Why don’t you design a school?
If you designed a classroom, would it be a room?
Why don’t you design a school? I’m often asked.
This has less to do with my skills as a designer and more to do with my talks calling for a re-imagining of schools purpose, of what we learn and how. Sometimes it’s just a surly challenge to put my money where my mouth is.
Since the pandemic sent us all to our rooms to think about what we’d done we’ve been bombarded by a second pandemic of webinars, podcasts and virtual events. Some of these are great, some not so much. I guess we’re all learning.
Something we’ve figured out is that online liberates us from the constraints of time, place and space. It’s no longer necessary to stick to the 9–5. Suddenly we find ourselves in events with many more people in attendance, from all over the world, than had it been physical. If we miss something it’s usually available as a recording surrounded by communities keen to engage and interact with you. What’s more, I’ve found it’s possible to sign up to multiple events running at the same time and then jump between them to hear the speakers I’m interested in. I’m unbundling the conferences and curating my own journey.
This has made me wonder about what an online “open school” could be.
