Online Implementation of Group Creative Ideation Exercises for Teaching Wearable Technology

Abstract

Two activities designed for an undergraduate university course in wearable technology provided practical, contextsensitive experience in creative ideation. However, in 2020 these activities needed to be modified for online teaching with little notice. The activities are 1) a card game that promoted generation of novel concepts using a combinatorial creativity framework to ideate and rapid prototype wearable technologies, and 2) an exploratory and transformational creativity task that encouraged group pursuit of “outlying” unusual ideas deriving from an initial concept. Both activities were modified for online implementation with success. In both cases, the online form provided some advantages. The first activity was effective in allowing students to ideate in groups but was disconnected from an important physical experience. The second activity was found more effective online than in-person in essentially all ways. Ironically, it was only possible to conduct online due to the availability of new tools that have arisen due to social isolation, the same reason the course needed to be taught online. Students found the process engaging and achieved unexpected outcomes. Final projects showed innovation and boldness beyond previous cohorts, with evidence for ideas generated in these activities influencing final projects.