There is still time to book on the following workshop on Sept 2nd, at ISIC2014 (the Information Behaviour Conference) in Leeds:

*Design Thinking with Youth (full day workshop), run by Dr Karen Fisher and Dr Ann Peterson Bishop*

Teen Design Days is an ALA award-winning methodology sponsored by the U.S. Institute for Museum and Library Services and Microsoft Corp. A scalable, portable methodology in which youth innovatively engage with information professionals to address complex social issues, Teen Design Days premises youth as co-designers, co-researchers, and co-participants. Thus, it enables professionals to understand youth information behavior and perspective as well as work with youth to design information systems and services, policy, and new library programs and museum exhibits that reflect critical social needs.

The Teen Design Day Workshop addresses participants’ local, contextual interests in supporting youth. Workshop leaders draw on examples from the InfoMe (Information Mediaries) Programme with immigrant and refugee youth in the USA, where Teen Design Days explore how youth help other people (elders, strangers) by finding and sharing information about health, transportation, culture, education, etc. This places youth in a unique and critical position as civic actors, not just on their own behalf, but also on behalf of society. The Teen Design Day Methodology gains insight into the InfoMe role and engages youth in co-designing tools that can support it. In the process, youth hone the information, technological, civic, entrepreneurial and other literacy competencies needed to become engaged within their communities.

For video of Teen Design Days, visit http://infome.uw.edu/sample-page/teen-design-days-video/

Youth participate in Teen Design Days at community centers and libraries where they reflect on their InfoMe behavior using social network mapping, storytelling, images, and dramatic play. Smart phones and other devices and applications, as well as low-tech prototyping using clay, cardboard, paper, wire, fabric, colored pens, etc., are used to devise ways of facilitating teens’ current and potential information behaviors using the Design Thinking premise of inspiration-ideation-implementation. Various stakeholders including families, instructors, librarians, community agency staff and funders join in celebrating youths’ work and selecting ideas/designs for further development.  A key feature of Teen Design Day activities is that they are designed to meet youth developmental needs in 7 areas: physical activity, competence and achievement, self-definition, creative expression, positive social interaction, structure and clear limits—in gender and culturally appropriate ways that emphasize fun.

Workshop Components
◾Basics of the Teen Design Day methodology, including theoretical and empirical foundation;
◾Participation in a Design Thinking exercise;
◾Hands-on small-group activities to design a draft Teen Design Day curriculum on a topic of choice, i.e., explore ways to adapt the Teen Design Day Methodology in one’s own work;
◾Discussion of capturing and using data, and  addressing institutional barriers;
◾Presentation of each group’s Teen Design Day draft curriculum, in order to gain feedback.

Participant Outcomes

Workshop participants will:
◾Become well-versed in the Teen Design Day Methodology;
◾Create a working/draft curriculum that can be applied to own setting;
◾Receive copies of activities/exercises used in past TDD work and learn how to adapt them;
◾Become members of the growing Teen Design Day community of practice, with access to future resources and expertise.

The Workshop will enable participants to expand their work through a new multi-disciplinary lens based on Design Thinking, youth development, and information behavior. Researchers, professionals and educators with an interest in youth, information services, technology, and design will find the Workshop highly constructive and rewarding. All participants will receive a Teen Design Day Workshop certificate.

The workshop includes coffee and lunch within a registration fee of £50 - Please see our website for further details and how to apply:
http://isic2014.com/workshops/teen-design-workshop/