Design Do Discover

March 24-26, 2017

Chadwick International, Songdo, Korea

Join the largest gathering of FABulous MAKER educators in Asia!

This workshop is for educators who are passionate about making and interested in the practical implementation of making in the K-12 setting. In particular, the focus is on empowering participants to become joyful maker educators and to reflect on how they can integrate making into the daily life of their school setting.

Participants will:

  • Collaborate with others to identify, ideate, and prototype hands-on projects relevant to your teaching, with guidance from our team of coaches
  • Gain hands-on experience with some of the major tools of a maker lab, ranging from "low tech" materials to laser cutter, 3D printer, and programmable microcontrollers.
  • Attend pop-up sessions, taught by our wonderful team of coaches, to get an introduction to some maker tools/techniques/skills
  • Meet like-minded educators and become part of a community of maker educators

Design Do Discover is not your typical conference.

Rather than sitting and listening to presentations, attendees are expected to be active participants and will be working in small teams to design and build projects for two full days. You DO NOT need to have prior experience with the tools of a maker lab, but you DO need to arrive ready to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. This conference is for you if you think collaborating with colleagues in a fast-moving, slightly messy, and at times chaotic environment sounds really fun!

What’s Design Do Discover all about?

All Design Do Discover events are built around real teachers working with new materials and powerful tools to create something relevant to their schools and classrooms. Many teachers create exemplar projects using a computational or fabrication technology that’s new to them. Others take advantage to the expert-rich environment to develop their own deep understanding of a particular tool or maker technique, or build that dream classroom tool that’s been just out of reach for years.

As educators, we believe that everyone learns best while pursuing their own ideas in a supportive environment of similarly motivated peers. Design Do Discover is your opportunity to experience that as a learner alongside other tremendous educators from around the world committed to creating similar spaces.

What tech and tools are available?

Design Do Discover at Chadwick International offers teachers the chance to work with all the foundational materials and tools of the FabLab / Maker movement. This includes fabrication tools like laser cutters, 3D printers, vinyl cutters, pen plotters and small CNCs. We’ll have a wide array of physical computing tools, including Arduino-powered robots, wearable Arduinos and the ubiquitous MakeyMakey. All of these tools are part of Chadwick International’s pioneering Makerspace, filled with LEGO, Makeblock, paper circuits, and a whole lot of googly eyes.


What if I don’t know how to program an Arduino, use a laser cutter, build a circuit, etc?

First, don’t worry! Learning how to do new things is the heart of Design Do Discover. We’ve designed this workshop for enthusiastic teachers, not universal experts.

During the three days, coaches will offer pop-up sessions that introduce various maker tools/techniques/skills. These short sessions will be scheduled throughout the weekend in direct response to YOUR interests. So long as there are still participants interested in learning to use the laser cutter, we’ll offer another pop-up session. It’s impossible to miss out on something.

As we will explain more fully on Friday afternoon morning, the main goal of D3 is to construct your own knowledge through hands-on project work individually or in small groups. We believe that your project should guide what tools/skills/techniques you learn instead of the other way around. Please do not come to Design Do Discover expecting to attend these pop-up sessions for two full days. We have an incredible crew of coaches and you will certainly learn a lot even if you do not end up taking any pop-up sessions!


What if I have a question that hasn't been answered yet?

No worries, we're here for you! Send an email to Andrew (acarle [AT] chadwickschool.org) and he’ll get back to you ASAP.

Read about previous Design Do Discover events on Edsurge.

Choaches & Organizers

Andrew Carle - Technology Making Design, Chadwick International

Angi Chau - Director of Bourn Idea Lab, Castilleja School

Jaymes Dec - Fab Lab Coordinator, Marymount School of New York

Gary Donahue - Technology Making Design, Chadwick International

Sarah Barnum - Science Teacher, Castelleja School


FAQs

1. How much does it cost?

Registration for Design Do Discover Asia is 450 USD or 500,000 KRW. This fee includes participation in the workshop and pop-up sessions, breakfast and lunch on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Dinner is not included.

2. How do I register for Design Do Discover?

The first step is to fill out the registration form. Registrations are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration payment should be submitted by bank transfer. If all spaces have been filled, we will notify you by email that you are currently on a waiting list and you will be informed if spots become available.

For educators who want to pay together (e.g. a group coming from the same school), you can submit payment for all attendees on a single payment form.

3. What do I need to know when making travel plans?

Chadwick International

45, Art center-daero 97 beon-gil, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, South Korea (22002)

International travel:

Songdo is conveniently located 20 minutes from the Incheon International Airport. Upon arrival, head to the Incheon Taxi ranks outside door 5 of the arrivals wing. A metered taxi from the airport to Chadwick International should cost about 30,000KRW.


Domestic Travel:

Songdo is accessible from Seoul using the metro system (Incheon Line 1) or express busses. More detailed maps and route numbers are available on Chadwick International's webpage. Parking is available on campus.

Arrival:

If you plan to arrive on Friday, head directly to Chadwick International. We will arrange local transit or walking guides to hotels in the area.

If you arrive on Thursday evening, take a taxi to your hotel and check in on the Slack channel. We'll arrange an informal dinner for educators who have arrived early.


Lodging:

Songdo is a compact city, easily walkable in all seasons. All of the hotels listed on the map below are within a 10 minute walk from Chadwick International's campus.