus groups in which I will collaborate my subjects by placing them in mixed groups. I will use many different approaches of design tools to turn my original interviews from passive conversation to an active situation.  Through this process I shall encourage the groups to co-design and engage with each other as well as use instruments to communicate, be creative and share insights of their own ideas. The instruments they will use be things such as writing, mind maps, story boards, drawings, sketches and mood boards.  By imagining what might be by previewing the service solution, it makes the future feature more tangible by translating them in visual interpretations or representations as it is important to get staff to share their ideas and get involved as early as possible in the design process.

There has been a new design tool introduced by the Architecture and design Scotland called Spark.  It is a web resource which allows pupils, parents and anyone else who is interested in improving schools to have the opportunity to explore other new school designs and communicate their ideas.  This new tool uses images, videos and downloads, where people can access many interesting examples of recent schools of the future. Spark allows users to create a scrapbook of the different elements of the schools that they like.  This scrap book can then be shared with others in a variety of ways, giving people the opportunity to evolve and communicate their ideas towards the sort of future school designs they would like to see.

spark shows examples of new schools

Before getting to the costly development of a new or improved service, fidelity models are used to prototype and test and ideas quickly and cheaply.  The tools used for service prop typing can go in the direction of mainly evocative simulations, but also give a very realistic description by evolving some of the students ideas and making rough prototypes to answer some of the problems that may arise.  This may involve a group of people in role play, making mock ups of the system, acting out scenarios with hand sketched scenes or may be a case where you design touch points for how a new service might look.
  
I will finally go back to the Ethnology, which highlights the differences in what people perceive is done and what they actually do.  This is carried out by observing what people do as well as listen to what they say.  We learn more about their choices and how they perceive and filter their own actions, and as a result we create environments with peoples real emotions and interactions. With the insights that are generated through ethnologic research and involvement of the whole school organization, our information and visual analysis as a designer can be used to communicate the value of the work and show the possibilities it holds for creating something wonderful. Information that is presented in a visually and compelling way is more likely to be intrigued, inspired and engaged. The use of ethnology and knowledge as a designer can have the ability to make others see and believe. 




Activity B


5 book in which i will read over the summer are 


1.Dr K Fishers pedagogy in space


2. semiotics ( can't remember the title or author my boyfriend has it, but will post it up when i find out)


3. Ethnology: the fundament ethnical problems, the primary ethical groups A.H. Kene


4. Visual communication: from theory to practise by Jonathan Baldwin ( 'hurry on 4 left in stock' amazon

5. Understanding aesthetics ( can't remember the author my boyfriend has it )








5 things i will do to my blog are


1. Change the layout to make it easier to read


2. Write more about my subject and set out a portfolio 


3. Make time even if it's just 15 min to write about things i find that are relevant to my course or design studies.


4. Look into my proposal and think about it more, how can i develop it further or improve it?


5. change the structure and update my personal information, also connect with out followers a lot more.








 5 people i will connect with over summer


1. My friends dad who is a successfull architect.


2  Email design companies for placements.


3. I shall contact other universities for a an exchange in semester 2 next year.


4.  Twitter people from the university to ask what their course involves


5. Twitter  the exectutive for education, to progress my findings for my proposal.