03 Oct

Posted at 07:31h in Thoughts on... Social Justice

Annie Leonard's back with an animated video called the "Story of Solutions." "In the current 'Game of More', we're told to cheer a growing economy -- more roads, more malls, more Stuff! -- even though our health indicators are worsening, income inequality is growing and polar icecaps are melting. The Story of Solutions explores how we can move our economy in a more sustainable and just direction, starting with orienting ourselves...

12 Sep

Posted at 04:10h in Thoughts on... Social Justice
This video titled "I forgot my phone" is for Hajar who may be looking at this as a topic for the course. It makes you wonder, are we connected to our phone or to the people around us? Can we improve our habits to live in the moment, not the virtual moment?

27 Aug

Posted at 09:24h in Thoughts on... Social Justice
Beautiful and inspiring way to spread the message about clean water from Kenya. There's a 1 in 5 chance Nkaitole won't reach the age of 5 due to unsafe drinking water. So the folks at "The Gift of Water" helped him complete his bucket list. As a result of their efforts, Nkaitole's entire village and three other villages around his, all got a point of use, bucket water purification system for each home. In October, Nkaitole's village will have a well drilled so they have a constant source of clean water.

08 Jul

Posted at 13:32h in Thoughts on... Social Justice
Whether it’s the beginning of the semester or a new year, you may have a new mobile phone, iPad or laptop. But what do you do with all the old electronics that are accumulating in your closet? Computers, monitors, mobile phones, cameras, laptops, tablets, printers, routers, cables, batteries, DVD players, anything that is electronic should be recycled and NOT tossed in the landfill where the components can poison the land and water.

24 May

Posted at 08:44h in Thoughts on... Social Justice
The conservation of language, dialect, and accent is an important cultural and anthropological issues facing tribes throughout the United Arab Emirates. The locally based National recently looked into the topic with a spotlight on the Hebus and Shehhu mountain tribes located outside the city in Ras Al Khaimah. Featured in the video are tribe members and linguists who share a glimpse into the history of the Arabic language's evolution in the region.

03 Apr

Posted at 07:43h in Thoughts on... Social Justice
I just stumbled across this useful post titled "Designing for Children" from the firm Information & Design, based in Melbourne, Australia. The article provides some great information that may help you as you begin thinking about bringing your children's book to life in the digital world. Examine the points they present below and how your considerations must change based on where your audience fits within the early primary, later primary, and high school years.

28 Mar

Posted at 14:08h in Thoughts on... Social Justice
When you have some free time this week, check out the site Service Design Tools to learn how communication methods can support your design process. The site includes activities such as role-play, mind mapping, and story-boarding - along with tools such as motivation matrix, issue cards, and character profiles. There's a lot of great stuff in here that we have been experimenting with as part of our class and may be useful as you consider how to bring in your family/friend to the presentation.

21 Feb

Posted at 07:14h in Thoughts on... Social Justice

Manarat Al Saadiyat (in Abu Dhabi) is hosting a year-long family-orientated exhibition called ECO FUTURE that explores the needs of our changing planet. As part of our research for the "Design for Social Change" course, we will visit the exhibition to understand how to use games, objects, artifacts and graphics to help audiences explore environmental and health issues. It should be a fun field-trip to help us understand our future world. Please meet...