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LIST OF CONTENTS 01 02 03 04
Introduction Organisation Activities Reflections
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INTRO DUCTION
At the very beginning of the Live Project, we took part in the initial workshop that was aimed at young people to help them with developing playful ideas that addressed issues present in Sheffield. As a result, we produced this volume. The purpose of this document is to outline our experience and learnings from our participation in and facilitation of the idea sessions workshop with the college young people. It includes our reflections on the structure of the events and how they could be improved after the project finishes. Our team organisation, facilitator roles and responsibilities are highlighted in the following sections.
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ORGANI SATION
Sheffield, England
AR’ City & Aalfy
Infographics depicting the groups of people that took part in the workshops
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ACTIVITIES
A series of activities form the framework which form the workshops. Using previously introduced colours, the photos depict the roles within the groups. Additionally, a simple diagram underneath them explains arrangements that we formed with students and other facilitators. As a group, we participated in activities that included briefing the student group, participating in a walk through the city, an icebreaker activity, brainstorming session and presentation of ideas created and collected during the workshop.
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Sheffield, England
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AR’ City & Aalfy
Briefing college students
BRIEFING
Every workshop begins with a briefing where students are introduced to the workshop, concept of Playable City and AR’ City and the activities that they will be participating in throughout the workshop. Our facilitator role during this activity is minimal as the client takes the lead in delivering the introduction to the workshop group.
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Sheffield, England
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AR’ City & Aalfy
Walk through the city
CITY WALK
During a walking tour of the City Centre, students document elements of the city that they enjoy and elements that pose challenging through photographs and note taking. This challenged students to critically look the city through a new lense and with a sense of agency over the space. This challenge is supported by accompanying facilitators who, through inquiry, encourage students to reflect on their surrounding environments and spaces in a critical and reflective nature.
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Sheffield, England
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AR’ City & Aalfy
Splitting into groups
ICE BREAKING ACTIVITY AND SPLIT INTO GROUPS
This activity requires students to be split into smaller groups in which they will be working within for the duration of the workshop. In these groups students take turn sharing an interest and enacting it through a movement. This is then mirrored by the rest of the group. Workshop facilitators join each group during this activity to encourage participation and inclusion of all students.
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Sheffield, England
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AR’ City & Aalfy
Discussing the ideas
BRAINSTORMING
Following the city walk, students reflect on the documented aspects of the city centre. With printed photographs and paper, students brainstorm way in which technology can inhabit spaces, challenge the way we use and view spaces and help address issues within the city centre. Groups are allocated a ratio of facilitators depending on the number of students. The facilitator ’s role in this scenario is to encourage students to participate in sharing their ideas, brainstorming as a team and providing critical reflection to challenge the developing ideas. These ideas are recorded through notes and sketches shared and developed amongst the group.
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Sheffield, England
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AR’ City & Aalfy
Presenting students’ thoughts
PRESENTATION OF IDEAS
The last workshop activity is the presentation of the individual groups ideas. Each group takes turns at presenting their brainstorming sheet, sketches and notes in the form of a 5 minute presentations to the rest of the group. Facilitators roles in this sections is to support and encourage each brainstorming group to share their ideas with the larger workshop class.
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REFLECTIONS
Reflections on our experience with helping the facilitation of ideas workshop session highlight potential aspects of moderation to assist in future workshop running through spatial organisation and attention retention techniques. Throughout the workshop session, we observed students losing attention and reverting to their phones during longer activities. In future workshops this could be addressed through shortening the length of brainstorming session, providing quicker turn around of the photos shared and swapped between group and an earlier lunch break to keep attention spans and excitement heightened across the duration of the session. Additionally, curation of the workshop space and setting out of workshop tables with paper, photographs and pens in advance of student’s arrival could be an additional strategy to reducing confusion and maximising efficiency during future workshops.
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