Module 3 — LaGuardia Community College

• 

  Posted by Aankit Patel (he/him/his) on May 23, 2023 at 4:28 pm

  Background

  • The design process is at the center of our work together this summer.

  Task

  • We invite you to visually represent or model your own design process using some digital tool.
  • You can capture how you design or make anything — whether it’s related to your work as a teacher educator or not.
  • You can share your typical design process, or create a vision for a more idealized or aspirational design process.
  • We think doing this will help you learn a new digital tool, and to help you think intentionally about your design process in advance of our work together this summer.

  To complete this task:

  To visualize your design process, select and use a digital tool  – preferably one that’s new to you or that you want more practice with. You can use one of the ones we recommend below, or locate your own.

  NOTE: Some of these require you to create accounts. If you’d like, take a look at the privacy policies of these tools to see if the benefits of signing up would outweigh the risks for you.

  • Miro – create a free account (privacy policy)
  • Padlet – click sign in with “Microsoft” and use your @login.cuny.edu email (the one you use for CUNYFirst) to get a CUNY account. (privacy policy)
  • Jamboard – you’ll need a Google account (privacy policy)
  • Loopy – no account needed, open source tool! (no privacy policy, see FAQ)
  • Canva – create a free account (privacy policy)
  • PowerPoint – available in CUNY’s office suite (privacy policy)
  • Google Slides – you’ll need a Google account (privacy policy)

  Stuck?

  • Consult any online tutorials the tool may have on their site
  • Try sketching something on paper first, or do some free-writing to generate ideas about how you generally go about design!
  • Make multiple “rapid prototype” iterations until something feels right.
  • If you’re stuck on something, we encourage you to troubleshoot. Google around, use your colleagues as resources, or go to our help sessions on Mondays!

  To Share:

  • Reply to this thread.
  • Add a brief reflection:
    • Share something new you learned about the tool you used.
    • Did you look at the privacy policy? Did anything stand out there?
    • Share any limitations of the tool that you used that you discovered.
  • You can share your work as a link, or an attachment to this discussion thread
  • If you’d like to embed an image in your post, you’ll have to upload it somewhere first (for example at imgur). Then use the image icon in the discussion forum to link to it.

• Maria Savva

  Participant

  June 4, 2023 at 8:57 pm

  • My design process: https://bit.ly/45PwUtd
  • I used Loopy, I never heard of it prior to today. I like how it offers systems-thinking templates that incorporate actual flow of movement. I think the process of creating a idea design is not as neat as the model I used portrays. I would say that it is a kind of  ‘abstraction’ of the real process.
  • I did not look at the privacy policy but I have published using the same Creative Commons license mentioned in the intro video so I am familiar with it.
  • It’s hard to confidently identify limitations. I would need more time to tinker with it.
  Maria Jerskey (she/her)

  Member

  June 6, 2023 at 3:05 pm

  I’d have to think/reflect more on what my design process is… I am usually constrained by both a platform’s limitations (or complications) and my ability to adapt it to what I want to do. And by time!

  I chose to play around with Miro. There are a lot of options: mind map, user story, flowchart. All requiring a bit of practice while I tried to figure out what I’d do. I chose flowchart to represent how I’m living my current research/activism project, The Linguistic Justice Project. Here’s a start: CLICK

  The privacy policy seems to be a lot like Google docs (options for sharing, editing, etc.)

  The limitation is its strength: you need to get to know it (time and application).
  Thomas Cleary

  Member

  June 8, 2023 at 4:18 pm

  I choose Loopy since I’ve never heard of it before and thought the FAQ was fun and appreciated how the creator fully supports public domain work. Also I didn’t want to create yet another account.

  Normally I draw out steps similarly to Miro or make bullet lists to help me approach a project in a more structured way so also wanted to try something new.  Loopy ended up letting me visualize my often circular “design process“.  I spaced out some nodes further apart to show how it takes longer to get feedback from peers or implement a solution, while it’s usually pretty easy to run into a problem. You could also see how you can have different paths to a solution or how there might be multiple solutions.

  When playing back the loop it was funny how when the “solution” looped back to the “problem” where it just created more problems to go through the process.
  Laurie Gluck (she/her)

  Member

  June 13, 2023 at 10:39 am

  Taking another look at data in Excel was helpful…filter and pivot tables were new to me.

  I have use Jamboard in the past in synchronous online courses. It offered some good ways to present material and get students to contribute. I took a look at Padlet; I liked the look of it and how it focused on images. Loopy reminded me of Jamboard, perhaps more appealing design features. I tried to log into Miro, but they never sent me a code.

  A general limitation is the learning curve for each of these tools, figuring out their features and the best way to apply them. I am wondering if these are meant to replace pencil and paper for design, to enhance, to better present design. I can see that transferring from a pencil and paper model could be a way to review and revise. Sometimes sitting down in front of the computer and opening up a file, a design tool is a good way to get started, get organized. The tool may offer some new way to view ideas, or hurdles. Sometimes my note book is more effective. https://imgur.com/a/57dner4
  Kenneth Yin (he/him)

  Member

  June 16, 2023 at 1:23 am

  I chose to experiment with Loopy, as it is an open-source tool requiring no account to use and a tool that I am not familiar with. Loopy also has no privacy policy. I used Loopy to show the steps involved in writing a reader response paper. The URL of my design process on Loopy is as follows: https://ncase.me/loopy/v1.1/?data=%5B%5B%5B1,504,420,0,%22Proofread%2520your%2520writing%2520prior%2520to%2520submission.%22,0%5D,%5B2,837,417,0,%22Briefly%2520summarize%2520the%2520reading.%22,4%5D,%5B3,673,250,0,%22Complete%2520the%2520assigned%2520or%2520selected%2520reading.%22,1%5D,%5B7,670,608,0,%22Provide%2520a%2520detailed%2520personal%2520reaction%2520to%2520the%2520reading.%22,3%5D%5D,%5B%5B2,7,59,1,0%5D,%5B3,2,56,-1,0%5D,%5B1,3,66,1,0%5D,%5B7,1,63,-1,0%5D%5D,%5B%5B671,431,%22How%2520to%2520write%250Aa%2520reader%2520response%250Apaper%22%5D%5D,7%5D. This URL is admittedly long, but I did not want to have to sign up for an account on Bitly to get a shortened link.

  Loopy seems to be a great tool for visualization and mind maps. It can help people to understand the steps involved in a process or explain their ways of thinking. I was unsure how to change the font size or style of the text, though, as I tinkered with Loopy.
  Agnieszka Rakowicz (she/her)

  Member

  June 17, 2023 at 11:16 am

  For the design process, I tinkered with Loopy. I wanted to try it out because it is a new tool for me. I was glad that it was an open source tool although I found their privacy policy… surprising. It took me a bit to figure out how to add nodes and delete circles.

  I did like this simple visualization tool. I think it can be useful explaining processes, I guess. I think it would be useful in having students focus on their metacognitive processes, for example. Here is the loopy I made: link
  I also revisited the good old Excel tool.
  Eric Conte (He/Him)

  Participant

  July 9, 2023 at 12:09 pm

  For this module I decided to explore all of the platforms introduced here.  I’m most familiar with creating on Google Slides and Canva.  They all have some interesting features, but I feel overwhelmed a bit when I feel obligated to use so many different platforms.

  I learned how Padlet can be used as a collaborative tool thus providing an opportunity for students to work on group assignments.

  For the design platform I decided to explore a platform I am not as familiar with, Jamboard.