1. Creativity and learning through
UX thinking and Design
Patricia Charlton
London Knowledge Lab
Institute of Education
Patricia.Charlton@pobox.com

2. Empowering Young Students
with how to problem solve through understanding and using some
core ideas behind UX designs and tools
– Why and How
• Computational thinking and computer science
• Curriculum
• Technology enhanced learning
• New trend in hack events

3. The age of the smart machine
“vision came together for me that morning realized I
that the people I had been interviewing were on the
edge of a historical transformation of immense
proportions, as important as that which had been
experienced by the eighteenth and nineteenth
century workers. I saw that a world of sensibilities
and expectations was being irretrievably displaced by
a new world, one I did not yet understand”(pg xiii))
(Zuboff,(1984) )

4. Interdisciplinary thinkers
“It is like when a tree falls in a forest - if no one
is observing it we don’t know if it makes a
noise”
(9 year old - the effect of observing electrons -
quantum mechanics conundrum)
“It looks like a city”
(6 year old when shown an old
PC motherboard)

5. “Reshaping” the way we learn
What is the creating-to-discover
learning strategy?
Why is the creating-to-discover
approach important?
What do we mean about extending the
strategy?

6. Collaboratively creating-to-
discover strategy
The use of environments that assist us in externalizing our thinking,
making explicit our thinking can potentially accelerate innovation by
using external artifacts to represent our ideas. So as well as creating
a new technology to support and exchange learning and social needs
within an education setting the designer, the creator, the innovator
can potentially learn more deeply about process of problem solving
and computational thinking. However, the cognitive mechanisms that
support this creating-to-discover process are far from clear.
– What kind of thinking allows internal (our internal thinking) and external
models (the visual - physical interaction) to be knit together seamlessly?
– How could novel concepts arise from the building process, and what type
of thinking (cognitive processes) supports such generation by building?

8. UX design requires: Interdisciplinary thinking to
explore the creative mind
Psychology of Flow: creative space of the
mind
Creating-to-discover to explain, share,
discover, extend ideas
Extending: Act becomes artefact and
knowledge co-construction possible when we
collaboratively problem solve
Developing resilience and robustness as a
natural strategy of learning when
encountering risk, failure and challenges

9. Transit Video

10. The ‘VEX’ FACTOR
Familiar Frequent Specific
Irritant Expensive Mobile

11. Task 1
In your teams, describe
some problems you
know.
Familiar Frequent Specific Irritant
Expensiv
e
Unpredict
able

12. Task 2
Talk about the
problems and choose
one.
Familiar Frequent Specific Irritant
Expensiv
e
Unpredict
able

13. The ‘VEX’ FACTOR
Familiar Frequent Specific
Irritant Expensive Mobile

14. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
That means you can edit it for your own use, or share it, but if you share it you are obliged to credit Apps for Good.
You cannot use these materials for commercial purposes.
Task 3
Act the problem out.

15. Balsamiq

16. Acquisition
Inquiry
Discussion
Practice
Production
Conventional
To practice-based production
Categorised
learning activities
Analysis shows more
active learning
Modelling the potential pedagogical
benefits

17. The creating-to-discover strategy is extended by the use of
environments that assist us in externalizing our thinking…
…
To expand the mind
to become evermore able
…
To understand more about the
nature and impact of our decisions
…
To know how to be responsible for
our decisions
…
To understand more about the
world we live in
…
UX thinking and design are
tools that can helps us
….
To be innovative and to
create new ways of being
…
To be creative in exploring
the world we live in
…

18. Challenges
Interdisciplinary thinking is challenging but it is what is needed now and
in the future:
– Understanding multiple perspectives and why they are important;
– Understanding the risks - failure - but innovation and creativity in
changing and shaping the future;
– Having a vision of how things can be changed and taking on the
challenges;
Collaborative interdisciplinary thinking and research is what designers
have been doing for years :-)

19. References
Csikszentmihalyi, M (1996) ‘Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery
and Invention’ Harper Perennium Publisher, 1996
Charlton P., Magoulas G., Laurillard, D. (2012) Enabling Creative Learning
Design through Semantic Web Technologies, Journal of Technology,
Pedagogy and Education, 21, 231-253
Laurillard, D., (2012) “Teaching as a Design Science”, Building Pedagogical
Patterns for Learning and Technology, New York, NY, Routledge
Zuboff,S.(1984).In the Age of the Smart Machine,.New York, Basic Book
Apps for Good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LPiZqQKYlk
http://www.balsamiq.com/
Nass, C. and Reeves, B. 1996. The Media Equation: How People Treat
Computers, Television and New Media Like Real People in Real
Places. Stanford, Cambridge University Press.

20. Thank you for listening