Destination ImagiNation - Leapfrog Institutes Collaboration

Engaging Global Youth:  Innova2on Design Challenges  Innova2on and Crea2vity   in a Complex World  WFS Chicago, 2009 

A joint presenta2on with…    Pamela F. Schroeder, aﬃliate director, Minnesota  Des2na2on ImagiNa2on, Minneapolis, Minnesota.   John W. Moravec, Educa2on Futures &  University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.   Arthur  M. Harkins, director, Leapfrog Ins2tutes, University  of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.   And  our fellow futurists! 

 DI and LFI Collabora2ng  •  Imagining  •  Crea2ng  •  Team Problem‐Solving   Together with  •  Futures Scanning  •  Innova2ng  •  Integra2ve Design 

Agenda  •  Pamela Schroeder,  What is Des2na2on  ImagiNa2on?  •  John Moravec, What is Leapfrog Ins2tutes?  •  Arthur Harkins, How will DI and LFI plan to  collaborate? 

First, Pamela Schroeder:    What is Des2na2on ImagiNa2on? 

Des2na2on ImagiNa2on  Bringing Experien2al Educa2on  And   21st Century Skills  Together 

Des2na2on ImagiNa2on  •  The world’s premiere crea2ve educa2onal  program, serving more than 100,000 kids  around the world annually  •  DI oﬀers a successful and unconven2onal  interac2ve and interna2onal co‐curricular  program for youth, kindergarten through  college  •  DI teaches the three essen2al developmental  skills: Crea2vity, Teamwork, Problem Solving 

The goal of DesBnaBon  ImagiNaBon is to help  students learn that through  a combination of crea$vity,  teamwork & tenacity,    they can develop  CREATIVE and  INNOVATIVE soluBons  to complex problems   completely on their own. 

DesBnaBon ImagiNaBon has:  •  A clearly deﬁned marketplace in EDUCATION  •  A presence in 50 states and more than 30 countries  •  A mixed audience of the planet’s best and brightest  students, parents, educators, and civic  leaders  •  A complete range of geographic, cultural, economic  and religious audiences  •  An incredible message life‐span because of   unparalleled program loyalty 

•  26 years of experience  •  Six compe22ve Challenges annually  •  Challenge to Tournament infrastructure  •  Team driven, Kid powered  •  DI develops life and life‐long skills   

DI programs and challenges are designed to connect to  Na2onal Standards  •  Makes learning fun, exci2ng and dynamic  •  Academically based  •  Focused on one or more of these areas:    Technical/Mechanical Design    Scien2ﬁc Explora2on    Theatrical/Literary/Fine Arts    Improvisa2on    Structural/Architectural Design    Service Learning/Youth Empowerment 

The Crea2ve Problem Solving  Process: the Steps to Ac2on  •  Crea2ve Thinking Phase  •  Genera2ng Op2ons  •  Cri2cal Thinking Phase  •  Focusing/Evalua2ng Op2ons 

•  Teams of up to seven kids work for 16 weeks  to perfect their solu2ons to mind bending  Challenges  •  Elementary, middle, high school, and  university level team compe22ons  •  Regional, state or country, and Global Finals  tournaments  •  Teams learn to create, to innovate, how to  tackle life as a team 

•  Presents teams with an immediate mul2‐ faceted challenge which they must work  eﬀec2vely together to solve  •  Learn to engage in team‐oriented  improvisa2onal thinking and ac2on 

•  100,000 plus teams   •  30,000 plus volunteers   •  Public, private, independent charter,  homeschools, and community and religious  organiza2ons  •  Over 3 million alumni 

Innova2on, together:  •  Na2onal Dairy Council  •  American Equipment Manufacturers  •  3M  •  SyFy Channel  •  USDA and University of TN  •  University of MN and Leapfrog Ins2tutes 

The Global workplace is just a step away.  “DesBnaBon ImagiNaBon® parBcipants   STAND OUT among our new employees.  Their presence, conﬁdence and ability to lead   put them YEARS AHEAD of their age and experience.   Destination ImagiNation® is making a difference   in the high‐tech future on a global basis.”   ‐‐Roger Garriock,   IBM Canada director of e‐commerce development

•  … par2cipa2ng in the program for 10 years has given  me the skills and educa2on to realize my own  dream…  •  Crea2ve problem solving has been a way of life for  me since I was 8 years old…  •  As a scien2st, I’ve no2ced how diﬀerently I think  than other people…  •  The skills that I developed in DI have allowed me to  excel in the workforce…. 

Destination ImagiNation Our kids can do ANYTHING!

Second, John Moravec:   What is Leapfrog Ins2tutes? 

What is Leapfrog? What are the Leapfrog Institutes? John Moravec, PhD  Educa2on Futures  www.educa2onfutures.com 

The New Paradigm  •  Increasing importance of crea2ve human capital  •  Increasing rates of change  •  Increasingly inaccurate predic2ons  •  Increasing need to create preferred futures  •  Increasing sense that kids must share crea2on of  new futures with adults 

…also…  •  Today’s kids par2cipate in an increasingly globalized  world  •  Industrial society has given way to the knowledge‐ based society     …which is already star2ng to transi2on to an  innova2on and crea2vity society 

So, shall we live in the past or create the future? 

We think…  •  Kids are vastly under‐u2lized as human capital  •  Kids can be brought into full rela2onship with the exploding  knowledge/innova2on economy  •  Advanced educa2onal technology will be required  •  “New” Workforce incorpora2ng kids will be more crea2ve and  much larger than present workforce  •  “Parallel Schools” are one approach to the re‐integra2on of  children, adults, and the economy 

Legacy: The 18th century  •  Farming/agriculture economy  •  Family based enterprises  •  Kids learned at home  •  Kids worked at home  •  Kids were engaged cross‐genera2onally  •  Adults could learn from kids  •  Kids contributed at all economic levels 

Legacy: The19 and Mid‐ or Late 20th centuries   •  Industrial economy  •  Job/wage/salary based enterprises  •  Kids learned increasingly at schools  •  Kids worked at low level, some2mes dangerous jobs  •  Kids were engaged cross‐genera2onally as chajel, hirelings,  or de facto (and de jure) slaves  •  Kids learned from adults within division of age and labor  formats  •  Kids s2ll contributed at all economic levels 

Las2ng legacy eﬀects:   USA in the 21st century  •  Emerging knowledge/innova2on economy is stunted  •  Integrated ac2vi2es between adults/kids are highly limited  •  Kids and adults learn less and less from each other  •  Adults anxious about/fear learning from kids  •  Kids separated from adults, following legacy industrial economy model  •  Kids work mainly at menial tasks  •  Kids s2ll contribute to all economic levels, but at far lower levels than  possible, feasible, and desirable 

So?

To move from legacy millstones:

Leapfrogging…  •  means leadership rather than catching up.  •  means using advanced (wireless) technologies to  assist students and teachers  •  technologies permit moving from memoriza2on to  crea2ve and innova2ve knowledge produc2on  •  greatly enhancing human capital 

We can design the future.

Leapfrogging just ahead of change J’ J Level of Advancement Time

“New” workforce:   21st century– Global Leapfrog  •  Emerging knowledge/innova2on economy can get a quantum boost  •  Integrated ac2vi2es can partner kids with adults  •  Adults are eager to learn from kids  •  Kids and adults learn more about each other  •  Kids and adults partner and collaborate, teaching to and learning from  each other  •  Kids work increasingly at crea2ve tasks   •  Kids s2ll contribute to all economic levels, but with bejer distribu2on of  eﬀort than in the past 

What’s it going to take?  •  Voluntary establishment of “Parallel Schools”  •  Voluntary par2cipa2on by kids and adults  •  Screened volunteers represen2ng re2red staﬀ,  graduate students, professionals, etc.  •  Dona2ons and grants for insurance costs, food,  transporta2on 

What should be avoided?  •  Pressures on teachers requiring kids to memorize  unrelated facts  •  Pressures on adults and kids to par2cipate  •  Compe22on with legacy school func2ons and  personnel  •  Race, class, and aotude challenges  •  Low expecta2ons and standards  •  Boas2ng 

What should be sought?  (Leapfrog!)   •  Top‐ﬂight volunteers from all appropriate sectors  •  Use of latest technologies, including Beta devices and  sorware from partnering companies  •  Excellent Web connec2vity among Parallel Schools  •  Collabora2ve rela2onships with similar schools  abroad 

We also think…  •  Kids should mirror the crea2ve workforces ﬁrst and foremost  •  Func2onality should be emphasized ﬁrst and foremost  •  Technology supports reliable func2onality  •  Every kid and adult a Crea2ve  •  Every kid and adult an Innovator  •  NO FAILURES  •  Global leadership from Day 1, driven by collabora2ng  LeapFrog Ins2tutes ? 

“If you can’t fail, you can’t innovate.” - Peter Diamandis 

What are Leapfrog Ins7tutes?  •  Collabora2ng schools, colleges, and  universi2es from around the globe  •  Sources of Parallel Schools  •  Organiza2ons to bring youth and adults  together to co‐create the 21st century 

We all co-invent the future.

We’re all white belts.

The future we design can… •  Help change education regimes to create the future •  Help lead the world in educational change •  Help bring people of all ages into the knowledge workforce •  Help kids and adults work together creatively

“Innovate, baby, innovate!”

Third, Arthur Harkins:   How will DI and LFI collaborate? 

DI Focuses   •  Imagining  •  Crea2ng  •  Team Problem‐Solving 

LFI Focuses  •  Futures Scanning  •  Innova2ng  •  Integra2ve Design 

 DI and LFI Collabora2ng  •  Imagining  •  Crea2ng  •  Team Problem‐Solving   Together with  •  Futures Scanning  •  Innova2ng  •  Integra2ve Design 

Futures Scanning  •  Historical trends (futures of the present)  •  Contemporary trends (empirical)  •  Contemporary micro‐trends (implicate/ intuited)  •  Projec2ons (possible/probable)  •  Scenarios and stories (projected and retro‐ cast)  •  Exis2ng and virtual myths, legends, epochs 

Innova2on  •  Is diﬀerent from inven2on, but…  •  Emerges from inven2on  •  “Makes a diﬀerence” in one or more contexts  •  Can range from improvements/upgrades to  highly disrup2ve impacts  •  Is generally based on inten2ons, accidents,  and necessi2es, including compe22on  •  Can be risky and a “hard sell” 

Integra2ve Design  •  Design: Arts, sciences, and techniques for  crea2ng  schema2c rela2onships among ideas,  innova2ons, objects, 2me frames, and  cultures  •  Integra2on: Moving beyond the schema2c to  successful prac2cal rela2onships between  innova2ons and their contexts 

Quick Summary:   DI and LFI Collabora2ng  •  Imagining  •  Crea2ng  •  Team Problem‐Solving   Together with  •  Futures Scanning  •  Innova2ng  •  Integra2ve Design 

Youth Leaders for Innova2on  Socie2es  •  Guaranteed leading‐edge       societal  performance      (now & future, for all kids)  •  Elimina2on of  youth      performance divides      (everywhere)  •  Con2nuously updated        workforce       (throughout global socie2es)  •  Instant competencies     & compe22veness  •    (among youth everywhere)  •  Youth cultures based on      innova2ons & performance     (individual‐collec2ve‐societal)  •  Youth that are ‘Leapfrog’ ready! 

Audience Par2cipa2on:  “Word Café” 

Ques2ons for Fellow Futurists  •  We think of the six skills as founda2ons for a “new  basics.”  What do you think?  •  How can we defend them?  What do you think is a  bejer approach?  •  What do you think the US (or any other speciﬁc  country) would have to do to make this happen?  •  How should skill performances be measured  (academically, applied, or both)?   •  What kind of organiza2onal and cultural changes are  required to embed these skills?  

Ques2ons for Fellow Futurists   •  Can you envision this becoming part of  standard educa2on on a global basis?  •  What do you see as the ﬁrst step toward  implementa2on of the six skills?  •  How would you like to be involved in bringing  the six skills to educa2on? 

Futurists Report 

Concluding Remarks 

How to Reach Us  •  Pamela F. Schroeder    •  <pfschroeder@district287.org>  •  John W. Moravec  •  <moravec@umn.edu)  •  Arthur Harkins  •  <harki001@umn.edu> 

Thank you, and watch   for the slides!  Des2na2on ImagiNa2on:  •  www.idodi.org  Leapfrog Ins2tutes:  Leapfrogins2tutes.org  Educa2onfutures.com 

Destination ImagiNation - Leapfrog Institutes Collaboration

0 comments

Notes on slide 1

1 Favorite