Week three: Ideas are flowing!
Session 3: The Plan
This week, it was time to get the children thinking about how to solve the challenge. We started discussing what might work, what wouldn’t, and what could be improved. This was the plan for the session…
Meeting the Ideas
I kept my introductions to the ideas brief—just five minutes—because I didn’t want to do all the talking. I presented the ideas in a quick, Dragon’s Den-style pitch. Unlike the real Dragons, the children’s hands shot up immediately as I was speaking! I asked them to listen, just for five minutes before commenting, and hands slowly went down—well, slightly!
After this, the group had five minutes to read through the ideas and add Post-it notes with their thoughts, highlighting what they liked. We then discussed these as a group. Each child came up to the board and shared their feedback while everyone else listened. Once all the positives were covered, we repeated the exercise to highlight areas they didn’t like or felt wouldn’t work for Elen.
This was fascinating to watch. Some children were particularly passionate about certain ideas, which made for an interesting discussion! It was a proud moment for me, as I saw them deeply considering what would be best for Elen and bringing in insights from previous sessions. Their unique perspectives were refreshing and thought-provoking.
Key Insights from the Children
Here are some of the comments they made:
"I like this, but if I were to ask for help or add imagery, it could affect my digital footprint."
"This is good, but I’m not sure about talking to AI about my feelings. I’d prefer to speak to someone I know and trust, Ai makes me feel weird"
"With my mum, I write my feelings down, and she responds in kind of a letter."
"I like the trust tree idea, but when I need support, I sometimes like talking to my pets and not just humans." (I loved this one - me too)
"This idea says it would guide me toward the best decision, but it doesn’t know me personally. What if the advice isn’t right for me?"
"I like the trust tree idea, but what if a friend wasn’t on it? They might feel left out."
"The virtual hug is great, but what if my parent's message isn’t right for the situation I’m in?"
"I like the buddy-up idea, but what if my assigned buddy isn’t committed? Maybe we should choose our own buddy."
Voting on the Ideas
Next, we needed to narrow down the ideas. The children stepped into Elen’s shoes once more, considering all the feedback. Each child was given two dots to vote for the two ideas they felt worked best and were most excited to bring to life. This process helped us reduce the number of ideas from six to three.
Refining the Ideas
With three ideas remaining, we focused on how to improve them. The children had lots of suggestions about what could be added or changed to make them more effective.
At this stage, I noticed a few children were disappointed that their preferred ideas hadn’t made it through. I reassured them that the remaining ideas were still theirs to shape and improve. This helped them feel more invested in the process, reinforcing the idea that teamwork is about moving forward together.
The Silent Vote
To determine the final idea to develop, I introduced a silent vote. Each child had time to reflect and write down the one idea they wanted to move forward. They placed their vote in a box, free from peer pressure. This was particularly insightful, as I noticed differences in how boys and girls approached the decision.
The promise? After half-term, one of the ideas would be brought to life and ready for the team to develop more.
☺️ What Went Well
I was concerned that introducing example ideas might make the children feel detached, but it had the opposite effect. They connected with the ideas and were eager to critique and improve them.
The children are becoming more confident in speaking up and sharing their thoughts with the group.
I was amazed at how thoughtful, intelligent, and mindful they were. At just 10-11 years old, they demonstrated a strong understanding of risks and digital well-being, especially concerning AI.
😰 What Could Be Improved
Some ideas involved AI or apps, which seemed to sway some children purely because they saw the words. Next time, I’ll focus more on the concept and less on the implementation to avoid bias.
Feedback & Stats
I'm receiving consistently positive feedback, which is fantastic! However, I need to refocus on expanding the club into more schools, as progress has slowed recently. One highlight from this session was hearing the children ask, "Will you be running another club after this? Can we sign up again?"
Stats This Week (compared to last week)
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📱 38 (-1) Instagram followers
📘 27 (-) Facebook followers
💻 419 (+20) Website visits
👥 100% Attendance so far, 3 session down
🏫 2 (-) Schools signed up, 3 schools interested - Need to up my game here
Why Keep Reading?
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