Breaking through expectation patterns is our illuminated lettering, the guiding perspective, the idea that we agreed on in advance and experimentally approximate with text fragments, video or audio production. This is done within a seminar in the Vocational Education module in the Master's degree in Teaching at Vocational Colleges at Münster University of Applied Sciences in cooperation with Stefanie Panke University of North Carolina, Chapell Hill in WS 2023/24.

Building on joint seminar experiences on the use of maker education, design thinking and the differentiating experience of designing teaching-learning settings at US and German universities (see Panke/Harth 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), this seminar focuses on the agile Booksprint method (writing a book in three days) and the experimental use of digital tools, including AI tools. The three days are divided into several 90-minute hybrid preparation sessions 'as a first day, 'with individual approaches to new unknown digital tools, with joint definition of a guiding theme for the book from a selection of six suggestions (see table), with AI generation of a cover and joint selection of the best draft from the group and suggestions for chapters that the individual group members would like to work on during the two compact days of attendance.

Teachers or anyone who discovers our action product, our book on EdTechBooks, should receive suggestions, tips for unusual things for and in the design of (professional) lessons and also provide readers with something surprising in terms of methodology, content and design. Break through patterns of expectation even when reading, listening, and perceptive discovery.

The compact presence phase starts with a wall of seating elements in the Makerspace Teacher Training room to get all participants in the mood for the different seminar design as soon as they arrive.

Wall of seating elements as an introduction and as an AI-generated presentation

Not everyone arrives on time, but getting started with Lego Serious Play for a personal introduction to a tower is a catalyst to get into a different flow, release tension and start involving everyone in a playful way...

The towers built and bridges designed in the second round show a whale in the forest as a symbol of the unexpected, integrate your own zodiac sign, use the inclusion of moving elements in many places to show energy, excitement and flexibility.

That's when it starts. Everyone is called upon to now review your text fragments or otherwise prepared action products, to think about them further... and, after an hour, to bring them into a common order in an editorial meeting.

Individual learning paths that are visible here: A model in Lego that is intended to visualize our structure, exchange about digital tools such as sound effects, audio files editing, comparison of AI tools, about technical issues such as downloading separate audio files from videos, when dealing with a medium that has not yet been as common as podcast and suddenly realizing what new didactical and methodological approaches are possible for students.

Dealing with openness is directly an issue. Are the teachers here the gatekeepers? No Are we all the editors? Yes Should I refer to A and B? Your choice! Is openness difficult for you right now? Then address your difficulties and apply this to working with your future students: How much openness do you want, can you expect from your study group?

Surprisingly, dealing with time (pressure) as a framework condition and possible accelerator for creative processes is not yet an issue.

After lunch, it's time to work on your own ideas, chapters, multimedia elements, etc. Before that, there are suggestions about the didactic potential of digital videos, which can also be easily created by students, through the presentation of the free tool flip.com. The first day ends with proofreading, podcasts, individual plans for the work processes on the second day and building up an arc of excitement about maker education and design thinking activities on the second day. There is a general feeling that a lot has already been achieved. There is an overwhelming expectation that the joint work will be completed on the last day. There is a natural, two-way collaboration, constant change in team constellations, even partial retreat into concentrated individual work and constant curiosity about the potential of the many digital tools that are in the room. This change in working methods can be exemplified by the noise level in the group. While the morning has longer periods of silence, which are only interrupted timidly and quietly, the afternoon is characterized by constant conversations, spontaneous contact with each other, etc.

The second day starts in the underground room with four workstations for tinkering with different maker sets and with a large presentation table area as an eye-catcher to break through the expectation that you can simply start directly on the second day based on the experiences of the first day in a very similar way.

Makey-Makey is an invention kit that transforms everyday objects into touch-sensitive keys. With Makey-Makey, users can implement creative projects by using everyday objects such as fruit, cutlery or dough as input devices for computers. Makey-Makey uses simple circuits and is connected to the computer via USB. This tool promotes playful learning and an understanding of the basics of electronics and programming — particularly in combination with a programming environment such as Scratch (MIT). Thanks to its versatile uses, Makey-Makey is ideal for school projects, creative experiments and even art installations.

In a doodle bot project, participants build a small robot that can draw autonomously from simple materials such as motors, batteries, pens and other everyday objects — typically a drinking cup. These robots are designed to create random patterns, causing each Doodle bot to create unique drawings. The project not only promotes an understanding of basic principles of robotics and mechanics, but also stimulates creativity and is fun, both when building and viewing the resulting works of art.

A brush bot project is designed similarly to the Doodle bot project, but focuses specifically on using brushes or bristles as part of the movement mechanism. The brush bots use the vibration of the motor to move on flat surfaces, which results in interesting and often surprising movement patterns.

From the four stations “Build a Brushbot”, “Build racing Bristlebots”, “Build an Art Bot”, “Use Makey-Makey along the examples in the user manual”, three were selected. Results were quickly created, a cheerful group atmosphere and an entertaining presentation in variants based on suggestions for improvement from the group. All results and experiences with making are based on scenarios for teaching at the vocational college in a group discussion.

Further work on the booksprint follows, which creates the need to include videos from the making phase in the 'book' and then continue working on your own chapters alone or in small groups.

Maker videos:

After an editorial meeting, collecting and distributing work assignments, and a lunch break, some have more to do, others less. However, the different distribution of workload is also an opportunity for the first fine-tuning: Here a picture addition, there a linguistic correction, here the adaptation of the chapter titles to the actual work, there repeated proofreading.

At the same time, students write in the final chapter 'Shut up — New things learned? '. A whiteboard is used for this purpose to individually enter the lessons learned. Rabi sets about formulating with alternating assistance from the study group.

At around 2:30 p.m., the joint work will be fine-tuned down to the very last detail and it is time for the last joint impulse. It consists of a rapid design thinking process on the topic of 'surprising ideas for a vocational lesson, 'in the phases of problem definition, ideation and feedback, iteration, prototype development.

After a mutual presentation of the prototypes and conclusions of the method and the results for future work as a teacher at the vocational college, the seminar concludes with a round of feedback and the outlook.

literature

2022: Playful Pedagogies in Vocational Education: Experimenting with Making, Design Thinking and Serious Play

2020: Thinking Inside the Box: Does Design Thinking Fit into Zoom Squares?

2019: Creating Effective Physical Learning Spaces in the Digital Age — Results of a Student-Centered Design Thinking Workshop

2018: Design Thinking in Teacher Education: Preparing Engineering Students for Teaching at Vocational Schools

2017: Design Thinking for Inclusive Community Design: (How) Does it Work?