The Creation Space

The Creation Space

Ben King & Dominic Maggiolo
University of British Columbia

The Creation Space

The Creation Space

Introduction
Our goal for the design project is to create an online environment that has real world
outputs. The general idea is that students will access the environment online after school and be
given a hands on task to complete the following day. The tasks centre around learning to properly
use five different tools: the saw, the hammer, the screwdriver, the X-acto knife, and glue. The site
will provide instructional videos, safety tips, and a unique task specific to one of the tools. The
students then will arrive to class, and using their newly learned skills complete the hands on task.
There will be a final culminating activity where the students will build a larger project using all
the five tools.
Key Frameworks
Over the last few years there have been a string of newspaper and magazine articles
discussing the decline of hand skills in the younger generation. Macleans magazine published an
article starting a public discussion around the decline in hands on skills in youth in Canada. The
article titled Why your teenager cant use a hammer (Reynolds, 2011) details how the new
generation of Canadians are less and less mechanically inclined. In the article, shop teachers and
industry professionals describe a generation unable to complete what are considered basic hand
skills, Remarkably most of his grade 11 students arrive not knowing which way to turn a
screwdriver,(Reynolds, 2011) is one quote. Canada is not the only country noting how the new
generation is seemingly losing the skills that were common previously. Boston.com posted an
article in 2010 titled Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? (Harpaz, 2010) The article
cites some alarming situations where kids are unable to tie their shoes or put a stamp on a piece
of mail. (Harpaz, 2010) If these two were the only articles one might think that there had been an
over reaction instead the amount of articles points to an important fact that is arising in the

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western world. Hand skills are on the decline, and this means that the youth who will replace the
coming baby boomer retirement will be ones with a totally different set of skills than the ones
they are replacing.
The goal of our design project is to create an environment that allows students to explore
the use of hand tools through an online environment. We are creating this project for the new
learner as described by Kalantzis and Cope in their paper Teacher as designer: pedagogy in the
media age. The new learners will take greater responsibility for their learning in part because
they are given greater autonomy and scope for self-control. (Kalantzis, 2010 p.204). The site
will allow students to choose which task they would like to learn, enabling them to explore at
their own pace. The hope is that through using the site the students will be able to take the time
to experiment and to challenge themselves at their own pace. Additionally the environment will
have a share out function wherein students will be able to share what they have learned/struggled
with. The ability to reflect will allow for deep learning. Educational research has demonstrated
that deep understanding occurs when students actively construct knowledge for themselves by
engaging in real-world activities and by reflecting on their experiences (Mouza, 2013 p.4).
The design is a variation on the flipped classroom model. This model of teaching was
chosen as it allows for more time to be spent with the students working on projects, and less time
spent lecturing. As the students will be learning a tactile skill the more time they can spend using
the tools in the classroom the better. On top of increasing the time spent physically engaging in
learning, this model allows the students the ability to take an active role in their learning.

Position and intentions

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The creation of this website is based upon the belief that hands on learning is important,
and that hand tool skills are important for students to learn at an early age. It is important to state
that this is not intended to be a trades training experience. Using tools and ones hands does not
need to be only in the pursuit of entering the trades as a profession. If one reads the Ministry of
Educations Technology Education IRPs, they state the purpose of technology education as
follow:
Technological literacy is as essential to participation in modern society as is
numeracy and the ability to read and write. A technologically literate person uses
tools, materials, systems, and processes in an informed, ethical, and responsible
way. Technology education helps young people prepare to live and work in a
technological world. (Province of British Columbia, 1995 p.1)
The benefits of technology education can be greater understood when one looks at the growing
recognition of how important hands on learning is to students understanding and overall success.
Piaget discusses the importance of experiential learning in a discussion of science,
a sufficient experimental training was believed to have been provided as long as
the student had been introduced to the results of past experiments or had been
allowed to watch demonstration experiments conducted by his teacher, as though
it were possible to sit in rows on a wharf and learn to swim merely by watching
grown-up swimmers in the water (Piaget, 1986 p.705)
Piaget understood that to get true understanding and involvement from students you needed to do
more than recite. J.S Bruner stated that, the principal emphasis in education should be placed on
skills - skills in handling, in seeing, and imaging, and in symbolic operations" (Bruner, 1983, p.
30). This gap between what is being discussed academically versus what is seen in the classroom

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has been noted by F. James Rutherford who wrote, why is it, given this apparent commitment to
hands-on learning, there are so many science classrooms in which textbooks and and rote
learning are the order of the day (Rutherford, 1993 p. 3) These quotes are a few in a sea of
similar statements.
Key Concepts and Contexts
When designing a lesson a teacher takes into account the intersectionalities of student
identity. Teachers ensure that each lesson is tailored to appropriately identify differences, and
meet the needs of all students. Game designers work similarly to reach a diverse group of fans,
when developing their newest product. The aim of our design project is not to build a digital
game, however, we hope to extract the core design methods and mechanics that foster and propel
good video games and implement this reasoning within our digital learning environment.
Video games have become works of art that include intricate atmospheres, and complex
characters that contribute to storytelling. Our project will develop an experience that allows
students to feel as if they are playing a game, while having a true-to-life experience. Game
mechanics is an example of how we will achieve our goal.
In video games, game mechanics adjust the level of play to meet the varying needs, and
rules embedded within the environment. Game mechanics are intelligent tools that express the
boundaries of the gaming environment. What are game mechanics?, by Daniel Cook (2006)
defines game mechanics as a rule based systems / simulations that facilitate and encourage a
user to explore and learn the properties of their possibility space through the use of feedback
mechanisms. As a working definition, Cook acknowledges that game mechanics are rules that
contribute to the function of the environment as a whole. A player explores and learns, based on

The Creation Space

feedback from how a game mechanic reacts to the individuals decision-making. Players and
students need different tools to achieve goals or progress beyond shortcomings, to meet goals
and expectations. We will implement this same reasoning in our education design space to allow
students, much like in a classroom, to work within a built environment.
Hlynka and Jacobson note that the role of teacher is in transition: the role of teacher as
manager is on the verge of being replaced by teacher as designer and facilitator of learning
Hlynka & Jacobsen (2009). Hlynka and Jacobsen hypothesize, that because of the accessibility
of technology, the term designer is more inclusive, and gives educators the power to be a
designer. Teachers are able to become designers, because technology has become more userfriendly. Knowledge of technology is easy to ascertain and be used in the classroom. As
designers, educators have the ability to create environments and design learning
experiences...assess learners and deep learning and evaluate the quality of performances Hlynka
& Jacobsen (2009) more effectively. We aim to approach the design of our learning environment
much in the same way.
In designing our learning environment, we will include dynamic rule sets by using game
mechanics, which promote positive reinforcement. Like a designer rather than manager or taskgiver, we aim to approach the space more like architects who design an environment. Examples
of this include watching a safety video of the tool, and interacting with the digital environment to
acquire knowledge and in-play skills. The knowledge gained during interaction with the virtual
environment, relates to real-world experiences, and will help achieve a level of confidence and
efficiency.
In The 1987 Presidential Address: Learning in School and out, Lauren Resnick addresses
the value in achieving learning experiences in a variety of different outlooks including out of

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school are, apprenticeships, and co-op placement. Resnick identifies that a hands-on learning
style helps to expand the students learning achievements. Accordingly, we strive to scaffold
students skills into something applicable in the real-world. Resnick notes that the great bulk of
what people know, believe, and can do is not learned in schools (Resnick, 1987). Thus,
technology offers simulated experiences that teach skills that would otherwise be missed in
traditional classrooms.
Levin and Young in Making Sense of Public Schooling express that we spend a great deal
of time in our schools, but that learning happens everywhere:
We learn many of the most important things in our lives before we begin our schooling,
and over the course we continue to learn many things outside of school as a result of
our experience, our reading, and our contact with other people. (Levin and Young, p.50).

In this context, our educational design space will encompass a more holistic approach to
education, where students are accountable for their learning experience and will acquire
experiences using hands-on tools. Our objective is to engage students by tapping into the same
intuitive sense that makes human-beings curious about the world around us.
Carl Bereiter in Must We Educate? highlights the direct approach versus the indirect
approach that is seen in schools:
I still think that if you want to teach a skill, the direct approach is the way to do it. That is
how most training is carried out in the real world, where training works - in swimming
classes, music lessons, and on-the-job training. The indirect approach favored by schools
simply cheats kids by putting too much of the burden on their own initiative and ability to
figure things out. (Bereiter, 1973, p.233)

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Our approach is inspired by Bereiters ideas, and emphasizes practical skill development,
opposed to a standardized curriculum of potentially never-used information. Rather than overtest, top-down pedagogy, our educational design space will allow students to build skills that are
genuinely applicable in school and outside the classroom.
Interactivities
Our educational design space allows students to learn in many different ways, tailoring to
different learning styles. By fostering kinesthetic learning, wherein the student in driven to use
hand-tools, and therefore develops greater hand skills. Kinesthetic learning means that
movement and touch are modes in which students learn. Kinesthetic learners are defined by
Gilakjani (2011) as individuals that learn best with an active hands-on approach. These
learners favour interaction with the physical world.
In Emerging Technologies for the Classroom, Mouza and Lavigne address the new
culture of learning and how it is characterized by learning opportunities that take place primarily
outside traditional educational forums. Accordingly, we hope to bridge this educational design
space much in the same way constructionist learning is accomplished. We hope to frame our
space where students are seen as creators. They will also navigate through the space and learn
much in the same way apprentices do. This will be accomplished with the use of our virtual
learning environment. Video game mechanisms allow a player to adjust their play effectively,
and increases the chances of learning new skills. While a player continuously scaffolds their
skills we see that video games allow for player to transfer in-game skills to the real-world.
Below is a rough draft of the apprentices workbench. The workbench will give the
apprentice the opportunity to access the five tools: the saw, hammer, screwdriver, x-acto knife,

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glue ,and is where they navigate through each tool.

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As the students uses each tool, a series of safety videos will play. These safety videos are
essential to the apprentice, because it gives them the skills to properly maneuver the tool. Once
the student has watched each safety video, they will move on to the next step, which is learning
about the tool. This step is critical as this will lay the base for the entire program. The student
will learn about the history of the tool, the applications and the mechanics behind using it. While
much of the first-stages of learning are done virtually through a combination of videos, podcasts,
images and other media texts, the apprentice will then take what they have learnt virtually, and
apply it manually in real-life.
Verifications

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Once students have passed through the first two steps of the workbench, they will be
required to accomplish a challenge laid out by the designer. Each challenge will be unique to the
tool, addressing the safety and knowledge portion of the workbench. This will allow the designer
to ensure the apprentice has properly used the tools. During the challenge, the apprentice will be
required to document each step and interact with the virtual workbench to check-off each point.
The students progress can be documented by making videos, taking pictures, and writing about
their work. Once the apprentice has completed the challenge for a single tool, they then must
submit the output electronically. The output must be clear, visual and include multimodal
approaches. Once the designer is satisfied with the output they will give feedback. This ensures
that the designer can effectively follow the apprentices progress but also ensures they have done
each step properly. In addition, all work completed successfully can be used to teach new
apprentices.
Next the apprentice will be able to move on to the next tool. As the apprentice finishes all
five tools, they will be required to accomplished a much larger challenge using all five tools. The
challenge will require the apprentice to use the skills they have to complete a large build. This
large build will give the apprentice work to showcase, with documentation of their process. The
documentation includes: designs, drafts, measurements, write-ups, and video.The apprentice will
upload the entire project to the virtual workbench, where the designer can evaluate the endproduct. At this stage, the designer critiques the work, in a much more in depth report.

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References
Bereiter, C. (1974). Must we educate? Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Bruner, J. S. (1983). Education as social invention. Journal of Social Issues, 39(4).p 138
Harper, Beth J (sept 27, 2010) Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? Boston.com.
retrieved from
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/09/27/are_we_raising_a_generation_of_
nincompoops/
Kalantzis, M. & Cope, B. 2010. The teacher as designer: Pedagogy in the new media age. Elearning and Digital media 7(3). 200-222.
Mouza, C. and Lavigne, N. (eds). 2013. Chapter 1: Emerging Technologies for the Classroom.
Explorations in the Learning Sciences, Instructional Systems, and Performance
Technologies. New York: Springer Science + Business Media.

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Piaget, J. (1986). Science of education and the psychology of the child. In H. E. Gruber & J.
J.Voneche (Eds.), The essential Piaget: An interpretive reference guide. New
York: Basic
Books.
Province of British Columbia (1995) Technology Education 8-10: integrated resource
package.
Resnick, L. B. (1987, 12). The 1987 Presidential Address: Learning in School and out.
Educational Researcher, 16(9), 13. doi: 10.2307/1175725
Reynolds, Cynthia (august 25, 2011) Why your teenager cant use a hammer: complaints about
a generation of the mechanically challenged Macleans. retrieved from
http://www.macleans.ca/society/life/why-your-teenager-cant-use-a-hammer/
Roshan, Stacey (August 2011). The Flipped Class: Show Me the Data! The Daily Riff.
retrieved from.http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/the-flipped-class-good-stuff-happens715.php
Rutherford, F. J. (1993, March). Hands-on: A means to an end. 2061 Today, 3(1), 5.
What is educational technology, anyway? A commentary on the new AECT definition of the field
| Hlynka | Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology / La revue canadienne de
l'apprentissage et de la technologie. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14, 2015, from
http://cjlt.csj.ualberta.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/527/260
Young, J. C., & Levin, B. R. (2002). Understanding Canadian schools: An introduction to
educational administration. Scarborough, Ont.: Nelson.

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