Year of Innovation pop-up houses on display at @The_School

See the full gallery on Posterous

After the incredible success of the Tools at Schools design collaboration with aruliden and Bernhardt Design, Don Buckley (@donbuckley) was inspired to have faculty at The School apply the design thinking model for our Year of Innovation.

These pop-up houses, on display throughout the school for a few weeks, are the result of many months spent researching discussing, researching, ideating, and prototyping. Inside are snapshots and notes from each group and an iPad3 (on an iPevo Perch with headphones) running a video where students, faculty, and parents talk about each concept (Homework, Discipline, Recess, Lunch, Grading). Kudos to Hil Szanto (@hilszanto) and Cristina Martinez (@finlaycm) for the videography and editing!

8th graders at The School helped design the “Tools At Schools” prototypes on display at ICFF this weekend

http://www.tools-at-schools.com

Our 8th graders worked with designers from aruliden and Bernhardt to learn about the design process and “the value of design as a problem-solving tool.” Students were divided into groups to redesign the chair, desk, and locker. Integrating research, art, science, and math, students researched what’s out there, interviewed a variety of people, mapped out their ideas, crafted 3D models, and formally presented their findings thorughout the unit.

Rinat Aruh and Johan Liden of aruliden and Jerry Helling of Bernhard conceived and built full-size prototypes of a desk, chair, and locker that incorporated the kids’ ideas and dreams. These prototypes will be on display at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair this weekend and at the Museum of Arts and Design in the coming months!

Watch the gorgeous videos aruliden put together to document the project here: http://tools-at-schools.com/project.html

Similarly, below is Emily Pilloton’s TED Talk about teaching “design for change”:

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

 

 

The TEDxNYED talks are viewable at http://tedxnyed.com

http://www.youtube.com/cp/vjVQa1PpcFM0Yq57VEthW3yHb9D2hwTiy9hE2oAJ0tY=

filming and post-production by True Life Media

I’m down with T.E.D. (yeah you know me)

Last week I was in Palm Springs at what was essentially Club TED. Along with about 500 other people at TEDActive, I watched a simulcast of TED 2011 from The Riviera Resort and Spa. It was totally awesome and extravagant to be mentally stimulated in such a deluxe way; There were screens all over the resort. The designated main room was full of posh Steelcase seating clusters, each facing their own duo of Sony flat screens. Additionally, there were other rooms full of snacks, coffee bars, refrigerators full of beverage choices, and power strips up the wazoo with a variety of seating arrangements and screens everywhere. The most lavish area were the cabanas around the pool, also with dual screens and Lawrence-of-Arabia-inspired interior designs.

It was a monumental few days, and I’m still mourning the fact that I had to leave early to get back to New York in time for TEDxNYED which I co-curated with Basil Kolani (@bkolani). However, we pulled off a pretty spectacular event that exceeded even my high expectations, thanks to the good people at the New York Academy of Sciences and our amazing team of organizers: Dan Agins (@agins213), Erin Mumford (@erinmum), Jeff Weitz (@scienceteacher1), Kiersten Jennings Chou (@choutofu), Sean Freese (@seanmfreese), and Tammy Mckenna (@tmck76).

I joked more than once that this second annual TEDxNYED could be renamed TEDxKaren. I consider the other organizers friends, and I am inspired by all of our speakers. Plus, I’m proud to know so many of the organizers and speakers personally. I even had connections with our co-hosts, Don Buckley (@donbuckley) and Sylvia Martinez (@smartinez); Don is my boss, and Sylvia makes me laugh more than many other people. At TEDxNYED, we heard “ideas worth spreading” from:

Alan November @globalearner
Homa Tavangar @growingupglobal
Lucy Gray @elemenous
John Ellrodt and Maria Fico @johncellrodt @mfico1158 
Kiran Bir Sethi 
Gary Stager @garystager
Brian Crosby @bcrosby
Heidi Hayes Jacobs @HeidiHayesJacob
Dennis Littky  @Dennis_Littky
Diana Laufenberg @dlaufenberg
Rinat Aruh
Luyen Chou @luyenchou
Patrick Carman @patrickcarman
Morley @morleymusic
Stacey Murphy @bkfarmyards
Samona Tait
Steve Bergen @stevebergen
Will Richardson @willrich45

On top of everything else, it was a thrill that Morley, a New York based singer/songwriter/activist, joined us. Below is a video of her song, “Women of Hope,” which includes the line, “If you’re feeling helpless, help someone.” It is my new mantra.

Photos from TEDActive: http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

Photos from TEDxNYED: http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649