Why is design thinking so important?

Adequately preparing students for a seamless transition into the real world, and equipping them with the skills to ready them for jobs of the future, is one of the most important issues constantly facing educators. The challenge is, in a world that’s changing and revolutionizing as rapidly as it is today, we simply do not know what the future holds. So how do we prepare our students? Historically, the education system has spent huge amounts of time, effort and money on developing and improving student’s reading, writing and mathematics. Nowadays, this alone simply doesn’t cut it. In order to thrive in the increasingly complex working world of the 21st century, students require:

– Creativity
– Innovation
– Critical thinking and problem solving
– Collaboration
– Communication

Realising society’s demand of these skills has allowed us to understand the importance of spatial learning. Spatial learning develops a person’s ability to perceive, analyse and understand the visual information in the world around them. Current research continues to teach us the significance of spatial leaning for critical thinking and problem solving. This research is highlighting the direct correlation between spatial reasoning skills and higher achievement in all areas of STEM. Helping to nourish spatial learning, more and more design-and-create based teaching is being adopted by schools all over. Encouraging ‘design’ thinking comes with many benefits including:

– The ability to identify problems and translate these to actionable opportunities
– Understanding the importance of collaboration
– Seeing failure and set-backs as vital parts of the learning process
– Valuing hard work and persistence
– Developing a more confident, problem-solving mind-set
– Developing resilience
– Developing entrepreneurial thinking
– Fostering empathy and community thinking
– Amplified focus and engagement
– Ultimately providing students with the essential skills mentioned earlier.

So how is design thinking being incorporated into curriculums? Schools are investing in equipment such as Laser Systems and 3D printers, to allow students the opportunity to design, create and build. This all works to develop essential spatial skills and design thinking that will assist students in becoming creators, innovators and problem solvers, who will be able to adapt and thrive in this ever-changing world.

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock.

The team at Uscribe are passionate about the vital role Laser Technology plays in promoting design thinking at schools. Contact us for your Laser cutter/engraver solutions.