Have you truly thought about who you are designing for? Keeping in mind that one size does NOT fit all, we should continue incorporating tools and measurements for more than one learner.
Lou Mongello,the host and creator of WDW Radio, interviewed former Imagineer Kevin Lively about his work with the parks, storytelling, and designing. Kevin said something about the way Imagineers design that struck me as a connection to education and professional learning. He said, “When you are designing, you want to make sure you are designing for three different audiences” (Lively). He refers to the audience/users as the “waders, swimmers, and divers”. In terms of Disney, he gave a quick explanation of these three different types of audience that an Imagineer must design for:
Guess which one I am? 🙂 Hold on, let me get my snorkel…
Educators are designers; we have an Imagineer type mindset, as we create everything from our learning environments to lesson plans to professional development. I had fun taking Kevin Lively’s description of the three types of audience to design for and expanding on it while making connections for educators to think about their role and the fun that can be had at designing for all three learners.
THREE TYPES OF LEARNERS:
WADER
This learner may be risk averse and does not want to get wet. They are wearing waterproof pants, after all. Their approach is more laid back, the learner takes their time with even little to no urgency. Waders may even want ideas to come to them. They are not going to get messy.
Most likely, the learner will probably want a rubric or guide to be told the expectations. There is no playing in the water.
Designing for the Wader
- Samples should be available
- Rubrics are useful especially if the learner helps create them
- Provide ample support
- Be a model that mistakes are ok
SWIMMER
This learner is somewhat of a risk taker. They do not play in the water, but they will get in it with a purpose. They may have an idea, but they will stay in that one lane. The learner has endurance and will see their idea to the finish line.
Designing for the Swimmer
- Give choices to show understanding
- Have a rubric available with lanes of understanding
- Provide clear measurements to reaching goal
DIVER
This learner is not afraid to take risks and will explore all options. They will go deeper and deeper into an idea or ideas. There are no expectations other than to immerse oneself into the learning/experience.
Designing for the Diver
- Personalize the learning
- Provide various platforms to explore/research
- Have informal check-ins
The ELA teacher in me can’t help but look at the water motif fitting the idea of supporting the lifelong learner. Afterall, water symbolizes life and hope. My hope is that you don’t see this concept as one more thing to do or to stretch you thin, but as a way to bring back the creativity into your role and to have fun thinking about designing. How do you design for all three learners in your lesson plans or professional development?
See You Real Soon,
Erin
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