Lakeland Community College '#DesignCampCLE' deemed a success

Chad Felton, The News-Herald, Willoughby, Ohio
·3 min read

Aug. 22—Educators from 10 school districts in Lake, Geauga and Cuyahoga counties recently participated in "#DesignCampCLE" — a free, professional development experience at Lakeland Community College's HIVE Makerspace.

After two years of virtual camps in 2020 and 2021, this summer's participants were eager to gather in person to practice human-centered design methods and mindsets to transform education for their students, Lakeland officials noted.

Participating districts included:

—Chardon Local Schools

—Cleveland Municipal School District

—Crawford Central School District (Pennsylvania)

—Euclid City Schools

—Heritage Classical Academy

—Notre Dame Schools

—Perry Local Schools

—Riverside Local Schools

—Warrensville Heights City Schools

—Willoughby-Eastlake Schools

"The original #DesignCamp was founded seven years ago by innovative teacher leaders Dr. Kaleb Rashad (High Tech High, San Diego) and Dr. Eric Chagala (Vista Innovation and Design Academy, San Diego)," said Lakeland Foundation Design and Innovation Specialist Rachel Siegel.

"We connected with both in 2019 and then brought the concept to Northeast Ohio in the spring of 2020."

During the three-hour session, educators engaged and immersed in activities designed to "foster authentic connections," as teachers shared in a mini-design cycle, exploring program phases: "Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test."

Dubbed "Explore," participants paired up to design and test new explorer gear for their partners, which was rooted in a unique need that they gleaned from their empathy interviews.

Following the design challenge, teachers attended breakout sessions to take deeper dives into core aspects of human-centered design, the goal of each session "to provide tools teachers could readily implement" in their classrooms and schools, Siegel noted.

In one breakout called "The Power of Designing for One," co-teachers Sarah Loveland and Mary Kohl shared their journey of using the design to create and open a STEM school in Perry Local Schools.

"We're telling our story today, yes, but this learning session is about you (all)," Kohl explained to attendees. "We want to make sure that you all leave with an actionable idea that you're ready to try when school starts in August."

Leah Konopka Hartmann, executive assistant to President Morris Beverage Jr. and special projects lead at Lakeland, added, "Our role at Lakeland is to prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow. Through human-centered design, a world-class way of approaching complex problems, we are helping teachers learn an innovation framework that they can teach their students."

Feedback from a post-event survey was extremely positive — with 90 percent indicating strong interest in attending more professional development offerings through HIVE Makerspace and Teachers Guild programs, Siegel said.

"We'll continue to build connections with the teachers who participated, some of whom have already offered to lead breakout sessions at future camps," she added, noting all teachers interested in learning more are welcome to attend an upcoming series, "Design Thinking 101: Personalized Learning Through Design."

Hosted by HIVE, in collaboration with the Educational Service Center of the Western Reserve and Partners in Science Excellence, workshops will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Sept. 20, 21, and 22.

Continuing education units will be provided by the service center.

For free registration, visit www.escwr.org.

To learn more about professional development opportunities, contact Rachel Siegel at rsiegel3@lakelandcc.edu.