Learning by co-designing: School children as architects

This paper explores how co-design activities with school children targeting a mindset beneficial for learning by doing. In line with such an approach, we argue that the act of co-design is characterised by playful thinking in terms of being open to existing ideas and a willingness to imagine ways in which things could be done differently. Zimmerman et al. (2007) propose that the design process, the novelty in the outcome, the relevance to its users, and its potential for extensibility are important attributes to maintain rigour and transparency in a complex design activity.
In keeping with this conceptualisation of co-design activities, this paper explores how school children perform and interact in co-design activities, particularly focusing on what kind of attributes that influence playful imagination and collaboration. The paper contributes to the contemporary debate on the increased use of digital technologies in learning activities and a ’making’ culture as an inclusive approach to engage children in creative as well as computational doings.