{"id":1513,"date":"2020-08-19T10:45:01","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T08:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mariusursu.com\/?post_type=jetpack-portfolio&p=1513"},"modified":"2023-02-08T15:04:07","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T14:04:07","slug":"co-creating-pioneers-of-the-circular-economy","status":"publish","type":"jetpack-portfolio","link":"https:\/\/mariusursu.com\/index.php\/portfolio\/co-creating-pioneers-of-the-circular-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Better learning through facilitation & instructional design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Date: 2020
Team: <\/strong>4 people incl. me as Design Sprint facilitator<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Project Type:
<\/span>Experience-Design<\/span>Implementation-Project<\/span>\n\n\n\n

Key Activities:
<\/span>User-Research<\/span>Design-Sprint<\/span>Creative-Facilitation<\/span>Co-Design<\/span>Community-Building<\/span>Instructional-Design<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Challenge<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A course had been recently converted from physical to fully digital at short notice.

Our team of young professionals aimed to provide a more pleasant experience for the students as well as the staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We would do so by employing the right tools and helpful routines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Approach<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking the course ourselves, keeping an open line of communication to other participants, after which we organized a one week Design Sprint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This led to a better understanding of the pain points, followed by ideation, and selection based on effort vs reward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We ran experiments, improving the experience in the present and making future recommendations supported by evidence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Outcome + Impact<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our team’s actions led to more peer-learning, stronger professional relationships and increased learning outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some learners benefited from the changes, and were very vocal about it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We presented our understanding of the problem to the organizers, as well as what was proven to work. Made recommendations for future versions of the course.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Key Achievements:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Restoring human connection<\/strong> — remotely<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Using Whereby to create virtual conferencing rooms without friction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transforming strangers into colleagues<\/strong> through random ice-breakers<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Graphic adapted from Whereby<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Assignment filled in by 3 people<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Facilitation as a tool for Learning <\/strong>among peers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sessions in which the deliverable is the learning itself<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fill in as one team; discuss and compare with other teams<\/strong>; then re-answer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Copywriting, Graphic Design & Active learning*<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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*learning that results in an ability of Doing, not just Knowing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear assignments and timely feedback <\/strong>thanks to a Learning Management System<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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‘difficult’ where it should be difficult, and ‘clear’ everywhere else<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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More about the Process<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Click to read the Design Brief<\/div>
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The learning programme in question was organized by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation<\/a><\/strong>. This course was aimed at educating <\/strong>and enabling <\/strong>a young generation of Circular Economy Pioneers.<\/strong>

The first online version of the course consisted of a Webinar series<\/strong> through Zoom <\/strong>+ assignments with discussions <\/strong>on Slack<\/strong>. It was the organizer’s first attempt at a fully digital <\/strong>learning programme, therefore some adjustments were required in order to ensure a more pleasant experience<\/strong> for the students and staff.<\/strong>

The objective we defined for ourselves was: designing and implementing changes in order to streamline the experience <\/strong>of learners <\/strong>(out of the 400 participants, less than 100 were active and engaged) as well as supporting staff <\/strong>(5 staff members working overtime).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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This case study focuses on my contributions as part of a team of 4 young professionals<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our approach, in short:<\/p>\n\n\n\n