It all started with a problem: The education system does not foster the understanding of complexity and ambiguity that is present in the world around us.
I began by reaching out to the community. I found an influential middle school teacher and 4 wonderful adolescents willing to give their time and thoughts to help me develop a solution. We worked together for 3 months to pinpoint current classroom shortcomings and strengths.
I had 6 months to develop a product that could facilitate a new type of learning. I first worked on the physical model. Making sure it was easy to manufacture, easily cleaned and stored, and easy to understand. The form I ended up with is similar to a common fidget toy, but made jumbo. This play with proportion began to take something ordinary out of context.
Next I had to make my physical form which was fun as a toy, into a vehicle for learning. I created a pseudo-storybook that was modular. This guaranteed the learning outcomes were not predetermined, because both the order and meaning of learning material was manipulated by the user. This engaged adolescents in their learning and told more than a single-sided story.
