I’m working on an educational set of cards following the same pattern as these IDEO cards. This, however, is the place where I acknowledge (and publicly thank) my original inspiration for what I am now working on. I hope they’ll be useful to teachers in supporting creative thinking. I’ve created some ‘Joker’ cards to add to the pack. More to follow when the project is complete.

Here are the original cards. I bought the complete set of these cards after I saw them on the IDEO website. Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO does some great work around stimulating creative thinking  (watch him on www.TED.com talking about (1) SERIOUS PLAY and (2) SMALL DESIGN) and I had them sent to me from San Francisco. This PDF version demonstrates the simplicity of the way in which they work. Categorised under four suites, (Learn; Look; Ask; Try) these design thinking playing cards are a superb tool to use with students and teachers when:

• problem solving
• developing creative thinking
• project planning
• structuring enquiry
• developing strategic thinking (staff and students alike!)
• supporting learners to work in a more open & collaborative way
• supporting learners who need more scaffolding

The list goes on! I really recommend purchasing teh cards and checking out www.IDEO.com for some great ideas, philosophies and apporaches to developing solutions. They’ve also got some great videos on iTunesU.

Please let me know if you find this post useful.

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