overview
My team of three School of Visual Arts MFA Interaction Design graduate students helped our client Learning Pods, an online platform to facilitate in-person learning in small groups, finding possibilities of its future development. We conducted our research on: How does culture shape participation in Learning Pods?
Method + Tools
Desk research | Remote User Interviews Synthesis | Storyboarding | Miro | Google Sheets | Figma | Procreate
project duration
Sept. – Nov. 2020 (6 weeks)
Responsibility
Visual Design, Research, Interview Scribe
team
Alice Niu, Yuxuan Hou, Junbae Choi, Sharon Lee
Advisors
Adriana Valdez Young, 3 x 3 Studio
How does culture shape participation in Learning Pods?
Creating your own pods!
Parents can form their own pods with families and friends through Learning Pods, or choose to have a regular pod with set curriculum and teacher.
#01
Identifying the opportunity spaces for improving the culture of Learning Pods
#02
Understanding the parameters of making choices for child education
#03
Understanding the importance of cultural aspect in child education
Grew up in Trombone, Connecticut
Living in NYC since 2007
Grow up Dominican Republic.
Living in NYC more than 10 years
Grow up in Moscow and New York
Living in NYC more than 10 years
Family Background: Jewish family from Eastern European
Generation: 4th generations
Occupation: Psychiatrist working in private practice
Son(5 yrs): kindergarten, 2 days/week
Daughter(21 months) stay at home
“I would love for them to learn another language other than the language from my culture because there are not many people who speak it”
Age: 48
Role: Father
Location: New York
Occupation: Digital marketing manager at MoMA
Kids: 14 years old
Kids' Learning Mode: In-person Mon. to Thurs. Remote on Fri.
“It would be nice to learn [my] language at school but I believe it’s my parental duty to teach [my] culture to kids at home.”
Age: 48
Role: Father
Location: New York
Occupation: Director of facilities for a charter school
Kids: 14 years old(high school freshman), 10 years old, 8 years old with ADD(Attention Deficit Disorder)
Kids' Learning Mode: Remote
“The school does not set up courses to teach foreign languages but I am not too worried about the children being Americanized as long as they can understand grandma's Russian.”
#01
Most parents from other countries want their kids to learn about their original cultures.
#02
Parents' levels of confidence seem to depend on kids' age and their personalities.
#03
The social experience for kids, especially for teenagers, is significant for parents.
#04
Parents have various level of understanding and expectations.
#05
Parents think their kids need to socialize with friends from same age group at school.
#06
Most parents are satisfied with public school’s education.
#07
Parents care about who i.e. do I know their family? will participate in Learning Pods.
#08
Parents with kids in middle schools do not prefer alternative/ progressive style of education.
#09
One major role of the school is to learn social rules in a huge organization.
#10
The distance from home to school is important factor for choosing the school.
#11
Parents mostly think Learning Pods can be major educational program only during Pandemic.
#12
Kids in middle school refuse to join groups with people they are not close to.
#01
Not enough for socializing, learning social rules & experiencing diverse perspectives
#02
What kinds of people participating / Only prefer their acquaintances
#03
What kinds of people participating / Only prefer their acquaintances
#04
What kinds of people participating / Only prefer their acquaintances
#01
Parents lack resources and time for teaching.
#02
Learning Pods needs unique attractions different from schools.
#03
Which can make parents not willing to know further about Learning Pods.
#04
Parents need trusty Learning Pods members.
#05
Teenagers don’t want to have a class with strangers.
#01
Increase culture diversity/accessibility
can help extending service beyond pandemic
#02
Clarify the concept of Learning Pods
something that could be exclusive for Learning Pods
#03
Strengthen the value of Learning Pods
values that make Learning Pods stands out from the crowd