Tech for Non-Tech in Okayama, Japan
SiEED × Code for Japan: Tech for Non-Tech in Okayama Univ. on Nov 23rd 2019
Code for Japan has delivered our first Tech for Non-Tech in Okayama Japan. Being part of SiEED program in Okayama University, around 30 people including tech and non-tech people attended.
Tech for Non-tech, T4NT is a workshop you can learn how to deal with tech jargon and work well with Tech people. It is originally from Code for Australia.
After the exchange program of Code for All in June, our team has been working on figuring out the way to run the program here in Japan.
Prepare Yourself Against Uncertainties with Analogy
One of the purposes of T4NT program is to learn the basics of technology and get over the allergy to technology so tech people and non-tech people can collaborate in their projects. What makes this program unique is to learn this thinking technic, analogy.
To introduce this creative way of learning, we did an exercise, self-introduction with an animal.
“If I would introduce myself as an animal, I would be like ____. The reason is ____.”
Introducing yourself as an animal, it is a great example of analogy. People can find unique characteristics of animals so they can link them to their personalities. It is a good ice-break activity. You can see a little bit of people’s background or personal life by the way they describe themselves.
Jargon activity is key in T4NT. Applying analogy technic to introducing technological terms, the participants explain the words with LEGO. Picking a term from the board and explaining it could sound challenging because it could be seen as showing what you don’t know.
One of the keys I learned in the handover program was to create a welcoming atmosphere as a host, so participants can feel safe to learn something they don’t know.
The sequence of activities and lectures in T4NT helps people to feel it is okay if they don’t know. Through the process of building a LEGO model, crafting with hands makes participants more relax and creative. Also, it is easier to collaborate with other people as well.
It turns out the process helps the communication between tech participants and non-tech ones because it is easier to see what your focus is and what you don’t understand.
To make this activity more entertaining, we used a traditional Japanese joke game format, Ogiri (大喜利). Participants introduce LEGO work with Ogiri format. Participants explain what are the connections between the jargon they picked and the analogy they came up with.
With the format, it gets more entertaining and easier to explain and understand. Here are the LEGO models which 7 teams came up with.
- Streaming
- Github
- RPA, Robotic Process Automation
- File Extensions
- 5G
- Next-Generation Quantum Computing
One of the interesting learning was that details of works always have an important meaning. As I asking the details of work, it turns out that participants tell us how they understand the jargon and what is the key concepts. We don’t build anything without reason.
The analogy is a good technique for learning and making connections between something new and what you already know.
To be successful, you want to understand:
1. you cannot explain completely with an analogy.
2. it is just a first step to understand and learn the perspective of others.
Why data analysis is important?
We invited a data analyst as a guest developer. The topic is “Why data analysis is important?”.
We stepped back a little. Instead of targeting people with experience in web development, we focus on people who don’t have experience but interested in technology this time. Introducing the trending a technology keyword, data, we introduce how we should take care of them before using powerful technology.
It is a good way to realize that technology is not magic but it is just a thing people create. With handling data in the right manner, a machine can make use of its powerful potential.
As feedback, the participants felt they could use this way of thinking in their daily life. They can bring the technic home to create analogies for technical concepts for themselves.
Plus, it is a good opportunity that tech people and non-tech people can work together, who knows there is a hard time to get close to each other.
My background is not-tech, so I guess I was able to make use of my not-always-successful experience in development projects. We had tech specialists, Shota Ohnishi(Program Assistant), Hiromi Hagiwara (tech facilitator), Sayoko Shimoyama(guest developer), and Hal Seki (founder of CfJ). I assume these different backgrounds helped us to create a welcoming experience.
In Japan, the idea of analogy is also getting attention, as not only a way to learn something new but also a creative approach to support complex problem solving under uncertainty.
The analogy has great potential as an alternative approach to learning and creating an innovative idea.
T4NT is also needed in Japan as well.
