The event was held in the wonderful MAGIC PLAYroom at SMARTlab – which enabled the group to make use of an open creative space as well as a range of computers, non-digital resources, floor and wall projectors, fabrication devices…  The tools were available for all to use and the inspiration was provided by a range of experts.  Jessica Charlesworth and Michael Burton showed some work around futures and obesity.  Alex Hall provided insight into how artefacts  of today can be changed in both form and function by a range of future trends (more of this in the New Year).

During the course of the day we used ‘creative note-taking’ – finding ways to capture converstations and ideas beyond text and mindmaps.  The aim of this is to help ‘reframe’ conversations (changing speech to images, images to stories etc) and also provides a point of reference to further expore issues as they are raised.  Having such a wide range of methods for capturing rich conversations also helps in providing those who weren’t there with an insight into different aspects of the day (and in particular the conversations held and ideas developed).

Three very talented creators helped with this, Dave Clark captured the group’s conversations in images and ’scribles’, Toby Borland captured conversations and scribbles as 3D models and Martin Maudsley brought together conversations, images and models into a story.  Video outputs, designs and images will be shared soon, as will Martin’s summative story.

This Link goes to some of the images captured during the day – be great to see/hear what you make of them without any contextual explanation. Be even more interested in what they make you think about.

There have been some great developments learning from Fablab, exploring the possible new activities when groups can not only investigate and design but actually create artefacts of use.  One of the best applications in this area is the work of Smartlab, where the wonderful Magic Playroom creates a space for investigating and then making solutions to real world problems, using a selection of 3D printers, digital laythes and other incredible equipment.  This equipment is still expensive and the skills to use them are high – but as the paper suggests over time this will change.

A clear indictation of this (delivered to me via Twine) is Shapeways.  A central digital printer that is essentially up for rent.  Your design printed and delivered to you.   So even at this stage – what does this mean for activities in science and DT?  What should the curriculum focus on if the production of artefacts – with high production values – becomes more digital?  How should assessment change to understand processes rather than product and what sort of expertise do we need to be able to teach and what sorts of expertise do we need to develop in students?  There could be a dramatically different set of practices that could take place in schools across the country in under 10 years time with some theoretical problems being tackled practically at low cost – but these possibilties raise even more immediate questions.  If schools will be able to change their practices within 10 years, what will industry be able to do in 5 years.  And what skills, competencies and understanding do students need to develop within STEM subjects over the next 2 years?

More questions!  So for the weekend then, a video of how it works.