Hello there, my name is Mrs. Dhami.

Welcome to your design and technology lesson today.

Now it's an exciting day because it's the start of your brand new topic, which is the NEA.

Now that stands for the non examined assessment.

Now it's really exciting because this is your chance to be able to shine, to be able to show all of your knowledge, all of your skills, and all of that amazing creativity through your own problem solving iterative journey.

So hard hats on.

Let's get shining.

Our outcome for today is we will be able to identify a broad range of design opportunities when investigating a context.

Our keywords for today are context, design opportunity, iterative, and design fixation.

Now, I'll go through all of these as we work our way through the lesson, apart from the word iterative.

So let's remind ourselves.

Iterative is basically the process of refining and improving something to make it even better.

So we are going on an iterative design journey where throughout the process we're gonna keep refining, keep improving, so that the outcome is absolutely fantastic.

We will follow two learning cycles today.

First of all, we'll define the context and design opportunities, and second of all, we will investigate context and identify opportunities.

So let's start with defining the context.

The non examined assessment, otherwise known as the NEA, is your chance to use everything you have learned throughout your D&T education and shine.

This is the opportunity for you to show off your wonderful design and technology skills by exploring a context, identifying a design opportunity, and producing iterative design solutions that solve a particular problem.

It is very exciting, and I hope you are excited too.

Each lesson, we will explore the bigger picture of a particular stage of the iterative design process.

We will share ideas for how you could approach that stage.

However, one size does not fit all.

Everyone, everyone in your class, everyone across the country, will identify different design opportunities within one of the contexts, and it is down to you to plan the right route for your iterative journey.

So don't be worried if your project looks very different to the person sat next to you.

We want it to.

The big picture for today is exploring the three design contexts, and then identifying potential design opportunities or problems from those contexts.

Now let's remind ourselves.

These were our key words today.

A context is the situation within which something exists or happens, and this is our starting point to our iterative design process.

A design opportunity is a chance to create or improve a product, system, or service by identifying a problem or an unmet need, and we'll do that by exploring the context first.

You will be given three contexts to explore by your teacher, and these contexts will have come from your exam board.

Andeep says, "I don't know anything about context A.

I am not exploring context A." Well, Andeep, don't be put off by a topic.

You are only exploring initially, and you may actually surprise yourself.

Now, this is not a normal exam because it's a non examined assessment.

So you are allowed to and you are encouraged to collaborate with family, friends, and people who face the context.

You are allowed to ask them questions, you're encouraged to, and to find out more, so do that.

Speak over dinner, speak to your friends, speak to your family.

But remember when you come to recording and analysing, that obviously must be your own work.

Time for our first check-in.

What is the starting point for investigating, analysing, and identifying design opportunities? A, an idea, B, a problem, C, a design brief, D, a context.

Have a think.

Come back to me when you've got an answer.

Okay, well done if you've got D.

It is a context.

That is our starting point.

Izzy says, "I love context B and I am going to design a foldable shelter for a dog on a beach.

It is going to be red and fold into a tube." Do you think that's okay for Izzy to say that yet? Have a think.

Come back to me when you've had a little chance to think.

I would say, "Whoa, Izzy, you do not need to know what you are designing yet, and we encourage you to keep an open mind at this point so to avoid design fixation." Now design fixation was one of our keywords.

Let's define it now.

So design fixation is when you only consider one possibility and then sometimes miss an even better solution.

Look out for design opportunities, but you do not need a solution yet.

Keep your minds open, keep exploring, and keep identifying design opportunities.

Izzy thought about her statement and reworded it into a design opportunity.

She said, "Dogs often overheat on the beach where there is little shade." Now, she's done a great job here.

This is a great example of a design opportunity for three reasons.

First of all, it does not give a specific solution.

It's open and could have lots of possibilities.

And lastly, it identifies a problem that has the opportunity to be solved.

So stop thinking about outcomes and start thinking about design opportunities when you're exploring the context.

Which statements are true about design fixation? A, it enables you to explore lots of possibilities, B, your mind can only see one solution, C, it is perfect for the iterative design process, or D, you may miss potentially amazing ideas.

Have a think.

Come back to me when you've got an answer.

Okay, well done if you've got B and D.

Design fixation means your mind can only see one solution and you may miss potentially amazing ideas.

Try not to get fixated too soon.

Onto Task A.

Number one, I'd like you to define design context.

Number two, define design opportunity.

Number three, define design fixation.

And lastly, I'd like you to find out the three contexts set by your exam board, and your teacher will be able to tell you those.

Well done for having a go at those.

So part one, you could have had a context is the situation within which something exists or happens, and this is our starting point to our iterative design process.

Number two, a design opportunity is a chance to create or improve a product, system, or service by identifying a problem or unmet need.

Number three, design fixation is when you only consider one possibility and then sometimes miss an even better solution.

And lastly, your design context.

That will all depend on your exam board.

Onto learning cycle two.

We're now going to investigate your context and identify opportunities.

We are going to look at a few strategies for how to explore your context.

Now remember, you are not limited to the strategies that we share here.

Some will be right for your context, however others will not, and that's okay.

Now, throughout the strategies, you may identify design opportunities at any point.

What you need to do is remember to record it.

The more design opportunities you record, the more you will have to choose from at a later point.

So highlight them, circle them, write them in another colour, however you like, just record them so that you can come back to them at a later point of the iterative design process.

A great place to start is by exploring the key words within your context.

So if we take this one on the right, it says, "Well designed public spaces foster connections among individuals." Consider how thoughtful design can contribute to creating inclusive, accessible environments that encourage social interaction and bring communities together.

So if I were to highlight those keywords, I might highlight public spaces, inclusive, accessible, social interaction, and communities together.

Now, highlighting the keywords is really good because it helps you to start to understand the context, but it also identifies words that you could focus more on or research more about.

It's a really good starting point.

When you do do this though, remember, record any design opportunities or problems. Remember, highlight them, circle them, write them in a different colour, whatever works for you.

Mind maps are a great way to compile lots of research onto one page.

Now this is an example from one of my students called Lucas, and Lucas did a absolutely fantastic mind map.

What he did was he popped the context into the middle.

He then got all of his key words that he highlighted from his context, popped those on, and then he started further exploring each of those words and adding different pictures and different images to really show what he was researching and give a bit of inspiration.

You can see here Lucas has managed to categorise his research into different sections, but he's also managed to identify links between certain parts, and he's done that with lines going between each one.

You'll also notice if you look very, very closely, there's some very, very tiny writing, and that is some of the web links that Lucas has put in to show where he got the information from.

Great idea there.

Now, as you go through doing a mind map, if you choose to, don't forget, you are going to identify some design opportunities and problems. Don't forget, record them, highlight them, use a different colour, circle them, whatever you like, but make sure they are obvious so you don't miss them later on in the iterative design process.

I am sure throughout your design and technology education, you have probably come across quite a few different acronyms. Let's remind you of a few today 'cause they're great for exploring a context.

We have WWWW, or otherwise known as the four Ws, where, what, who, and why.

Then we have the 3Ps.

Person, place, and purpose.

Now these acronyms are great because they are a starting point.

It gives you that starting point to be able to branch off and think of other ideas and other people.

It really does ensure that all areas have been considered so that things that initially come up you can write down, but then you can also go a little bit further and make sure that you don't miss anything.

Again, you will identify design opportunities and problems. You know what to do now.

Highlight them, circle them, different colour, whatever you like.

User journeys are a great chance to delve a little deeper into the life of somebody else.

So they're really good for chunking an activity, visualising the steps that somebody might go through, and then you could take one of those steps at a time or maybe just choose a couple where you focus in in more detail to maybe identify the problems and the design opportunities within that particular chunk.

When you do that, don't forget, record any design opportunities or problems. We sometimes fall into that trap of thinking we know exactly what everyone else is thinking, and that is often not the case.

So interacting with others is really important for investigating a context.

Don't be afraid to reach out to other people who might face that context.

They might face it a lot more than you ever have done, so use their expertise.

Now you could do that by observations, interviews, emails, texts, video calls, or letter writing.

These are just a great opportunity, a great bank of ideas.

Now Sam says, "How do I record these examples into my NEA?" A great question there, Sam.

A great way to do this is, say if you've got a text message, you could screenshot that.

If you've got a little video, perhaps you've recorded asking somebody who faces the context some questions, you could screenshot some of those responses.

But remember, you can and are encouraged to include videos and gifs in your NEA too.

Speak to your teacher about how you can make sure that these work successfully in your work and can clearly be seen by the moderator.

And of course, do not forget to record any design opportunities or problems that arise.

Time for a check-in.

The picture shows a pavement by a road.

A design opportunity for this picture could be, A, design a torch, B, the trees need to be cut down, C, pedestrians are not visible to traffic, or D, many people are scared to walk on dark pavements.

Have a think.

Come back to me when you've got an answer.

Okay, well done if you've got C or D.

Both C and D identify a problem, which is what a design opportunity is about.

Designing a torch for A and the trees being cut down for B show a solution, not a problem.

Well done if you got that right.

When exploring a context, it's a really good idea to find out what is happening in that context.

Now, you could do that by searching news articles, you could go on forums, and you could go on social media groups.

Now these ideas are really good at highlighting current trends and user opinions, and particular ones that you might not have considered yourself at first thought.

Sofia says, and this is a great point, "Remember to include any web links to facts or articles as proof of your research." And of course, record any design opportunities or problems that you find when you are researching.

You may not have any experience of some of the context given to you, so a really good way to experience them is to immerse yourself in that context.

So you could try perhaps going on a location visit and seeing it firsthand.

You could perhaps try a product that might be used within that context that perhaps you've never used before.

Perhaps a neighbour or a friend might have something that fits into that context.

And then of course you could do an image search and generate yourself an image board so that it gives you a flavour and a taste of what being in that context is like.

And of course you've got it.

Remember to record any design opportunities or problems. Alex says, "One of my contexts is a beach, but I don't live anywhere near a beach." What could Alex do? A, leave that context and not bother to explore it, B, move to the beach, C, video call someone who lives near a beach, or D, research news articles from locations near beaches.

Have a think.

Come back to me when you've got an answer.

Okay, hopefully you got C and D, although I must say I really quite like the idea of moving to the beach, but that is not going to be an easy solution.

But you could video call someone who lives near a beach or you could research news articles from locations near beaches.

Do not see it as a absolute stumbling block.

You can still explore that context.

Onto Task B.

So three contexts, as you know, will be given to you to explore.

I would like you first of all to highlight the keywords in each of your contexts so that you really get to the heart of them.

Number two, I'd like you to formulate a plan for how to explore each context.

When doing that, consider the ideas we have explored together.

Which ones would be suitable for your context? And remember that this isn't an endless list.

You might have other ideas too, and that's okay.

Then I'd like you to prioritise your plan.

What do you need to do first when exploring that context? And then lastly, I want you to actually explore each context and record your findings.

But don't forget, also record the potential design opportunities and problems. Good luck, enjoy, and I look forward to hearing some of your ideas.

Andeep identified that his first context was this, "Many products and packaging are discarded once they are no longer needed.

Consider how design can play a role in developing innovative solutions to repurpose or extend the life of waste materials." Now, he went through with his highlighter, and these are the words he highlighted.

He went for packaging, repurpose, extend, and waste materials.

These are great starting points for Andeep, and perhaps he might go on to create perhaps a mind map with these words and research more into each one.

Hopefully you have had a go with your own design context and highlighted some of those key words.

For part two, I asked you to formulate a plan to research your context and then to prioritise your plan.

Now remember, Andeep's contexts are probably very different to your contexts.

So Andeep chose his context C, and he said, "I'm gonna prioritise them into three points." Firstly, he's going to record an interview with the elderly at his local community centre.

Then he's going to research facts about local and national community centres, perhaps using a news website.

And lastly, he's going to create a mind map with all his highlighted keywords and the findings from his interview and his factual research.

Yours might look different to this because your context is probably different, and that is okay.

Lastly, I asked you to explore your three contexts and identify your design opportunities and problems. So Andeep for context B this time, he chose a mind map and he used Lucas's idea by adding it all onto a beautiful mind map using his video call and his gardening forum to inform lots of his points.

And you might just about be able to see he has used a key to identify the design problems by changing the colour of certain words that are the design opportunity or the problem.

Great attempt there, Andeep.

Well done.

Please remember, again, yours might not look quite like Andeep's.

And again, that is absolutely okay.

Everybody will approach these three contexts in a slightly different way, and that's what we want you to do.

This brings us to the end of our lesson today.

Let's summarise what we have found out.

A context is the situation within which something exists or happens.

This is the starting point for your NEA.

A design opportunity is a chance to create or improve a product, system, or service by identifying a problem or unmet need.

Remember to record any design opportunities that you identify so that you do not forget them along the way.

Mind maps, user journeys, interacting with others, researching news articles, and immersing yourself in the context are some of the many ways you can explore a context.

You do not need to know or be fixated on what to design yet.

You do not need to have the solution, so please do not worry.

Well done with all of your hard work, and I look forward to seeing you again for another lesson soon.

Take good care.

Bye-bye-bye.