Week 4: Brain Dump- Where the Hell am I Heading with this project?

Summarising where I am so far, and how I got here.

I started this project wanting to combine my interests with the physical arts/ crafts, and my interest of UX and Service Design, with a target audience of youth and how they 'play'. I felt this had meaning to me and would be a project I'd be passionate about due to the strong influence art, craft, and design had on my childhood as I grew up. I'd thought I could direct this towards a project that would help the youth of today's generation experience this same childhood I had. My initial 'solution' ideas were based more around how kids learn as well as how they play. These concepts were some sort of teaching/ educational resource- which might be used in schools, or a stand alone business/ parenting tool.

Through research into these ideas, I started coming across issues of technology overuse, and how modernisation has started to overtake the 'old' hands-on methods of learning and teaching. There's an abundance of studies that are showing the negative impacts of device overuse in children's lives, however many of these studies are taken from a recreational use standpoint- (eg: gaming/ cellphones/ TV etc...) So it's been hard to find sturdy ground to stand on when it comes to educational research.

The research gathered around educational technology use is quite conflicted. There are clear benefits that devices in education provide, such as convenience for teachers and students, access to a wider range of learning/ teaching resources. There's also evidence showing how technology can be a distraction that hinders student's learning. Having BYOD (bring your own devices) as a common compulsory addition to school supplies is also putting strain on some parents who're struggling to make ends meet. (Which can lead down a path of bullying, discrimination, jealousy etc.) Teachers have also commented saying it can be difficult keeping students on task when there's such a wide range of entertainment on the same medium they're attempting to teach from.

"High school is where creativity drops off." Nimue Strivens (Student Interview Quote)

What I've also begun to discover in my research, is that the type of resources teachers use, changes substantially between age groups. For instance, most primary schools are well aware of the importance of physical play and hands-on learning. It's common to see 5-10 year old students finger painting in their classes, and their teachers experimenting with teaching methods. However, once kids reach high school, the standards go up, NCEA comes in, and all of a sudden the paint gets pushed aside and textbooks get piled up.

Of course, from a career perspective this is the time to knuckle down and get serious with learning right? But as Sir Ken Robinson discusses in his TED Talk 'Do Schools Kill Creativity,' NCEA is built round an age old educational structure that epitomises Universities as success. Further education is the goal, that's what high school students are being taught for. But is that even relevant anymore? Curriculums are being designed for 'University Entrance' but what about those who want to jump straight into the workforce? What skills are they being taught? And content aside, are the methods they're being taught by even effective? (Given that these methods are styled to prepare for 'higher education'.)

So... where to go from here?

Do I go back to my original plan of designing something hands-on for youth to play/ learn with, or do I tackle the larger problem of a flawed educational system? Or is there a way to bring them both together?