Campus News

College of Education Sponsoring Workshop on Innovative Thinking

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 19, 2011) — As part of the new Laboratory on Design Thinking, the University of Kentucky College of Education Kentucky P20 Innovation Lab is sponsoring a workshop on "Design Thinking: Tools and Techniques to Lead Innovation and Creativity in Your Organization." The event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the Lexington Convention Center, 430 West Vine Street. 

Led by John Nash, associate professor in the UK College of Education, and Dan Gilbert, founder of Learning Innovations Inc., the workshop is structured to provide participants with a wide array of skills, including:

  • Identify and tap into the basics of human-centered problem solving;
  • Discover unmet needs and opportunities in work;
  • Use the vocabulary, structures and tools needed to be more effective innovators;
  • Put new knowledge into practice to solve a real life challenge; and
  • Design initiatives that have real meaning and meet needs.

"Organizations are asking their employees, no, they’re telling them, 'Be creative, be innovative, bring us new ideas so we can improve.' But no one out there is teaching them how to do that," Nash said. "This workshop, and the broader work of our new Laboratory on Design Thinking at UK, tackles this head on."

Design thinking is a human-centered approach to understanding problems and creating solutions using extreme innovation and collaboration. Thinking like a designer can transform the way problems are framed and how solutions are created. The workshop is designed for people with no experience on the topic, but who want to learn more about this approach.

This workshop also is part of the 2011 AdvancedED Kentucky/UK College of Education Innovation Summit which is focused on accelerating improvement in student achievement and organizational effectiveness as well as providing educators new tools to help our classrooms, schools, systems and institutions thrive in a more challenging environment.

Registration is required, but space is limited. The fee for one participant to attend the Design Thinking workshop is $149 and the fee for three participants is $299. While the workshop is part of the 2011 Innovation Summit, registration can be made for just the Design Thinking workshop by visiting tinyurl.com/kyinnovation.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jenny Wells, (859) 257-5343; Jenny.Wells@uky.edu