A highlight of my time at eSpark has been visiting lots of schools to test prototypes and ideas – and gather feedback from students, teachers, and administrators.
Students are very honest with their feedback, and don’t fail to tell me when they are confused, bored, or happy with ideas. Plus, they’ll ask for updates If I happen to stop by their school again.
Teachers also enjoy that a visit can function like a mini “career day” where I can talk to the children about what I do at work, and why their feedback is so important to me.
Once, a teacher set up an overhead projector so that i could share my notes with the class. I always bring my sketchbook so that I can take notes, or make a quick drawing to make sure that I’m on the same page as the person that I’m talking with.
One of my favorite bits of feedback I received at a school was from a student that wanted a mummy to chase them in a game. …and another student chimed in that they though that the mummy would be too scary for some students. …eventually they agreed that there should be a button to turn the mummies on or off.
-My takeaway was that time limits are motivating for some students, but very stressful for others (I also learned that the students were studying Egypt at the time.)
I’d often see kids doing something that i needed to record in my sketchbook!
After some time, my sketchbook began to look like a passport, filled with visitor stickers from lots of schools.
