Destination ImagiNation - Leapfrog Institutes joint presentation at World Future Society conference 2009

1. Engaging Global Youth:
Innova2on Design Challenges
Innova2on and Crea2vity
in a Complex World
WFS Chicago, 2009

2. A joint presenta2on with…
Pamela F. Schroeder, affiliate director, Minnesota
Des2na2on ImagiNa2on, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
John W. Moravec, Educa2on Futures &
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Arthur M. Harkins, director, Leapfrog Ins2tutes, University
of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
And our fellow futurists!

3. DI and LFI Collabora2ng
• Imagining
• Crea2ng
• Team Problem‐Solving
Together with
• Futures Scanning
• Innova2ng
• Integra2ve Design

4. Agenda
• Pamela Schroeder, What is Des2na2on
ImagiNa2on?
• John Moravec, What is Leapfrog Ins2tutes?
• Arthur Harkins, How will DI and LFI plan to
collaborate?

5. First, Pamela Schroeder:
What is Des2na2on ImagiNa2on?

6. Des2na2on ImagiNa2on
Bringing Experien2al Educa2on
And
21st Century Skills
Together

7. Des2na2on ImagiNa2on
• The world’s premiere crea2ve educa2onal
program, serving more than 100,000 kids
around the world annually
• DI offers a successful and unconven2onal
interac2ve and interna2onal co‐curricular
program for youth, kindergarten through
college
• DI teaches the three essen2al developmental
skills: Crea2vity, Teamwork, Problem Solving

8. The goal of DesBnaBon
ImagiNaBon is to help
students learn that through
a combination of crea$vity,
teamwork & tenacity,
they can develop
CREATIVE and
INNOVATIVE soluBons
to complex problems
completely on their own.

9. DesBnaBon ImagiNaBon has:
• A clearly defined marketplace in EDUCATION
• A presence in 50 states and more than 30 countries
• A mixed audience of the planet’s best and brightest
students, parents, educators, and civic leaders
• A complete range of geographic, cultural, economic
and religious audiences
• An incredible message life‐span because of
unparalleled program loyalty

10. • 26 years of experience
• Six compe22ve Challenges annually
• Challenge to Tournament infrastructure
• Team driven, Kid powered
• DI develops life and life‐long skills

11. DI programs and challenges are designed to connect to
Na2onal Standards
• Makes learning fun, exci2ng and dynamic
• Academically based
• Focused on one or more of these areas:
 Technical/Mechanical Design
 Scien2fic Explora2on
 Theatrical/Literary/Fine Arts
 Improvisa2on
 Structural/Architectural Design
 Service Learning/Youth Empowerment

12. The Crea2ve Problem Solving
Process: the Steps to Ac2on
• Crea2ve Thinking Phase
• Genera2ng Op2ons
• Cri2cal Thinking Phase
• Focusing/Evalua2ng Op2ons

13. • Teams of up to seven kids work for 16 weeks
to perfect their solu2ons to mind bending
Challenges
• Elementary, middle, high school, and
university level team compe22ons
• Regional, state or country, and Global Finals
tournaments
• Teams learn to create, to innovate, how to
tackle life as a team

14. • Presents teams with an immediate mul2‐
faceted challenge which they must work
effec2vely together to solve
• Learn to engage in team‐oriented
improvisa2onal thinking and ac2on

15. • 100,000 plus teams
• 30,000 plus volunteers
• Public, private, independent charter,
homeschools, and community and religious
organiza2ons
• Over 3 million alumni

16. Innova2on, together:
• Na2onal Dairy Council
• American Equipment Manufacturers
• 3M
• SyFy Channel
• USDA and University of TN
• University of MN and Leapfrog Ins2tutes

17. The Global workplace is just a step away.
“DesBnaBon ImagiNaBon® parBcipants
STAND OUT among our new employees.
Their presence, confidence and ability to lead
put them YEARS AHEAD of their age and experience.
Destination ImagiNation® is making a difference
in the high‐tech future on a global basis.”
‐‐Roger Garriock,
IBM Canada director of e‐commerce development

18. • … par2cipa2ng in the program for 10 years has given
me the skills and educa2on to realize my own
dream…
• Crea2ve problem solving has been a way of life for
me since I was 8 years old…
• As a scien2st, I’ve no2ced how differently I think
than other people…
• The skills that I developed in DI have allowed me to
excel in the workforce….

19. Destination ImagiNation
Our kids can do
ANYTHING!

20. Second, John Moravec:
What is Leapfrog Ins2tutes?

21. What is Leapfrog?
What are the Leapfrog Institutes?
John Moravec, PhD
Educa2on Futures
www.educa2onfutures.com

22. The New Paradigm
• Increasing importance of crea2ve human capital
• Increasing rates of change
• Increasingly inaccurate predic2ons
• Increasing need to create preferred futures
• Increasing sense that kids must share crea2on of
new futures with adults

23. …also…
• Today’s kids par2cipate in an increasingly globalized
world
• Industrial society has given way to the knowledge‐
based society
…which is already star2ng to transi2on to an
innova2on and crea2vity society

24. So, shall we live in the past or create the future?

25. We think…
• Kids are vastly under‐u2lized as human capital
• Kids can be brought into full rela2onship with the exploding
knowledge/innova2on economy
• Advanced educa2onal technology will be required
• “New” Workforce incorpora2ng kids will be more crea2ve and
much larger than present workforce
• “Parallel Schools” are one approach to the re‐integra2on of
children, adults, and the economy

26. Legacy: The 18th century
• Farming/agriculture economy
• Family based enterprises
• Kids learned at home
• Kids worked at home
• Kids were engaged cross‐genera2onally
• Adults could learn from kids
• Kids contributed at all economic levels

27. Legacy: The19 and Mid‐ or Late 20th centuries
• Industrial economy
• Job/wage/salary based enterprises
• Kids learned increasingly at schools
• Kids worked at low level, some2mes dangerous jobs
• Kids were engaged cross‐genera2onally as chajel, hirelings,
or de facto (and de jure) slaves
• Kids learned from adults within division of age and labor
formats
• Kids s2ll contributed at all economic levels

28. Las2ng legacy effects:
USA in the 21st century
• Emerging knowledge/innova2on economy is stunted
• Integrated ac2vi2es between adults/kids are highly limited
• Kids and adults learn less and less from each other
• Adults anxious about/fear learning from kids
• Kids separated from adults, following legacy industrial economy model
• Kids work mainly at menial tasks
• Kids s2ll contribute to all economic levels, but at far lower levels than
possible, feasible, and desirable

29. So?

30. To move from legacy millstones:

31. Leapfrogging…
• means leadership rather than catching up.
• means using advanced (wireless) technologies to
assist students and teachers
• technologies permit moving from memoriza2on to
crea2ve and innova2ve knowledge produc2on
• greatly enhancing human capital

32. We can design the future.

33. Leapfrogging just ahead of change
J’ J
Level of Advancement
Time

34. “New” workforce:
21st century– Global Leapfrog
• Emerging knowledge/innova2on economy can get a quantum boost
• Integrated ac2vi2es can partner kids with adults
• Adults are eager to learn from kids
• Kids and adults learn more about each other
• Kids and adults partner and collaborate, teaching to and learning from
each other
• Kids work increasingly at crea2ve tasks
• Kids s2ll contribute to all economic levels, but with bejer distribu2on of
effort than in the past

35. What’s it going to take?
• Voluntary establishment of “Parallel Schools”
• Voluntary par2cipa2on by kids and adults
• Screened volunteers represen2ng re2red staff,
graduate students, professionals, etc.
• Dona2ons and grants for insurance costs, food,
transporta2on

36. What should be avoided?
• Pressures on teachers requiring kids to memorize
unrelated facts
• Pressures on adults and kids to par2cipate
• Compe22on with legacy school func2ons and
personnel
• Race, class, and aotude challenges
• Low expecta2ons and standards
• Boas2ng

37. What should be sought?
(Leapfrog!)
• Top‐flight volunteers from all appropriate sectors
• Use of latest technologies, including Beta devices and
sorware from partnering companies
• Excellent Web connec2vity among Parallel Schools
• Collabora2ve rela2onships with similar schools
abroad

38. We also think…
• Kids should mirror the crea2ve workforces first and foremost
• Func2onality should be emphasized first and foremost
• Technology supports reliable func2onality
• Every kid and adult a Crea2ve
• Every kid and adult an Innovator
• NO FAILURES
• Global leadership from Day 1, driven by collabora2ng
LeapFrog Ins2tutes ?

39. “If you can’t
fail, you
can’t
innovate.”
- Peter Diamandis

40. What are Leapfrog Ins7tutes?
• Collabora2ng schools, colleges, and
universi2es from around the globe
• Sources of Parallel Schools
• Organiza2ons to bring youth and adults
together to co‐create the 21st century

41. We all co-invent the future.

42. We’re all
white belts.

43. The future we design can…
• Help change education regimes to
create the future
• Help lead the world in educational
change
• Help bring people of all ages into the
knowledge workforce
• Help kids and adults work together
creatively

44. “Innovate, baby, innovate!”

45. Third, Arthur Harkins:
How will DI and LFI collaborate?

46. DI Focuses
• Imagining
• Crea2ng
• Team Problem‐Solving

47. LFI Focuses
• Futures Scanning
• Innova2ng
• Integra2ve Design

48. DI and LFI Collabora2ng
• Imagining
• Crea2ng
• Team Problem‐Solving
Together with
• Futures Scanning
• Innova2ng
• Integra2ve Design

49. Futures Scanning
• Historical trends (futures of the present)
• Contemporary trends (empirical)
• Contemporary micro‐trends (implicate/
intuited)
• Projec2ons (possible/probable)
• Scenarios and stories (projected and retro‐
cast)
• Exis2ng and virtual myths, legends, epochs

50. Innova2on
• Is different from inven2on, but…
• Emerges from inven2on
• “Makes a difference” in one or more contexts
• Can range from improvements/upgrades to
highly disrup2ve impacts
• Is generally based on inten2ons, accidents,
and necessi2es, including compe22on
• Can be risky and a “hard sell”

51. Integra2ve Design
• Design: Arts, sciences, and techniques for
crea2ng schema2c rela2onships among ideas,
innova2ons, objects, 2me frames, and
cultures
• Integra2on: Moving beyond the schema2c to
successful prac2cal rela2onships between
innova2ons and their contexts

52. Quick Summary:
DI and LFI Collabora2ng
• Imagining
• Crea2ng
• Team Problem‐Solving
Together with
• Futures Scanning
• Innova2ng
• Integra2ve Design

53. Youth Leaders for Innova2on
Socie2es
• Guaranteed leading‐edge
societal performance
(now & future, for all kids)
• Elimina2on of youth
performance divides
(everywhere)
• Con2nuously updated
workforce
(throughout global socie2es)
• Instant competencies
& compe22veness
• (among youth everywhere)
• Youth cultures based on
innova2ons & performance
(individual‐collec2ve‐societal)
• Youth that are ‘Leapfrog’ ready!

54. Audience Par2cipa2on:
“Word Café”

55. Ques2ons for Fellow Futurists
• We think of the six skills as founda2ons for a “new
basics.” What do you think?
• How can we defend them? What do you think is a
bejer approach?
• What do you think the US (or any other specific
country) would have to do to make this happen?
• How should skill performances be measured
(academically, applied, or both)?
• What kind of organiza2onal and cultural changes are
required to embed these skills?

56. Ques2ons for Fellow Futurists
• Can you envision this becoming part of
standard educa2on on a global basis?
• What do you see as the first step toward
implementa2on of the six skills?
• How would you like to be involved in bringing
the six skills to educa2on?

57. Futurists Report

58. Concluding Remarks

59. How to Reach Us
• Pamela F. Schroeder
• <pfschroeder@district287.org>
• John W. Moravec
• <moravec@umn.edu)
• Arthur Harkins
• <harki001@umn.edu>

60. Thank you, and watch
for the slides!
Des2na2on ImagiNa2on:
• www.idodi.org
Leapfrog Ins2tutes:
Leapfrogins2tutes.org
Educa2onfutures.com