The project
The aim of the Library of Inspiration was to create fun, creative STEM inspired kits, that will encourage those who might not normally be keen to get involved in computing or engineering to try something different. However, it’s been a long time since our students were 13 and even longer since the lecturers were 13, so we decided to enlist the help of our experts; the first year pupils at our partner schools.
Meeting our co-designers at the schools
The first job for our pupil co-designers was to try out some of the technology we had, to see what kind of kits might capture their imagination. Together the pupils and students experimented with a range of technology from VR headsets to robots, considering what would be engaging and fun for other first year pupils.
Choosing the kits
During visits to the schools the students gathered feedback from the pupils, and created a list of their favourite kit ideas. The pupils came up with a range of ideas from 3D scanning to Foley. You can find out more about the kits here
Co-designing the kits
After some discussion about the skills we have, the students and lecturers decided who was going to lead on the development of each kit, and formed mini teams. Eight of the kit ideas were portable,so that pupils could use them at school or at home, whilst the 3D printer and 3D Scanning kits were more suitable for use in school. Each team was responsible for researching, ordering and testing their technology, creating the accompanying materials and writing copy for this website. We also formed a branding and graphics team, and a web and social media team to make sure the ideas were communicated clearly. You can see who worked on which parts of the project here.
Co-designing the branding
Getting the branding right for the kits was always going to be a challenge, so we began by collecting ideas from our pupil co-designers. As can be seen from the image above there were a lot of great ideas to work with. The graphic design team (Timon and Manuel) then worked these up into some more polished ideas to share with the wider group, to see which would be suitable for the finished kits.
The final logo brings together several of the pupils and students ideas and can be seen on all the Library of Inspiration materials. The graphics team were also responsible for creating the booklets for each kit and the posters, sticker and tote bags that accompany them.
Delivering and testing the kits
What’s next?
So- after all the hard work designing them, the kits have all been delivered to their new homes at five High Schools across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife. Over the next few months we’ll be working with the schools to evaluate what works (and what doesn’t) and hear how the Emo’s are settling in.
We’ll be updating this page when we have more to share, but in the meantime you can follow us on Instagram and Linked In, where our social media team Suzi and Max will be shouting about the latest developments.
