September 2008 Winner
Design educational math toys for kids in Uganda and the US
Using a Ugandan school for AIDS orphans as a case study, we will design elementary math education toys for the developing world, with a US retail sister product that funds the global distribution. This project is an initiative run by Project H Design, a product design nonprofit.
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Q1: How can we make education fun? How can we design elements of play into a math education toy that is applicable in multiple cultures, contexts, and economies?
(5 pieces of advice)
by acg66709.30.08 | 07:39 PMA couple of articles worth reading, especially the first one:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/science/25math.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/technology/personaltech/17leap.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/technology/03brain.html
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by rocketboy09.25.08 | 03:10 AMLearning can be inherently fun and play always has some learning associated with it. How about thinking about the 'toy' as a tool for thinking mathematically that promotes playful learning? If you think about the toy this way, I think you can open up the possibilities. Toys tend to be, for instance, age specific (as others have mentioned), mathematical thinking tools or manipulatives are ageless because they focus on mathematical concepts. Done right, this means that an adult can playfully learn with an artifact just as a young child can because it's context is mathematics itself and not something contrived to make it more 'fun'.
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by Alvahom_Ayga09.23.08 | 09:08 AMHi I'm fascinated by a)game design and b)teaching, particularly math. Here are my ramblings.
If you could have two levels of competition, in-group and inter-group, that's one way to harnass the natural competitive instinct of kids to win and to prove themselves and to win 'for the group'.
Make an explicit and intuitive model of a real-world problem that requires no explanation. For example make it a game of dividing up a pie. There's a lot of math in that and the aim would be, for example, having cut the pie into 6 even slices to then use a knife to make an almost-radial (cause the knife is straight) cut which divides the pie in two.
You know you can use an abacus for addition? Well I was reading this book called 'zero: the biography of a dangerous idea', and there this model of an elastic band as the multiplicative analog. Like, you've got a linear counting line on the back, when you stretch it to twice its original length, keeping the zero centered about a point, you've just multiplied by two. That's an idea that keeps on giving. So there's…more a linear increase in tension as an analog to a linear increase in the multiplier. etc etc etc. Think about parabolas an tank games (catapults, elastic energy, killing other tanks etc etc)
That's just a bunch of floated ideas, you'd have to bury down into the nitty-gritty.
I'm only in the genesis stage of coming up with this stuff but I've lots more written down, just out of personal interest, and I've no IP worries, I'm happy to share if there's any value in what you see here.Are you sure you want to report as abuse?
by Alvahom_Ayga09.23.08 | 04:17 AMjust to add in there re the pie game, the aim is to get "your fair share", to set up rules that allow you to rig the game to a certain extent, then to argue over why the other person's rule/understanding is wrong.
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by StueyFresh09.08.08 | 10:57 AMThinking back to my elementary school days, there were a fun math games that I really enjoyed. The one that comes to mind was called "around the world" where students would compete individually against each other to solve a simple math problem. The game would start with two students, and whoever answer the math problem would move onto the next person, so on and so forth.
As far as ways to play this game, a teacher could ask the math problems or they could be generated by rolling 3 dice simultaneously. The first die would have numbers 1-6, the second would have an operator (+,+,-,-,*,/), and the third would have numbers 1-6.
I really miss playing "around the world".Are you sure you want to report as abuse?
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Q3: In what ways can design thinking and design principles be applied to the education sector?
(1 pieces of advice)
by rocketboy09.25.08 | 02:41 AM
In my experiences as a designer and as a researcher looking at the the design of artifacts for education, I have found that there are real similarities between the process of designing and teaching. I think both are essentially pragmatic disciplines where the practitioner acts in a kind reflective cycle unlike the more systematic rational problem solving approach of say engineering. I have found teachers very open to the kind of problem solving I have learned through industrial design.
The 'education sector' on the other hand may be a different story. Schools and school boards and ministries of education are essentially part of massive bureaucratic institutions. As such there seems to be a great deal of ballast to overcome before problems can be solved. This is a serious challenge to an intuitive style of design thinking, though perhaps not much more than in any large corporate setting.Are you sure you want to report as abuse?
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Q4: What needs to children have that are universal? How can we use math education to bridge markets? What role can design play in enhancing the experience of learning math, whether in Nebraska or rural Uganda?
(3 pieces of advice)
by sarahphic10.01.08 | 11:33 PM
A source of insight for many of the questions you have asked can be found in the work of Kieran Egan,
http://www.educ.sfu.ca/kegan/
and for starters, his book:
The Educated Mind: How Cognitive Tools Shape Our Understanding
I can't say enough about how Egan structures the development of kinds of understanding, and how this can inform education. He has written many practical books on how his theory can be applied.
Someone also mentioned checking out Discovery Toys, I second that. I had a real love/hate relationship with the wind-around times-table games.
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09.29.08 | 11:23 AMWhat do children do? Is there a difference in what children do in Uganda, than what children do in the US? If you could build something around those differences, you can make a toy that applies specifically to the daily needs of Ugandan children, and simultaneously educate US children about other cultures, and vice versa. By incorporating two completely different worlds, it becomes Fantasy. Children are mentally and emotionally proficient in fantasy prior to learning analytical skills like Math.
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by bob111109.24.08 | 01:57 AMthey need you to stop messing with them
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What advice do you have to help me grow my idea?
(8 pieces of advice)by daviddoodles09.27.08 | 11:13 AMhttp://www.project10tothe100.com/index.html
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09.22.08 | 05:46 AM1) Why do you have social entrepreneurs? Your team concerns me on the basis of cost. I think this is very admirable, but stick with what you're main goal is: to educate, inform, and overall raise the SoL. You may not need more than one product designer, etc. Of course, it's your team and you know them best.
2) Perhaps you would be better just promoting this idea to a large toy manufacturer so that they can lower costs, as you probably will not be able to manufacture these toys at lowest cost otherwise.
3) If you do decide to stick with what you're doing, branch out beyond just math toys if you can.
All in all, good idea. But I find it hard to believe there aren't other organizations and/or companies that aren't already in this area, in which case your idea would do better to just be absorbed into their business.Are you sure you want to report as abuse?
09.22.08 | 05:41 AMDear "thetylerhayes,"
We're doing much more than just making a product. The mission of Project H is to involve the DESIGN community in areas it hasn't been before, and more importantly, to find new enterprises in the developing world that can be supported by the developed world.
The social entrepreneurs come in because we're designing a two-pronged solution, one that fits within a US retail market, and one that is a locally-produced version for a school in Uganda. One would fund the other, which is a business model that is both innovative and tricky to figure out.
The costs would help facilitate the development of the business model, along with the development of the product, and also support our team which to date has been unpaid (we're a nonprofit and have been lucky to have so much volunteer support).
As for our idea "being absorbed into other organizations," of course there are products for math education, but the point of a design nonprofit doing this work is a more global, socially-based, not consumer-driv…moreen product. (have you been to Target lately and seen all the awful things they're trying to pass off as "educational toys?"). There's a DESIGN opportunity to do better, and to serve our kids better, both here and abroad.
Emily Pilloton
Founder, Project H Design
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by hotsauceman09.05.08 | 12:45 AMgo to Discovery Toys. There an MLM toy company BUT there toys are specifically designed for AGE groups and you can get some ideas from there catalog
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by hotsauceman09.05.08 | 12:40 AMTalk to my wife she has a MA in Child Development. Each age is set up to do math at different stages. School is great. The key is affordability for parents. Who is the target marget. Low income, poverty or middle class. For the most part if there is no parent participation or incentive for them to help there children you will be waisting your time and money. Most children go to school but there is no follow up at home . Some children all they have is a T.V. To get the childs attention you need to work with http://laptop.org/ here is an organization that wants to get something in the hands of all children. It is currnet and it is the way to enter the world of the middle class. Develop applications that can be used. Piggy back on there world wide marketing and development. The laptops are made to work with children be inexpensive and encourage not only math but reading and computer skills. Toys from Nebraska will not work in Uganda. Easier to come up with a stone game like marbles for the both. Thats why there are so many checker style games in many cultures. There are st…moreones everywhere. Plastic wont last and batteries are out of the question how are low income people to afford batteries. 5-7 dollars a pop for a small pack. The laptop is rechargable and uses a hand crank to Yeah hand crank to charge it and is internet ready with the latest WiFi technology and touch screen. I have seen three year old children sit at a computer and bang buttons for hours. Now come up with a math game that gets there attention. Do you have a child development advisor along with a age group to target.
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09.02.08 | 08:17 PMThanks Will! We'll see if we can get in touch with her.
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09.02.08 | 10:50 AMHere is her profile: http://www.ideablob.com/users/43934
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09.02.08 | 10:48 AMYou should contact efe osagie on here. She is getting a master's in education at UPenn right now and has a lot of interest in improving education in Africa. She could be a great contact for you and your idea. Good luck.
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Idea Description
Project H believes design can change the world. We have assembled a team of product designers, social entrepreneurs, and manufacturers to design and produce a toy for elementary math education with applications in both the developing world and the US retail market.
The case study is The Kutamba School for AIDS orphans in Uganda (an Architecture For Humanity project), which Project H worked with this year. We will develop a locally-produced version of the math toy for Kutamba and broader distribution in the developing world, and a sister US retail version based on the same system.
Kutamba photos: http://tinyurl.com/projecthkutamba
http://www.projecthdesign.com
What will you do if you win $10,000 for this idea?
With $10K, our team will be able to delve more deeply into the design development, prototyping, user testing (field research is very important to this project), and distribution strategy for the math toy. We will be able to invest in entrepreneurship consulting, and fund the initial production of the math toys for both the Kutamba case study school as well as the US retail production and associated legal/intellectual property protection.
Because of the potential of this project to be wide-scale in both distribution and social impact, the $10K will help to ensure the sustainability of the project for years to come. We hope to establish an enterprise to support education worldwide.
Dear dmalby: No the children are not being exploited in any way. In fact it is completely the contrary. Firstly as project h is a non-profit, profit is not an end-goal of the project. The profit that may be generated through the US retail sister project will only go to fund further global distribution of the toy. The correlation that profit is derived from exploitation is flawed, because the concept of profit is not necessarily bad if it fuels the project to expand and continue its benefits. Without revenue of some kind, an idea cannot sustain itself or thrive. Such is the model of conscious capitalism.
I'm so excited for you Emily, first the Hippo Roller and now this! I think its such a great idea to promote math education these days, anywhere in the world. I really hope it works out for you, you've been an inspiration. alex @ inhabitat
There is a plethora of math games, and cross-cultural/culture-neutral match concept tools already freely available. How is your product different? Copyright restricted? I'm also bothered by the US version sales funding global distribution. What about local production or other methods of distribution to reduce resource consumption while still meeting local educational needs? I could support an idea to develop on-the-ground personal involvement or drawing upon local cultural stories and games to demonstrate mathematical concepts...using tools that are already familiar elements within each local culture, rather than trying to create a one-size-fits-all solution.
This project sounds awesome, great work!
Are you taking into account in designing this toy that different cultures conceptualize math in different ways? If you are, what are you doing to make this toy more accessible across cultures?
That is a good idea. Teaching children maths and science with fun. I will like you to contact me. I have some ideas just like this to create gaming for educational purpose. I am a game designer myself, constructing my own gaming web site. Contact;- topgun11166(at)yahoo(dot)com, if you are interested in receiving ideas and feed back.
Could I please have the address sent to my e-mail. Bawgy21@netscape.com
Hi Bawgy21, No, the school is actually in Southwest Uganda, close to the Rwanda border... but would love to have contacts in Kampala if they're interested in hearing more! Thanks, Emily Pilloton Founder, Project H Design www.projecthdesign.com emily@projecthdesign.com
Is this school located in Kampala? I have people there and is very interested in tracking the progress of this idea.
Are these children with AIDS being exploited for your financial gain on this toy that you will profit on?
What is the toy?