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School-led community

development through

research and innovation

Model

It is important to mention that OSHub-AT itself does not develop, facilitate or offer the workshops. Although this could have been a path to establish a sustainable and stable system of educational offer, as it happens, for example, at the Ars Electronica Center, this framework was not the chosen one for the create your world Tour. The underlying reason is the focus on high agility and contemporaneity by exploring the rich potential of the Ars Electronica network.

This implies that, throughout this process, OSHub-AT plays both the role of a knowledge broker, between the workshop inspirators and schools, and of a curator, which includes the following steps:



Establishing contact with schools

After the workshops are set, schools, school heads and teachers are contacted individually via email or phone, as an attempt to reach those who normally do not have access or follow Ars Electronica via the standard communication channels. Complementary, some contacts can also be established via existing educational communities, e.g. for primary schools or middle schools. Then, for the teachers or school heads that show interest about a given workshop topic, the information about the corresponding workshop is sent directly to them.



Matching schools and workshop inspirators

After the teacher or the school head communicates their interest for a specific workshop, OSHub-AT asks the respective workshop inspirator whether she/he is interested in facilitating the workshop at that school, and after this sets up the contact between the teacher and the host (usually via mail). This direct contact between the teacher and the workshop inspirator allows to define logistical aspects (e.g schedule) but, very importantly, also to discuss the content and format of the workshop.



Adapting the workshop to the school context

This adaptation step can be seen as a co-creation process within a certain range between the workshop inspirators and the teachers. Importantly, the workshop proposal presented by the inspirator is not a final and closed product, but more like a scaffold which can be adapted to the specific school situation, as such: the content can be framed and provided with focal points that align with the material that is being covered in the classroom; or the time and number of participants can be adjusted.

In order to be a relevant and sustainable inspiration, it is key that the workshop goes beyond the single shot event, by integrating, contextualising and discussing the underlying topics, in the classroom, both before and after the workshop. This adaptation step is also the moment to prepare the process before and after the workshop and to define on how to integrate it with the teacher’s curricular subject and objectives.



Implementing the workshop

Now it’s time to bring the workshop to life and to experience it with the students.



Post workshop-follow-up

After the workshop, there is an additional contact with the teacher to provide any additional support that might be needed regarding the follow-up and to gather feedback about the overall process and workshop.