A teacher emailed me earlier this week asking a question about design thinking. "I don't have much technology in my classroom but I want to have a maker space and I want to try design thinking. Any ideas?" My first thought is that some of…
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When I first shared the LAUNCH Cycle publicly, my friend George Couros offered some gentle pushback. He questioned whether or not it was necessary to wait until the end of the design thinking cycle to share with the world. So, it leaves me with this lingering…
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The term "design thinking" is often attached to maker spaces and STEM labs. However, design thinking is bigger than STEM. It begins with the premise of tapping into student curiosity and allowing them to create, test and re-create until they eventually ship what they…
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I'm sitting at a computer, staring at the flashing cursor. I know it's not sentient, but I swear it's taunting me. "Just go on with it. Try and make something." I'm in the third hour of a project. It's a free design thinking challenge that…
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With the click of a button, I can send my work to the entire world. It can feel empowering. I tap a screen and suddenly my ideas can reach a larger audience. But what if that’s not always ideal? True, audience matters. But so does…
I love geeking out on the creative process. I love seeing the connections I experience in teaching, in writing, in developing web platforms, and in making sketchy videos. However, I also enjoy thinking through creativity in a context that's foreign to me. See, I'm not…
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I believe that writing should be fun. It's not merely a functional activity we have to get through in life. I believe that persuasive, informational, and functional writing should be as fun as writing a story. I believe that all writing is inherently creative and…
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Often, in working with pre-service teachers, someone will ask about the “right” way to do something. The educational system throws around words like “best practices” and “highly qualified,” but it doesn’t really work that way. There is no guidebook or instruction manual or how-to video…
Think outside the box. It’s a popular idea. It’s the story of the lone artist going away and making something radically different. But what if that’s not always the case? What if creativity isn’t always about thinking outside the box? What it involves thinking differently…
When I was a kid, I thought the epic life was the big life. You know, hit the game-winning home run. Slay a dragon. Conquer a distant land. When I got older, I still believed that the epic life meant doing big things. Make…
Dr. John Spencer
I’m a professor and a maker. Sometimes I make things. Sometimes I make a difference. On a good day, I get to do both.
