Parents and Faculty Experience Design Technology First Hand

Parents and faculty members recently had the opportunity to experience a typical design technology class. Two workshops were held by faculty members Alan Preis, Jason Reagin and Tobin Bechtel, to give parents and faculty an overview of the MYP technology program that AIS is in the process of implementing. The workshop leaders discussed the design cycle, which is a process for solving problems, and led participants through a hands-on design problem.

Participants were required to build a structure out of straws and tape to support a 1kg weight and found that completing the task was easier said than done!

Workshop participants share their views:

“I came out of the Design Technology workshop for parents wishing that such a substantive, hands-on presentation could be offered for every subject that my children take at AIS, so that we could all be better partners in their education. Alan Preis and Jason Reagin provided not only information but inspiration and motivation, so that we parents could grasp what Design Technology is all about, how it is a forward way of thinking, transcending individual computer programs or design issues. By tackling a real design problem, we parents were encouraged to understand a process of analyzing and addressing problems — a design cycle that can be entered and re-entered with no set starting and ending points. An extension of the inquiry-based learning which is the basis of the PYP, the Design Technology program in the MYP helps students prepare in a practical, authentic way for our exponentially changing world. Such preparation helps us to overcome the anxiety we sometimes feel that technological shifts outstrip our — or our children’s — capacity to be ready for them.”

Emily Wilmingham, AIS parent

“I appreciated seeing how the procedure is the most important part of the design, more so than the end product. It encourages the students to think in a scientific manner.”

Lamya Khuri, AIS parent

"It is always interesting to see what our students do on a daily basis, and even more fun to discover you still have a functional synapse or two! Being part of a "design team" solving a problem with limited resources and time was a stimulating challenge. Those who could not attend, should take a few moments to see the "Did You Know" because it is eye-opening. Click Here and scroll down to the screen)”

Cynthia Fleck, AIS parent