Design at a Distance: A Dawson + Dawson Collaboration

This question came from a concerned parent during our first of two book club meetings in February centered around Stolen Focus: Why you can’t pay attention – and how to think deeply again. Throughout the pages of his thought-provoking text, author Johann Hari shares, based on research from scientists and other experts, why kids are losing focus, that their inability to focus is becoming a crisis, and how we can help them fight to get their attention back on track, together. It’s an incredible book and is highly recommended if you’re ready to launch an Attention Rebellion for yourself and your family. 

We’ve heard from families that are working hard at home to address online habits, but your child spends almost all of their waking hours during the week at school. It’s therefore reasonable and valid that this parent’s query would come up in conversation because we are all worried that we’re losing today’s youth to social media and the passive use of technology. Yet for all of its ills, technology isn’t going away. In fact, your child must be able to aptly use technology in school and any future career path to succeed: They need to appropriately conduct research, gather information, problem-solve, communicate, and more. 

So let’s explore an example of how Dawson introduces students to new technology devices and applications in constructive, educational ways for innovative, motivating projects that demonstrate a positive impact – literally using technology for good.

Innovation means finding new and impactful ways to create meaningful learning opportunities so our students are prepared to untangle life’s challenges for a deeper purpose. We want our young learners to confidently solve complex, real-world problems with an open mind, develop a ready zest for knowledge and understanding, and explore collaborative endeavors that build a sense of self and rethink traditional systems. Dawson pushes the thinking about the boundaries of education and strives for outcomes that make our community and the world a better place, and this is where our seventh and eighth-grade Tech for Good elective comes into play. 

Director of Academic Innovation & Design and Tech for Good teacher Rich Lehrer wrote a compelling article in the Fall/Winter 2022-23 edition of Dawson’s Petroglyph magazine, about the evolution of student-led projects using our design and technology curriculum. He explains, “Tech for Good provides authentic problem-solving opportunities for students to learn how to improve schools, communities, and the world. In addition to spending time iterating ever-progressing solutions to problems, students further explore the concept of ‘change-making’, an approach through which they learn to develop agency and see themselves as agents of positive change through the solving of immediate problems within their school community.” 

A Dawson + Dawson Collaboration
This past spring, our Tech for Good students launched a collaborative “Design at a Distance” project with the seventh and eighth-grade Maker Workshop students from our sister school in Lafayette at Dawson Colorado. The project was born from Rich Lehrer’s visit to Dawson Colorado’s Innovation Center and a meeting with their Director of Innovation & Technology Jeff Ellenbogen. The like-mindedness of the course content, student skill levels, and project goals between our two schools was evident, and it seemed natural to work with and learn from one another.

To get started, a potential design opportunity was submitted to Dawson’s Problem Bank website outlining how our Las Vegas kindergarten students currently use the LEGO wall in the K-4 Design Lab to practice their design skills by creating words and images out of the toy blocks. Yet, if there was a marble run option built onto the wall – a ramp a marble can roll down without falling off before it gets to its destination – it would expand the usability of the space and increase students’ problem-solving activities. 

Our Las Vegas middle schoolers did a deep analysis of the K-4 Design Lab space to assess the potential of a marble run. Then, much like the engineers of today are commonly doing in the real world, Dawson Las Vegas proposed to the Colorado students that they could work together from afar by digitally trading designs. 

The teams quickly began asynchronously sharing ideas: Dawson Colorado designed the computer-aided prototypes our Las Vegas students fabricated – laser cut and 3D printed – for the kindergarteners to test in our Design Lab. They applied the design process – iterating, building, testing, and redesigning – to record and share feedback and eventually improve the overall quality of designs before reaching a solution. 

Aside from some Zoom calls to share feedback and project plans with one another, asynchronous work, much like we saw at the height of the pandemic, remains challenging but incredibly important for students to navigate. While honing their executive functioning, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills, they must learn how to:

Persistence, resilience, competency, and risk-taking are therefore at the forefront of all work. Plus, good digital citizenship in conjunction with the many other 21st-century qualifications kids need to be successful in the information age also means students had to:

By March of the second semester, students had proof of concept for their project, demonstrating successfully that the digital designs could be turned into reality. By May, our Tech for Good students had fabricated 30 ramp holders in collaboration with the Colorado Maker Workshop students for the kindergarten marble run in the K-4 Design Lab. 

Because we empower students to act with empathy and enthusiasm to solve problems, the extent to which digital design allows for real-time and asynchronous opportunities with other schools is endless. We’re excited to not only partner with Dawson Colorado on additional projects across grade levels and disciplines but to further see how new experiences, through the positive use of technology, can grow to incorporate and help many other students and schools across the country and eventually the world. 

By Rachael Lachhwani
Communications Manager