Participatory Design of a Today and Future Digital Entomology Lab

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Note: By posting your ideas here, you are officially releasing them for possible use in the design of the Digital Entomology Lab. There are no guarantees that anything will necessarily be used, but if a particular idea is salient, the design team will gladly employ it in their future designs for future phases of the project. All individuals who post here verify, too, that they are 18 and above. Those who are younger may post with the express permission of a parent or legal guardian. All constructive comments are welcome.

-- Shalin Hai-Jew (shalin@k-state.edu)

This page has been created to support a participatory design "experiment" launched in late September 2011 in Educause Quarterly (Vol. 35, No. 3), available at the following link. This page will be left open and unprotected through early 2012.

Because of automated 'bot digital graffiti, a security measure was put on the site which disables writing to a page without a verified email. This will require the creation of an account (which is verified by email) to post on the site. Sorry about the extra work--but the security of the site and its information--is important. If you don't want to post here, you may email feedback (shalin@k-state.edu), and I promise to post your comments here for you (with your permission) or to record it without publication on this MediaWiki page.

Contents

Overview

Collaboration is often about bringing people together for a shared sense of co-design and co-development. As a kind of transparent and public "thought experiment," we are offering up a design puzzle that has arisen from the early work towards building a Digital Entomology Lab at Kansas State University. How well can the larger public engage a design in mid-stream and help out a bedraggled design and development team in their work?

1a. BRANDING: THE SITE'S IDENTITY, ATMOSPHERICS, AND "LOOK AND FEEL"

  • What should the branding and identity of the site look and feel like? Why?



  • What should the site's "look and feel" and atmospherics be? Why? How would this branding appeal to the various user groups?



  • What are the main words and impressions that should come to mind when people visit the site? Why?



  • How may the branding cross cultural and other aspects? How can the design work for peoples from around the world?



  • How will the branding enhance the sense of "situated learning" for the site users?




1b. DESIGNING FUNCTIONALITIES FOR USERS: POSSIBLE "USE CASES"?

  • What are the various scenarios for student uses of the site? (Student assignments? Research on insects? Illustration of slideshows and papers?)


  • How will students in these various cases go through the site? What sorts of search terms would they use? How would they proceed? What sort of terminology would they be familiar with?


  • What sorts of site functionalities would they need?


  • How may the site be designed for exploratory learning?


  • What sorts of labeling and file naming protocols would help them navigate and use the site?


  • What sorts of information might students want about the insects—beyond the images?



  • How may the site be designed to provide occasions for authentic learning?



  • Should there be an interactive element? What sorts of collaborations might users of this site want?



1c. REPLENISHING DIGITAL CONTENTS

  • How should the digital images and other contents be replenished from within the institution of higher education? Are there ways to ensure continuing evolving and enhancing of the Digital Entomology Lab site?


  • What should the standards be for the inclusion of images from the outside?


  • Should "outside" insect imagery be included? How will the contents and the metadata be vetted?



2a. NONFORMAL DESIGN ... INFORMAL DESIGN

  • What Digital Entomology Lab design elements may be used to position the site for nonformal learning? Why? How?


  • Informal learning? Why? How?



2b. DESIGNING FOR K-12? PRE-K?

  • Is there a K-12 use? If so, what?



  • What are the possible use cases for K-12 learners?



  • How may K-12 needs be met by the site?




  • What about possible pre-K uses? Use cases for pre-K?



  • How may pre-K learner needs be met by the site?

2c. DESIGN FOR INTEGRATION WITH OTHER DIGITAL REPOSITORIES? DIGITAL LIBRARIES?

  • What are some possible opportunities for partnering with other digital repositories?



  • What sorts of complementary benefits could be arrived at?



  • Are there additional functionalities that may be added to enhance social interactions between users of the site?





OTHER QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Extra Resources about Online Science Labs

Kennepohl, D. & Shaw, L. (2010). "Accessible Elements: Teaching Science Online and at a Distance". Edmonton: Athabasca University Press. http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120162.

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