activisme
Role
UX Researcher and Designer, Graphic Designer, Front-end developer
Duration
June 2017 - September 2017
Tools
Adobe Creative Suite, Pycharm CE
Team
Team of 5: Visual and UI Designer, Content Writers and Back-end Developer
The Challenge
Despite the attitudes of Generation-Z, their teachers and the benefits of this type of education, a curriculum that allows Generation-Z to critically reflect and engage on Human Rights and Social Justice issues is sorely missing. Even if the issues are taught, they are only allowed to process the information through regurgitation in the form of testing rather than exploration. Students are not allowed to adopt these teachings to their own life nor contemplate how they themselves fit into the social justice and human rights issue they are learning.
Because of this, the benefits that come from Social Justice and Human Rights Education are not being seen even when they are being taught within curriculums.
Our primary target market are teachers who have Human Rights Education demands and yet no standard curriculum. Our secondary target market is the students, members of generation-z.
discovery research + analysis
Teachers of Gen-Z
The target market Activisme was curated around is teachers of students aged 10-14. These students are a member of the infamous Gen-Z who are social, technological and socially conscious.
Gen-Z and Activism
Generation Z (Gen-Z) is defined as the generation born between 1996-present. As an active generation in the public sector already, this generation has become an important market to nonprofits and Social Justice and Human Rights Education advocates alike. Gen-Z is a generation that is aware of its peer’s diversity and the benefits that come from this, especially when it comes to ethnicity and gender. Because of this, Gen-Z is challenged like no generation before them to comprehend global diversity, and in turn, they have been inspired to fight for equality.
This has become such a well-known characterization of Gen-Z that the press has begun to refer to Gen-Z as “Gen-We”. A reporter from Forbes explains this nickname as a perfect way to describe this generation because “this group is constantly connected to their digital and offline friends, they value diversity and social justice within a whole new global context and they’ve been raised to learn in teams and work for the collective” (Meehan, 2016).
A study performed by Fast Company found that over three quarters of Generation-Z are concerned about the human impact on the planet and believe that they are the ones to act as agents of change. The key concerns they listed include Education (32%), Terrorism (27%), Jobs and Unemployment (23%), Global Financial Crisis (28%), and Prejudice and Racism (25%).
Gen Z is a population cohort that takes action. A study performed by Fuse marketing found that over the past 12 months 37% donated or volunteered to a cause, 36% educated family and / or friends about a cause, 23% boycotted an activity or company. For example, Fast Company found that 76% of their subjects who were defined as Gen-Z are concerned about humans impact on the planet and believe that they can be an agent for change (Meehan, 2017). 60% of Gen-Z want their future work to make a difference on the world (Abramovich, 2017).
This nature of involvement in the world’s issues does not seem to be forced upon by older generations nor seen as decreasing when Gen-Z is getting older and more independent. 26% of 16- to 19-year-olds volunteer and 76% are concerned about humanity’s impact on the world (Abramovich, 2017).
Besides being incredibly interested in making a difference within global society, the size of Gen-Z has the possibility to make a great impact on the world. By 2020 Gen-Z will make up 40% of all consumers in the global market. Within the United States, more than a quarter of the population is currently under the Gen-Z segment, and with the generation not being complete, everyday it is growing (Abramovich, 2015).
Aligning Technologies with the Target Market
Gen-Z Tech Use
Similar to their engagement with social issues, Generation Z are more engaged online than preceding generations. The most important players for GenZ are social media platforms as well as YouTube. Our target audience are spending a considerable amount of time online. Gen-Z is messaging, sharing and liking throughout the day, including during school hours and late into the evening (Oxfam, 2016).
Generation-Z is the first completely mobile generation. They have grown up around mobile devices and are completely technologically literate. On average, Gen-Z is using five different screens--smartphone, TV, laptop, desktop and iPod/iPad. This is two more than their millennial counterparts (Abramovich, 2015).
Studies show that watching activities (including Television, DVDs, Blu-ray and online sources) make up the largest proportion of media consumption (42% of total time spent) and that nearly all participate in at least one type of watching activity at some point during the week. Yet as Television viewing time decreases, children are spending more time online, with the estimated time spent online by those aged 5 to 15 increasing from 13 hours 42 minutes to 15 hours. The latter is driven by an increase among 8-11 year olds. As a result, for the first time 5-15 year olds are now spending more time online than watching television on a traditional television set (Oxfam, 2016).
Correspondingly, Snapchat made a large investment in creating news coverage in order to “reinvent mobile storytelling.” They found that their use of this type of content streaming during the 2016 presidential election was getting millions of viewers for every piece, their main clientele being Gen-Z (Meehan, 2017).
Tablets are the only device, other than television, to be used by a majority of children in each age group (55% of 3-4 year olds, 67% of 5-7 year olds, 80% of 8-11 year olds and 74% of 12-15 year olds), and the number of 5-15 year olds with their own tablet has increased since 2015, to 44%. 16% of 3-4 year olds also have their own tablet, unchanged since 2015.One in five 3-4 year olds (21%) and close to one in five 5-15 year olds (18%) use only an alternative device, and not a desktop, laptop or netbook, to go online at home, more than in 2015. The preference for mobile phones over other devices begins at the age of 11 (Oxfam, 2016).
Gen-Z are proficient researchers, they know how to educate themselves using online resources. 30% watch lessons online, 20% read textbooks on their tablets, 32% collaborate with their classmates online (Abramovich, 2015).
E-Learning
How E-Learning Can Be More Effective Than Traditional Learning
When catered toward the audience and paired with an effective lesson plan, E-learning can be more effective than traditional learning. This is not true in all cases, but is when e-learning is structured thoughtfully with the audience in mind. This does not mean taking traditional narrative-based learning to an online platform. To be done correctly, e-learning needs to create a “fluid” learning environment that allows interactivity and reflection.
E-learning takes on the principle of “Fluid” learning which fosters critical thinking in students. This is learning that allows the teacher to shift from the role of deliverer of information to facilitator of thinking or discussion. In order to achieve a fluid learning structure, the curriculum has to switch from active to passive learning, from informing students to allowing them to process. This type of active participation within learning allows for the subject to be reinforced. Instead of broad brush strokes that the subject is painted in within the traditional curriculum, fluid e-learning can allow the student to apply what’s learned to their reality (Benett, 2017).
E-learning also enables the personalization of lesson plans that allows for flexible learning paths for students. Individualized learning plans have been proven to be the most effective, as children can learn at different rates and approaches that suite them the best. For example, some children benefit from visual learning activities, others from auditory, others from application. Video tutorials and screencasts that are relevant to the student’s learning are a more flexible and easily accessible path for students. This is especially seen in video learning where children can pause and resume content whenever necessary, allowing for an infinite amount of time for the student to take in the information (Bennett, 2017).
Informal assessment throughout the e-learning process is shown to motivate learners. This gives students instant feedback and guidance on their learning, without limiting them to the pressure or boundaries of the grading system. They are then free to make adjustments to how they are learning without consequences (Bennett, 2017).
E-learning also allows for collaborative learning that encourages discussions and critical thinking. Traditional learning curriculums are often stringent, facts are facts. The educator lectures the students these facts, and the student absorbs them and then is later tested on them. The student is not allowed to explore how they best learn, because it is already set out for them with little discussion, feedback or experimentation allowed. Within e-learning, a fluid teaching method occurs. It allows for students to take their own desired time on the subject, as well as respond to other’s views on the subject matter. Allowing them to hear different perspectives, the student can think critically on the subject. It is shown that online training programs that accommodate goal sharing and promote communication within groups can deliver a more in depth learning experience for students. (Bennett, 2017).
Effective online learning
The K-12 market is defined as the first 13 years of schooling for children. Because the K-12 market is considered an important sector of education, many private companies and government institutions have focused their educational research on these students. They have found the modernization of education is pertinent to make K-12 education more effective, inclusive and engaging for Gen-Z students. This has led to an influx of technology to be introduced into the first years of a student’s learning experience (E-Learning Market Trends & Forecast 2014 - 2016 Report, 2014).
Videos
Gen-Z loves videos. Studies show that watching activities (including Television, DVDs, Blu-ray and online sources) make up the largest proportion of media consumption (42% of total time spent).
But, as Television viewing time decreases, children are spending more time online, with an estimated weekly time of kids ages 5 to 15 increasing from 13 hours 42 minutes to 15 hours. The latter is driven by an increase among 8-11 year olds. As a result, for the first time, 5-15 year olds are now spending more time online than watching television on a traditional television set (Oxfam,2016).
Videos have been shown to require a higher amount of brain activity than reading, as it involves more sense in the learning process. The combination of sight and hearing, and in some cases touch and recognition of what is occurring on screen makes the students better retain the information shown in videos compared to if the same material is read in a book. Speak Up research has shown that today, 54% of students use Youtube and 40% are finding videos to help them with their homework. As students are getting older, this number is increasing (Mihai, 2016).
Additionally, it is shown that educators are also using videos more and more as a teaching tool to stimulate class discussion and provide the classroom real-world context for what they are learning. In 2012 it was shown that less than half of teachers used online videos, however, in 2015 this increased to 68% (Mihai, 2016).
Videos are an essential part of creating a successful learning and e-learning experience for Gen-Z.
Social Media
Gen-Z is an inherently social generation. Gen-Z is constantly connecting with one another either digitally or offline. This is also the main way Gen-Z is connecting with one another on global issues. They are not only being exposed to these networks but working toward political and social change on them. These platform include but are not limited to: Youtube, Instagram, Kickstarter, selfie challenges, and Twitter debates. Facebook is not as popular, with many of Gen-Z deleting their accounts (Meehan, 2016).
Within e-learning research, it is found that the platform is the most effective when it replicates home use. Since social media is such a big part of Gen-Z’s social behavior at home, it is shown that e-learning is the most effective when it can replicate parts or be placed on social media channels. For example, Twitter is a good tool for debates (Mihai, 2016).
The University of Alcala confirmed this theory when researching social networking and its effects on e-learning. It found that in all groups of the study, learning with a social network where students could converse and collaborate with one another increased the student’s achievement (de-Marcos, Dominguez, Saenz-de-Navarrete and Pages, 2014).
Gamification
Gamification tools play a major part in driving the K-12 market in learning. (E-Learning Market Trends & Forecast 2014 - 2016 Report, 2014). Gamification does not directly mean constructing a game but adding pieces of gameplay to the learning process. It is making education fun and engaging for students in order to keep their attention and raise their retention while not undermining the credibility and quality of the education. Gamification assists students in gaining an incentive to study. Because of the continuous positive feedback as the student moves forward, the gamification of e-learning motivates the student to continue forward and become more interested and excited about the learning. (Muntean, 2011).
Similar to adding a social network aspect to e-learning, in the study performed by the University of Alcala, gamification of an e-learning experience also increased the student’s achievement (de-Marcos, Dominguez, Saenz-de-Navarrete and Pages, 2014). Possible benefits to gamification of e-learning include:
Students feel control over their learning experience
There is a more relaxed environment to learn in, failure is not as permanent the student can simply try again
The atmosphere of the classroom is more fun
Learning has a visible nature to it through indicators of progress
It may bring to light student’s intrinsic incentive for learning
Student can explore different identities to connect with through their characters/avatars
Students often feel more comfortable and open within a gamification learning experience
Several institutions have taken this and similar research to heart integrating gamification within their e-learning and learning experiences. This includes TED Talks Online, Khan Academy and Quest2Learn.
Content
Content is not about creativity necessarily for Gen-Z. Although Gen-Z appreciates creative, knowledge-based, content. For them, content “is now about engagement and discovery” rather than just information (Fromm, 2016). This supports the previous research on effective teaching of Social Justice and Human Rights Education. To be effective, students have to connect with the subject.
Activisme Use of Technology and E-learning
Video
Because video is important to Gen-Z, it is important to Activisme. One of Activisme’s main implementation of content is video. We have created four highly interactive animated videos to engage students with the stories of four inspiring young activists. These stories include the harrowing narratives of Sarah and Yusra Mardini, Malala Yousafzai, Madhav Rajaram Subrahman, and Marley Dias.
Social Media
Gen-Z craves to connect with one another, so Activisme wants to connect them. We have established a share space on our site that students can upload their work within Activisme. Similar to photo gallery apps like Instagram and Tumblr, this work is shared with their classmates in a photo gallery that they can explore.
The share space is not only limited to classroom interaction. Teachers have the option to connect with another classroom in another country. This allows for students to interact with a whole new population of Gen-Zers they may not have connected with on these Social Justice and Human Rights issues otherwise.
Activisme also has a message bot modeled after their messaging apps that are included on social media networks like instagram, Facebook and SnapChat. If they have a question about Activisme or the research they are doing they can ask our message bot for help.
Gamification
To make our e-learning experience not only enriching but fun and engaging, Activisme is gamified. Once signing up for Activisme, the user takes on the role of activist and enters level one of three. They need to complete stories by reading and/or watching a story, answering critical thinking questions and completing an action item. As they work their way through stories, the user earns points. Based on their points, they move up in levels. The farther they move up in levels, the more stories are unlocked. Each level has a different role assigned to it: level 1 - Activist, level 2- Community Activist, level 3 - Regional Activist, Complete game - Global Activist. When they complete the final level, they will be rewarded the role of Global Activist along with a certificate.
Content
Gen-Z wants content that they not only learn from, but interact with. Activisme offers them interactive content throughout their journey with us. Activisme alternates between active and passive learning, encouraging the students to interact with the content they are absorbing. This interaction comes in the form of discussion and reflection questions, activist actions students have to perform, interactive narratives and informal quizzes.
With this interaction, students are given the freedom of time and “fluid” learning. There are no time restrictions within Activisme and students are allowed to move back and forth however they please. This allows students to create their own experience when it comes to how much time is spent with each topic.
To go with this fluidity, students are allowed to personalize their learning experience based on their assignments. Students are given multiple choices of Activist Actions --their assignments within Activisme--that they can complete to finish the story they are on and gain points. The action options given are evenly dispersed between writing and creative assignments to appeal to multiple different learning styles.
Students are tested with two quizzes and a plethora of discussion and reflection questions. These quizzes are informal and students simply receive badges for completing them. If the student does not perform well, they are encouraged to re-explore the stories that they struggled with. The questions are the most influential and important part of Activisme. They ask students to critically think about content and in itself track their growth of understanding Social Justice and Human Rights issues. For more information on these questions see our lesson plan.
Activisme Platform
Activisme chose a desktop web app platform because of tech used and readily available to ALL of Gen-Z (or as many as possible). This generation prefers mobile devices--especially phones and tablets. This would make an IOS and android app the perfect platform for this generation’s preferences and home use. However, not all schools have these types of devices readily accessible. Access to computers and cellphones that allow for app download is rare in developing countries. Only 24% of people have access to a smartphones that allow app downloads. Computer use increases, with 38% having access to a working computer. Activisme wants to be a global educational experience and therefore needs to be accessible to any type of student and any type of school. We want to put our platform up in a way that is accessible to developed, emerging and developing countries alike.
Luckily, cell phone ownership is more common in emerging and developing nations. A median of 84% of people in the 32 countries surveyed by Pew owned cell phones. This is close to the U.S.’s figure of 90%. Even in places like Pakistan, who have only 3% of people saying they have occasional access to internet, 47% have access to a type of cell phone. Although these cellphones are normally basic featured, it is more likely they have internet access than are able to download apps. The chance of this mobile internet access increases the younger the person (Pew Research Center, 2015).
The percentage of people with overall internet access is also much higher: 44% of people across the 32 nations interviewed have access to the internet. This percentage is higher for younger people as well (Pew Research Center, 2015). Although internet access across the globe still varies greatly, building a simple web app that can be accessed on any browser is the easiest way for Activisme to reach the most diverse audience.
Design: Concepts & Sketching
Using the research above, we then used design thinking to come up with features that could effectively solve pain points that our target market was facing. We developed these features into a site map and lo-fi wireframes. We then designed content within the web app, creating animations, videos and interactive quizzes.
With limited time, we weren’t able to develop as many features as we would have liked to. The interactive nature between classes had to be put aside in order to finish the MVP structure of the lessons with animations and quizzes. We also had to simplify animation in order to get it produced in time for our launch. We wanted to also design a Kinect game that could test the children where they would have to pay attention and physically respond. We had to postpone this design work in order to finish the basic lesson plan.
Prototype
Test: Validation, Usability, Feedback
Once we presented our final product to the public we were able to do user testing within our demographic. We used the Google HEART method to see how children responded to the web app experience. We found that the game kept children within the target market incredibly engaged but there needed to be more solid testing within a classroom setting to see how well learning was retained over time as well as if continued usage occurred.
Happiness
100% of teachers gave a five-star rating
Engagement
80% of students were engaged with the app when finishing a lesson
Adoption - untested
Retention - untested
Task Success
100% of students were able to finish tasks with minimal frustration
Solution & Impact Overview
Due to budget and timing we were not able to iterate after testing. Below is a summary of work to be done to improve and finalize this design.
Iterating Design Based Off of User Interviews and Usability Testing
We would want to redesign through sketching and then move to a hi-fi prototype to based off of information we found in usability testing. We surprisingly didn’t see any issues with horizontal scrolling but did see some issues in students knowing what to do with quizzes. We also would like to do further testing in a classroom setting.
Branching: Platforms, Age groups and Stories
The ultimate goal of Activisme is to educate our global youth on Social Justice and Human Rights education. To do this, we ultimately would want to develop different courses for different age groups, platforms and stories.
To engage and reach as many people as possible we would want to bring Activisme to different platforms. This could be through an app, video game or even a text messaging game that those who don’t have internet access can join.
Bringing Activisme to as many people as possible would also entail building content and game systems that are specific to these age groups. For example, the content, lesson plan and reward systems for ages 4-8 will be very different than the ones we have developed for 10-14.
Finally, Activisme would want to bring as many stories to life as possible to offer more knowledge and content for our audience to reflect on. We would want to add more topics outside of the four that we have now. We also would want to add more locations to offer more diversity amongst our stories. Lastly, this would include offering stories on different timelines, allowing the audience to travel the globe through time and analyze how social justice movements have evolved through time.
Partnering with Nonprofits
To access as much of gen-z as possible we will be trying to partner with existing structures that are already reaching out to kids about these issues. These include major nonprofits. We have already met with the Irish Red Cross about partnership, who is interested in bringing Activisme to their local youth groups.
Irish Red Cross
The Irish Red Cross is currently trying to increase their engagement amongst youth. Their missions and structure are currently very localized. They have headquarters in Dublin, but have over 100 Area Committees to handle local issues. Each of these areas have a youth division that meets. During our conversation with Barry O’Dwyer Safeguarding and Youth Administrator of the Irish Red Cross, he was interested in connecting us with Area Committee Directors who could bring Activisme to their sessions with their youth groups. Since the structure of these youth groups are similar to those in a classroom, an adult supervising youth, this could be an easy and beneficial pairing with Activisme to bring Social Justice and Human Rights Education to more Gen-Zers.