DSG News - Design Squad Global2024-03-28T22:33:14Zhttps://dsglobal.ning.com/news/feed/allDSG Club takes on the impossible! Walking on water?https://dsglobal.ning.com/news/dsg-club-takes-on-the-impossible-walking-on-water2015-10-23T00:10:32.000Z2015-10-23T00:10:32.000ZSaranya Sathananthanhttps://dsglobal.ning.com/members/SaranyaSathananthan<div><p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010717?profile=original" target="_self" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 12pt;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010717?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"></a></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;">While most of America has bundled up for the brisk autumn climate, it’s warm weather and sunny skies out in San Diego, California for the 2015 MESA Alliance Walk on Water Competition!</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-3" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;">Our very own DSG Club members at Granger Jr High School with the Chula Vista Promise Neighborhoods plunged into the daunting challenge of designing and building “buoyancy shoes” that can support the weight of an individual and allow them to “walk on water” from one end of a pool to the other.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3">Needless to say, it was a day of great anticipation when it was time to “test the waters” with their designs. There were over 100 participants from several high schools and even universities!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010757?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010757?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"></a></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3">Here’s what DSG club leader, Adan Escobedo, had to say about his team:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-4"><b>“The students did well, especially with the limited resources. Out of all the colleges, high schools, and middle schools that participated (totaling up to 16+ teams), only three managed to complete the course. Out of those three, two of them were colleges. This states how tough the event really was. Granger held their own with the designs being able to support students’ weight in water for a long period of time (most schools couldn’t get that far). But with very little time to practice, it was unfortunately a matter of strength that derailed us from complete victory.”</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3">Nonetheless, this brings to mind the good ole Design Squad Global motto, <b>“Fail Fast, Succeed Sooner.”</b> It’s about the process and what you have learned through it, not just about the results.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3">Granger team, just in case you haven't figured it out already (which I'm sure you have):</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3">You had an awesome time working together in teams, brainstorming wild ideas, sketching out designs, building some pretty neat inventions, and testing them out too (hope the water wasn’t too cold!). If there is ever another competition (which there will be), you’ll be better prepared by knowing what works and what doesn’t, have ideas on how to improve your designs and even apply those ideas to other challenges, and best of all you’ll have another chance at victory! Not being afraid to “Fail Fast, Succeed Sooner” is the best way to ensure that you’ll have incredible experiences worth remembering. We are sure that the Walk on Water Challenge will be a treasured memory that you will keep for a lifetime.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010834?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010834?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"></a> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3">Speaking of the design process, an article from the San Diego MESA Alliance published shortly after the event stated the following:</span><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-4"><b>“The competition allows students to gain experience at applying the engineering design process and solving open-ended problems.”</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3">Simply stated, <span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; color: #0000ff;" class="font-size-4"><b>this is what kids experience every day with DSG!</b></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3">To commend Adan for his ingenuity, he came up with a great way of using what the kids learned about the design process through Design Squad Global and helped them apply it to their other projects. When inquiring about how DSG impacted the kids’ experience with this particular project, Adan replied,</span><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-4"><b>“This</b> <b>experience is a testament to how great the design process is, as the students would not have been able to go as far as they did without following the process.”</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"><b><i> </i></b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"><b><i> </i></b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; color: #0000ff;" class="font-size-4"><b><i>So we ask you, are there opportunities like this one to get your DSG club involved in applying their design process skills to problem-solving challenges in your community?</i></b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"><b><i><span style="color: #0000ff;" class="font-size-4"> </span><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #0000ff;" class="font-size-4">Are there ways that you can stretch their thinking and develop their problem-solving abilities even further?</span> </span></i></b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3">Congratulations Granger students! We are so impressed!</span><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3">We hope this experience has only inspired you further to explore unchartered waters, take on challenging endeavors, and not be afraid to swim a little before getting back up again and going for the finish! We’re confident that with a little gumption and much perseverance, you’ll be able to do anything, even walk on water!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"><b><i>Ready to take the plunge?! Find out how you can inspire a Walk on Water challenge in your community by reading more about the event here:</i></b></span></p>
<p><a href="http://alliance.sdccmesa.com/archives/7097" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 12pt;">http://alliance.sdccmesa.com/archives/7097</a></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"><b><i>Can you spot the Granger DSG club members in the races? Wow look at them go!</i></b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;" class="font-size-3"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNNs62WOgDiRXRBPdU2cpQNZvq4sun6MN">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNNs62WOgDiRXRBPdU2cpQNZvq4sun6MN</a></span></p></div>Club of the Week! Phatsimong Youth Clubhttps://dsglobal.ning.com/news/club-of-the-week-phatsimong-youth-club2015-10-15T16:19:44.000Z2015-10-15T16:19:44.000ZDylan Busahttps://dsglobal.ning.com/members/DylanBusa<div><p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010731?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010731?profile=original" width="615" class="align-full"></a></p>
<p>This week’s “Club of the Week!” is Phatsimong Youth Centre in the capital of Botswana: Gabarone. The Club is led by Ashley Rice, Goabaone Banyaditse, and Kendall Carpenter. Their Partner Club is Promise Neighborhoods in Boston, Massachusetts, in the US.</p>
<p>Phatsimong has put together some really great Partner Exchanges. Their format is very simple—a Word document with photos inserted. But each tells a rich and fascinating story about kids’ experiences with DSG. You can tell the kids are learning a lot and having a blast!</p>
<p>Here are a couple of excerpts from their Partner Exchange for Session 4:</p>
<p><b>About “Defining the Need” for an Emergency Shelter: </b></p>
<p>“While defining the need, the kids came up with some interesting reasons that one would need a shelter. Some typical ones were brought up like rain and wind. However, they also mentioned sand (a very valid suggestion considering the sandstorm that blew through Gaborone the day before). Clearly not mentioned was anything to do with the cold like snow or ice (we are currently going through a heat wave with average daily temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit for about a week).”</p>
<p><b>Kids discovered they had run out of an essential material while building their shelter. But that didn’t stop them—they redesigned it! </b></p>
<p>“Unfortunately, we ran out of trash bags and group 2 was unable to cover their whole [A-frame tent] structure in covering as they initially intended. But like the great inventors that they are, they quickly adjusted to a lean-to design whereby they only needed to cover one half of their structure in plastic bag.”</p>
<p>The kids also had lots of interesting questions for their US Partners—as you’ll see below, just asking kids questions from the other side of the globe becomes an interesting cultural exchange!</p>
<p><b>Session 2, Helping Hand:</b></p>
<p>Our questions for you Boston:</p>
<ul>
<li>What did you design for helping hands?</li>
<li>What do you do to reserve water in your community?</li>
<li>How do you celebrate Independence Day?</li>
<li>What does the President do to support you?</li>
<li>How do street kids live in the United States? How do you help orphans? Do they have shelter and clothes?</li>
<li>How do you deal with drug dealers? Can you chase them? </li>
</ul>
<p><b>Session 3 & 4: Prototype and Emergency Shelter</b></p>
<p>This week’s questions for our Partner Club:</p>
<ul>
<li>Who were the first few presidents of the U.S.?</li>
<li>How did the country develop?</li>
<li>How many farms are there in Massachusetts and what do they grow?</li>
<li>What is the best thing about living in Boston?</li>
<li>Do you have totems?</li>
<li>Do you have cultural dances?</li>
<li>Are there any African traditional believers in Boston?</li>
</ul>
<p>Keep up the good work, DSG Phatsimong! We can’t wait to see what you design with the DSG Boston Club for your Partner Project! </p></div>Club of the Week! Stepping Stones Internationalhttps://dsglobal.ning.com/news/club-of-the-week-stepping-stones-international-12015-10-02T09:45:10.000Z2015-10-02T09:45:10.000ZDylan Busahttps://dsglobal.ning.com/members/DylanBusa<div><p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010509?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010509?profile=original" width="615" class="align-full"></a></p>
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<p>Each week we intend to showcase one of the DESIGN SQUAD GLOBAL clubs in our Club of the Week! feature. Club of the Week! is <strong>not</strong> a competition. Rather it is a way for us to profile, consolidate and share just some of the amazing and interesting work being done by each club. </p>
<p>This week's Club of the Week! is Stepping Stones International. SSI is located in the small village of <a href="https://www.google.co.za/maps/place/Mochudi,+Botswana/@-24.3858322,26.1330629,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x1ebb134f5fb44237:0x71fd144c37e324f8" target="_blank">Mochudi</a> just outside Gaborone in Botswana. The club is ably led by Tshepo Paledi, Lyan Sebeke, Fotoula Theodoulou and Gaone Keakile (from left to right in the photo) and are partnered with Promise Neighborhoods in Indianola, Mississippi in the US.</p>
<p>The SSI team have shared some great partner exchanges. In particular, they created a simple <strong>Getting to Know You</strong> form for kids to fill out about themselves with fields like "One thing I enjoy doing" and "One thing interesting or unique about me". Not only did this provide information about the kids to their partners but it did so in a wonderfully authentic way - through the kids own handwritten responses.</p>
<p>Also, this template approach saved the Club Leaders time and effort. They were able to quickly and easily scan and upload each kid's information to the Community of Practice.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010543?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" target="_self" width="750"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010543?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="500" class="align-full"></a></p>
<p>We liked this form idea so much that the DSG team is going to bake it into the rest of the programme and provide quick and easy templates for leaders and kids to fill out to help make the partner exchange process simpler and quicker.</p>
<p>Here is the first template to help your kids share about themselves with their partners. Download it in <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010588?profile=original" target="_blank">PDF (545KB)</a> or <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010614?profile=original" target="_self">MSWord (582KB)</a> format.</p>
<p>Thank you SSI for this amazing idea and well done on being our Club of the Week!</p></div>Empowering People Awardshttps://dsglobal.ning.com/news/empowering-people-awards2015-10-01T14:30:04.000Z2015-10-01T14:30:04.000ZDylan Busahttps://dsglobal.ning.com/members/DylanBusa<div><p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010545?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010545?profile=original" width="615" class="align-full"></a></p>
<p>The Siemens Empowering People Awards celebrates technologies that provide solutions for basic global needs. There are multiple categories including Energy, Waste Management, Water, Healthcare and Housing. The solutions are not all high-tech but that are all incredibly innovative and help to solve real problems. Past winning solutions are catalogued and described in detail at <a href="http://www.empowering-people-network.siemens-stiftung.org/" target="_blank">http://www.empowering-people-network.siemens-stiftung.org/</a></p>
<p>As a Club Leader, this website is a valuable resource of ideas ad inspiration for your young and budding engineers. It can help show them that you do not need formal engineering degrees to do the work of an engineer and see and solve problems in new, innovative, simple and cost-effective ways.</p>
<p>The 2015 Awards are now open. Who knows, maybe one of your kids could win!</p>
<p><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/onnmvwq8QC8?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p></div>Welcome to the DSG Community of Practice!https://dsglobal.ning.com/news/welcome-to-the-dsg-community-of-practice2015-06-22T14:11:47.000Z2015-06-22T14:11:47.000ZDylan Busahttps://dsglobal.ning.com/members/DylanBusa<div><p><a href="http://dsglobal.ning.com/news/welcome-to-the-dsg-community-of-practice" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010410?profile=original" width="615" class="align-full"></a></p>
<p>This website is more than a website. It is a community - your community! The Community of Practice is your place to exchange information with your partner educator, discuss questions with the rest of the team, share best practices and ideas about what works with the entire community of DSG educators</p>
<p>This website is also your gateway to a host of relevant and useful resources that can help support you in the important role that you have as club leaders.</p>
<p>In addition to everything that is available in the community of practice, your facilitators, Dylan and Saranya, are available to assist you with any need or concern that may arise throughout the course of this program. Whether it is a technical issue on how to post to the partner exchange on the community of practice, or an issue on how to effectively lead a brainstorming activity, we are here to support you and provide encouragement along the way.</p>
<p>We hope that you use all these amazing resources (including ourselves!) in order to make your experience both enjoyable and effective.</p></div>Introducing the DSG Facilitatorshttps://dsglobal.ning.com/news/introducing-the-dsg-facilitators2015-06-20T08:32:41.000Z2015-06-20T08:32:41.000ZDylan Busahttps://dsglobal.ning.com/members/DylanBusa<div><p><a href="http://dsglobal.ning.com/news/introducing-the-dsg-facilitators" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010350?profile=original" width="615" class="align-full"></a></p>
<p>In order to better support your needs and assist you with any concerns that may arise throughout the course of the club, you will be assigned a DSG facilitator.</p>
<p>Your DSG facilitator will conduct a training workshop to get you familiar with DSG and prepare you to confidently lead the club. In addition, the facilitator will be available throughout the 10-weeks to help facilitate partner exchanges and collaborations through the community of practice, guide you through any challenges you might encounter leading different activities, and assist with any technical issues.</p>
<p>You will have a weekly check-in call with your facilitator to give your feedback on the effectiveness of the various resources available to you including the club guide and community of practice.</p>
<p>With your facilitator you have the opportunity to share and discuss your observations, reflections, and insights about the club in order to improve it and make it a great project for many other educators like yourselves.</p>
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<td> <p><span class="font-size-5">Saranya Sathananthan - US Sites</span></p> <p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2011059?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010786?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250" class="align-left"></a><a href="http://dsglobal.ning.com/members/SaranyaSathananthan" target="_self">Saranya Sathananthan</a> is the Outreach Project Director for Design Squad Global at the WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering and received her Master of Science in Bioengineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.</p> <p>With the desire to share and create educational opportunities for deserving people around the world, she joined the Peace Corps where she taught Computer Technology to 8-10<sup>th</sup> graders at an Industrial Professional School in Northern Mozambique for two years. During that time she also taught novice adult computer classes, led a community based literacy project for 1<sup>st</sup>-3<sup>rd</sup> grade children, and participated in community sports including a local women’s soccer team. She also helped organize a city marathon. Saranya’s experiences in Mozambique strengthened her advocacy for education, and she is now a part of a team managing engineering outreach and contributing to the development of Design Squad Global.</p> </td>
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<td> <p><span class="font-size-5">Dylan Busa - Southern African Sites</span></p> <p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2011092?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2011015?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250" class="align-right"></a><a href="http://dsglobal.ning.com/members/DylanBusa" target="_self"></a><a href="http://dsglobal.ning.com/members/DylanBusa" target="_self">Dylan Busa</a> is the DSG Programme Manager at FHI360 (an international NGO headquartered in North Carolina, USA) working out of Johannesburg, South Africa. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Zoology and a post degree qualification in Mathematics Education. Dylan taught Mathematics and Science for 8 years at Greenside High School in Johannesburg. He then moved to Mindset Network, a South African non-profit company supporting education in South Africa by developing and distributing learner and teacher development media through broadcast television, the Internet and physical products. At Mindset, he lead the education division.</p> <p>During his career, Dylan has developed a deep interest in the role of technology in education and in how to develop the core 21st Century skills of critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity in learners (and teachers). As such, Dylan is thrilled to be involved with DSG and its objective of building these critical skills in learners through engineering and the design process.</p> </td>
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</table></div>Check out the DSG Schedulehttps://dsglobal.ning.com/news/check-out-the-ds-global-schedule2015-06-17T09:03:12.000Z2015-06-17T09:03:12.000ZDylan Busahttps://dsglobal.ning.com/members/DylanBusa<div><p><a href="http://dsglobal.ning.com/news/check-out-the-ds-global-schedule" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010451?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="615" class="align-left"></a></p>
<p class="p1">It was our original intention to start the DESIGN SQUAD GLOBAL program the week of September 7th, but it seems as if many sites will appreciate an extra week to get started.</p>
<p class="p1">Therefore the new program dates are from the <b>week starting the 14th of September 2015 to the week ending the 22nd of November</b>. If you happen to start before the 14th September this is absolutely fine, but we do ask that you finish by the 22nd of November at the latest. What is most important is that each site remains in sync with its partner site in terms of implementing the 10 week program. </p>
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<p>Over the course of 10 weeks, fourteen sites (7 in the US and 7 in Southern Africa) will collaborate together to solve real-world engineering problems and increase their cross-cultural understanding, culminating in a grand reveal and party at each site during the week of November 16th. </p>
<p>The general programme will run as follows:</p>
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<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; width: 40px;"> <p></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; width: 120px;"> <p><strong>Date</strong></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p><strong>Topic</strong></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; width: 130px;"> <p><strong>Document Work</strong></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; width: 130px;"> <p><strong>Partner Exchange</strong></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; width: 130px;"> <p><strong>Focus Group Discussion</strong></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; width: 130px;"> <p><strong>Check-in Call</strong></p> </td>
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<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; height: 35px;"> <p>1</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>14 - 18 Sept</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>Paper Structure</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
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<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; height: 35px;"> <p>2</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>21 – 25 Sept</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>Helping Hand</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
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<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; height: 35px;"> <p>3</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>28 Sept – 2 Oct</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>Build a Prototype</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓ (with FGD feedback)</p> </td>
</tr>
<tr height="29">
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; height: 35px;"> <p>4</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>5 – 9 Oct</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>Emergency Shelter</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; height: 35px;"> <p>5</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>12 – 16 Oct</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>Brainstorm and Design</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓ (with FGD feedback)</p> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; height: 35px;"> <p>6</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>19 – 23 Oct</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>Present Designs</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; height: 35px;"> <p>7</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>26 – 30 Oct</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>Peer Review</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓ (with FGD feedback)</p> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; height: 35px;"> <p>8</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>2 – 6 Nov</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>Review Recommendations, Redesign, and Build</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; height: 35px;"> <p>9</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>9 – 13 Nov</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>Present Final Products</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓ (with FGD feedback)</p> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; height: 35px;"> <p>10</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>16 – 20 Nov</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>Share Solutions</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p></p> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;"> <p>✓</p> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<p>The second round of the programme, also 10 weeks long, will start during February 2016.</p>
<p></p></div>What is DESIGN SQUAD GLOBAL all about?https://dsglobal.ning.com/news/what-is-design-squad-global-all-about2015-06-17T08:29:20.000Z2015-06-17T08:29:20.000ZDylan Busahttps://dsglobal.ning.com/members/DylanBusa<div><p><a href="http://dsglobal.ning.com/news/what-is-design-squad-global-all-about" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2010359?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="615" class="align-left"></a></p>
<p><strong>DESIGN SQUAD GLOBAL (DSG)</strong> connects 10- to 13-year-olds in US out-of-school-time programs to children around the world, empowering them to collaborate to solve real-world engineering problems and increase their cross-cultural understanding. Through DSG, youth work together on hands-on activities, learn teamwork and creative problem-solving, and discover how to use the engineering design process to express and develop their ideas. They begin to see the possibilities for applying science and engineering to their own lives, and learn to share their own perspectives, while appreciating the cultures and experiences of students from another country.</p>
<p><span class="font-size-5">The Pilot Project</span></p>
<p>Results from an initial pilot project demonstrated the potential of DSG to connect students from different backgrounds. Youth from out-of-school-time programs in Mississippi and Boston collaborated with children from Soweto, South Africa, to help improve the lives of the elderly in their communities. Through online team meetings, students shared their solutions and helped each other improve their designs. Their results: prototypes of an easy-to-use pill dispenser and a portable massage seat cushion powered by solar panels.</p>
<p><span class="font-size-5">What DSG aims to achieve</span></p>
<p>With the increased globalisation of our world, this is an ideal time to develop a project that connects U.S. students and their peers in other countries and creates virtual communities where these students can work together to solve real-world problems. Through DSG, we will build broader knowledge about how to adapt both engineering resources and the outreach process needed to work collaboratively across distance and cultures. We will also generate evidence about whether and how this kind of collaborative work builds kids’ understanding of engineering, motivation to participate in engineering, and confidence in taking effective and informed action on behalf of pressing global problems. This will contribute to a larger body of work about whether and how engaging with global, collaborative engineering problems leads to greater self-efficacy for kids with very different backgrounds, experiences, and opportunities.</p>
<p>To find out more watch this DSG Promo Video</p>
<p><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YQFXxJK1cns?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p></div>