Innovative education: Design thinking as a way forward

The adoption of technological innovations in education is critical to promote 21st century skills for a new generation of leaners that are labeled as digital natives.  Educators are confronted with a challenge to cope with new learners that are attached to smart phones and who have access to open learning resources and social media. Therefore, new models and tools are to be developed by educators to attract the attention of new learners who suffer from short attention span. Innovative education for a new era need to address a set of key issues including instilling a culture of innovation, quality assurance and students’ testing, methods of teaching and curriculum development. 

Unlike current teachers who may be labeled as digital refugees, young learners are defined as digital natives who have to deal with high-tech solutions and co-creation through combinations of solutions in the era of emerging technologies like gamifications, 3D printing, green technologies, smart homes and cities, and self-drive cars. Standard students’ testing need to be re-thought to address new competencies beyond logical and verbal intelligence to address naturalistic and aesthetic intelligence. Moreover, new ways of communicating the curriculum is needed to enhance both logical and critical thinking. This implies learning by doing and emphasis on team work, experimentation and acceptance of failure.  

As argued by Dewey, pragmatic models in learning are simply produced through collaborative teams working on real problems. This is in line with the concept of design thinking approach that emphasizes user-driven innovation, empathy, team work, experimentation, and prototyping. Harnessing design thinking which is developed by Stanford University, there is a focus on developing learners’ skills through hands-on case studies. Research shows that the implementation of curriculum that integrates design thinking help students develop new skill set including team work and action learning. 

The process of design thinking which may be framed as “slow” and “fast” thinking contributes to developing creative mindsets. In such a process, the instructor has a key role to encourage a climate of playfulness in the classroom. Moreover, the school is viewed as a microcosm in which students practice both experiential learning and problem solving. In reality, teams are exposed to real case studies such as to start a small business through walking the innovation journey as depicted in the innovation canvas to develop a business case. 

In Bahrain, innovative education is manifested in the model schools and the adoption of problem-based learning in higher education as applied at the medical school in the Arabian Gulf University. This learning mode moves beyond problem solving and traditional instruction to nurture the multiple intelligences through design thinking.  In essence, the design thinking process equip learners with tools and skills to solve wicked problems through system thinking and complex reasoning.

In sum, it is imperative to mainstream design thinking concepts in education in GCC to instill a culture of innovation and to unlock the human potential to meet the vision 2030 targets.

Prof. Odeh Al-Jayyousi, Head of Innovation and Technology  Management, Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain,  E-mail: odehaj@agu.edu