Design Really Does Matter

• 21 October, 2007
• 3 Comments
• Blogging, Collaborative Learning, Productions, Technology and Creativity
• Posted by Kate Foy

Stumbled upon this vidcast from Canadian educator Dean Shareski given at the 2007 K-12 Online Conference. Dean’s nicely produced 25′ video discusses the importance of design in education. He’s even produced a teaser trailer on YouTube. Now that’s innovative!

Dean roams across design principles introducing some innovative ways of thinking about classroom space as well as working with multimedia. He also includes brief interviews with other educators with views of their own on design and education. He’s a minimalist at heart, and a Mac man too, I see. His own presentation is a very good example of the principles he espouses.

I like his emphasis on the importance of white space, constraint, and elimination, and his urging to avoid templates in the interests of innovation. His take on branding is well-timed also in these days of the ‘read-write web.’

I’m taking away these four key checkpoints for my own educational productions:

Does it work?
Is it beautiful?
Is it powerful?
Is it inspiring?

• Tags: creativity, design, e-learning, imagination, learning, Mac, podcasting, Video, Web 2.0