We can't solve problems using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. We must learn to see anew.
Albert Einstein
Welcome to an Online Design Journey of Self-Discovery, Imagination, and Creativity!
An Online Design Journey is a 5-week online individual experience supported by the use of the mind-book, a low-tech visualization tool where the participants will visualize their thinking process, using visual and verbal symbols. By participating in a playful process of self-observation and observation of the world, they will gain self-awareness by developing graphic representations, and will become empower to identify and express feelings, explore their sense of identity, and design a desired future in a variety of areas (family, work, career, community, etcetera). The mind-book is presented as the metaphor of a basic container where to free the imagination, as well as an invitation to bring the participants' voices and creativity into the world.
Every Monday participants will receive an email with the assignment for the week. The assignment will be, basically, to respond to "strategic questions" in their mind-books; to read design materials published in the website's course and a book "A Passion for the Possible, A Guide to Realizing Your True Potential" by Jean Houston (NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998); and to send a weekly report to the instructor due the following Sunday. There will be an e-forum, <designvoices> where participants will have the chance to ask questions and share their impressions with others.
There are many different ways of completing the assignments based on student preferences, learning styles, chosen topic, etcetera. Each person will bring a unique perspective to the assignment and it is expected the mind-book will reflect that uniqueness. At the end of the 5 weeks, students will complete a self-evaluation, to reflect on what they have learned from this activity: from themselves, from others' worldviews, and from images of how they would like to be as people compared to how they currently are.