Two-Day Design Thinking Workshop
21st and 22nd November 2022, Potsdam, Germany
Objective of the workshop:
The Design-Thinking workshop was organized with the goal to develop new concepts,
learning designs, tools, practices, and usable solutions to problems faced by stakeholders in
the field of digital education by actively engaging actors, stakeholders, and experts. The
workshop was hosted at the state-of-the-art facility of School of Design Thinking at the
Hasso Plattner Institute, Potsdam.
Challenge based learning: The
workshop design was based on the
challenge-based learning approach
where teams are assigned a specific
challenge. The teams practiced Design
Thinking concepts and processes in
solving a challenge. The coaches
supported teams through facilitation
and input on concepts, frameworks
and tools.
The identified challenge for this
Design Thinking workshop was
“Resilience through digital education”.
As the last few years have seen
several crises related to digital
education (see Community Workshop in October 2022). All of them sparked rethinking and
re-designing the digital tools we use for education in Europe. The so-called “new normal”
reinforced the belief that digital solutions have a strong role to play in creating this new
environment of education.
Participants:
40 participants were selected to participate in the two-day Design Thinking workshop which
represented over 18 Erasmus+ countries. The participant profile reflected a broad range of
expertise and experiences ranging from ministries, technology companies and non-profit
organizations to universities and other educational institutes. Eight teams of five
participants were formed for effective teamwork during the two-day sprint.
Coaches and facilitators:
The workshop was facilitated by four experienced Design Thinking coaches who were
supported by Dr. Claudia Nicolai (Academic Director of D-School, HPI) and Prof. Uli
Weinberg (Director of D-School, HPI):
• Robin Dietrich, Design Thinking Coach
• Lotta Wolke, Design Thinking Coach
• Guilia Fritz, Design Thinking Coach
• Katrin Unger, Design Thinking Coach
Experts:
In addition to the coaches, several experts were invited for discussions and feedback during
the workshop:
1. Peter Rášo
2. Sarah Halbauer
3. Manja Podgoršek Mesarec
4. Veronika Primasová Hrubá
5. Juliette Rimlinger
6. Peter Fagerström
7. Barbara Loranc
8. David Finbar Brett
The Participants during an input session in the workshop
©HPI School of Design Thinking
The workshop journey:
The two-day Design Thinking workshop was curated with the multi-dimensional goal of
introducing Design Thinking to the participants, creating a platform for cross-learning and
inter-disciplinary innovation, and creating tangible solutions in response to the
challenge ”Resilience through digital education”. Workshop activities offered space for
brainstorming between participants and immersion in the Design Thinking process.
Design Thinking process practices at the workshop
Presented solutions at the workshop:
At the end of the workshop, teams presented their solutions in form of concept posters:
• Sustainable Edu-MAPPING: Enhancing a sustainable educational eco-system through
innovative hybrid tool to enable students to map their learning paths.
• PIE- Projects in Education: EU-certified project training for all evaluators.
• Life Garage: Open collaborative space for learning life skills with the help of experts and digital
tools based on the identified heads of local communities and businesses.
• Learning [Link]: Take a pill to enhance your skills - Provide the 21st century skills to teachers
to be able to propose innovative curriculum.
• Nurspedia: A Wikipedia for nurses - Get case information in context, incentivize learning.
• What’s the Buzzzzzz…: Ideas Thrive in the hive - Reducing hierarchy and social distance in the
education space.
• Base Learning: A training needs analysis tool to navigate and identify the training needs,
develop awareness and influence informed design making to discover the opportunities.
• Pocket Badges: A tool for high school students to broaden their horizon through project
generation based on keywords and profile which will help them in progressive development
towards their later professional life.
Note: Above solutions are summarized based on the concept note submitted by the teams who
worked on the challenge during the two-day workshop.
Next steps:
The teams are encouraged to take their solutions to the next level. A monthly virtual meet
has been set up on the European Digital Education Hub “Design Thinking channel” to
facilitate conversations between Design Thinkers in the community. These calls are open to
anyone in the Hub community, and you can join every second Tuesday of the month
between 14-15h. Further, a 15-page document is being created to highlight available
funding opportunities which can be leveraged for taking the solutions to the
implementation phase.
What is Design Thinking:
Design Thinking is a human-centred, iterative, team-based mindset that leads to
breakthrough innovations. With its fusion of creativity, shared leadership and efficiency,
Design Thinking can help overcome past working models and transform traditional
organizational cultures. The process of Design Thinking promotes working in teams, diverse
perspectives and empathic approach while creating solutions for complex problems.
Curious to learn more about Design Thinking? Find more information here and check out the
“Design Thinking” channel on the Hub!
Get in touch:
If you have any questions about the workshop or Design Thinking in the European Digital
Education Hub, please do not hesitate to contact us via Support-edeh@[Link]
