IdeaSpark:Sharing

Sharing is a crucial step in the Project Development Process . Spending too much time prototyping can lead to stagnation. By sharing their project with peers and gathering feedback, students are able to move into the discovery phase. Feedback from peers and mentors is essential in this step, as it creates opportunities to improve their projects.

Sharing Sessions

In ideaSpark, the first sharing session occurs at the end of week #4, or at the beginning of week #5 if necessary. After that, sharing sessions are held roughly every other week as students continue to work on their projects.

Feedback Cards

Each project team (or pair of students) takes turns sharing their progress while all other students record feedback and suggestions on a "feedback card" (included in your supply box).

If students have not yet chosen a name for their project, now is the time to choose a unique name. They don't need to spend much time picking a name -- they can change it later if they want.

Start by handing out enough feedback cards so that every student can write feedback for each presentation. For example, if you have 8 students and 4 pairs, each student should get 3 feedback cards (24 cards total). If you have 10 students and 5 pairs, each student should get 4 cards (40 cards total).

Presenting

Use a projector or TV if one is available. Otherwise, you can have students gather around a table and take turns showing their computer screens.

At this point, all laptops are closed and any mobile devices are put away. Have the presenter announce their project name and tell everyone else to write the project name at the top of a feedback card. Presenters should be instructed to do the following:

1. Explain the purpose of your project
2. Demo your project from the user's perspective. For example, if you're making an app, walk through how a user might use the app. If it's a website, show each page and point out the various pieces of content.
3. If it's not your first presentation, talk about what you've changed since your last presentation
4. Talk about the design decisions you made while prototyping and your reasoning behind those decisions. For example, "We decided to use a dropdown instead of buttons because...". Mentors can also bring up these questions during the presentation.

Feedback

During each presentation, students write their feedback on a card. They should provide at least one thing they like, and at least one thing they think could be improved.

Here are some helpful tips to remind students on how to give constructive feedback. You might write some of these on the board during a sharing session.

• Remember the "Golden Rule" - treat others as you'd have them treat you
• Use kind, positive words
• When pointing out a problem, try suggesting a solution