IT'S THE NEXT BIG THING.

We are targeting students from needy low-income families between the ages of 11 to 14 years old.

Our project provides a platform to expose these students to design-thinking through a two-day workshop cum camp, where they will be tasked to make observations, and from there, ideate and create a prototype aimed to bring about a positive improvement based on their observation. Furthermore, we will be exposing them to different educational technologies such as 3Doodler, Onshape, Littlebits, Arduino and potentially even more. We aim to share these knowledge to the students in hopes that they will be motivated to create and try new things.

Day 1

1. Design Thinking
   1. Observation
      1. Allowing them to understand how design affects the world.
      2. To be more aware of what their surroundings are made of and how it came about
      3. What purpose and needs did the design serve
2. Build on Communication
   1. Carrying out games/ activities that incorporates design and fun and teamwork
      1. Marshmallow game
      2. Building a bridge game/Hanging bridge
3. Prototyping given a common/familiar problem ("Big Picture Activity")
   1. Ideation + prototyping(low-level)

Day 2

1. Ways you can improve the prototype/ Teaching of skills - Kids are not expected to incorporate any of the skills to their prototype
   1. What are these technologies/educational tools (e.g. Onshape, LittleBits, etc.)
   2. Its Applications

Here, we will engage the students with Hands-On activities to allow them to try the tools.

1. Selling of idea/Presentation skills
   1. Build on their confidence
   2. Platform for them to share their ideas with others
2. Learning reflection
   1. Recap of what has been taught/experienced over

(Focusing on verbal reflections more than written ones)

• Reaching out to a beneficiary and their social workers

In order to better prepare ourselves before carrying out our workshop cum camp, we will be reaching out to social workers to get a clearer picture and better understanding with regards to handling the students. We are looking at focusing on a particular beneficiary for a start. Hence, we would preferably connect with a social worker from the same beneficiary we will be working with.

• Attending workshops and training sessions

Over this summer, alongside our internships, we are planning to attend relevant training sessions and workshops that would equip us with the necessary skills to engage with the students.

• Research on target audience

In ensuring that our objectives and aim of this project meet the needs of the needy community, we will be carrying out research to understand the needs and concerns of the target students and their parents. With this research, we would be able to gain first-hand opinions and tailor our project to better suit their needs and preferences.

• Dry Run

Upon understanding the different needs of our target community, we will be tailoring the initial proposal draft according these needs. Hence, we will carry out at least one dry run before carrying out to students from the chosen beneficiary.