NEXT.cc
Mentor 1
Mark Keane
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
5-4-2019 1:30 PM
End Date
5-4-2019 3:30 PM
Description
As an online design education nonprofit organization, NEXT.cc is a free resource that students and educators can access across the globe. With a web of hundreds of lessons and activities that span topics from package design to solar energy, NEXT helps to teach what design is and why it is important. The site emphasizes the scope of design education and design thinking by offering activities at nine scales: nano, pattern, object, space, architecture, neighborhood, urban, region, and world. Topics are broken down into “journeys”, which feature an overview, several activities, review questions, and links to additional free resources for students to access. UWM, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and many other organizations sponsor NEXT, helping it to grow and find its way into schools where teachers are incorporating it into their classrooms.
My work for NEXT.cc has consisted mainly of contributing to this growing web of activities by creating new lessons and updating older ones. I work at the research/writing stage, where I plan out lessons and find additional resources for students to access, as well as the visual development stage, where I create graphics and icons that correspond to lesson topics and activities. Since starting last year, my projects have included translating first-year SARUP projects into NEXT journeys, working on environmental lessons, and helping to develop workshops in which students collect data from the Chicago River.
NEXT.cc
Union Wisconsin Room
As an online design education nonprofit organization, NEXT.cc is a free resource that students and educators can access across the globe. With a web of hundreds of lessons and activities that span topics from package design to solar energy, NEXT helps to teach what design is and why it is important. The site emphasizes the scope of design education and design thinking by offering activities at nine scales: nano, pattern, object, space, architecture, neighborhood, urban, region, and world. Topics are broken down into “journeys”, which feature an overview, several activities, review questions, and links to additional free resources for students to access. UWM, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and many other organizations sponsor NEXT, helping it to grow and find its way into schools where teachers are incorporating it into their classrooms.
My work for NEXT.cc has consisted mainly of contributing to this growing web of activities by creating new lessons and updating older ones. I work at the research/writing stage, where I plan out lessons and find additional resources for students to access, as well as the visual development stage, where I create graphics and icons that correspond to lesson topics and activities. Since starting last year, my projects have included translating first-year SARUP projects into NEXT journeys, working on environmental lessons, and helping to develop workshops in which students collect data from the Chicago River.
