Activity: Headphone Stashers

By Glowforge

Grade Level

3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Duration

5 to 45 minutes

Subjects

Arithmetic Design & Technology Engineering General

Standards

ISTE Standards for Students

1.4 Innovative Designer– Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.

NGSS Science & Engineering Practices

  1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)

Vocab

Reflection Active listening

Licensing

Overview

Create a handy organizational tool with personality! Whether you’re playing a review game, listening to class lectures and audiobooks, or watching a review video before a test, headphones are a versatile learning tool inside and outside of the classroom. Use the Headphone Stashers to keep everything in place and organized when not in use. In this activity, students will learn the basics of Design Thinking as they create custom Headphone Stashers for around the school.

Objective

Theme

  • School Climate - Improving everyone's experience at school
  • Entrepreneurship - Practicing design thinking, collaboration, and prototyping

Thematic Questions

  • How can designs make tools and products more accessible to others?
  • How can the Headphone Stasher designs meet customers’ needs? How might we customize and create designs that will inspire our customers?
  • How can the Design Thinking process help to create final products that meet specific needs around the school, community, or world?

Standards:

ISTE Standards for Students

1.4 Innovative Designer– Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.

NGSS Science & Engineering Practices

  1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)

Designs

Wall Mounted Headphone Stand | Lattice Headphone Stand | Funny Husky Headphone Cord Winder | Pegboard Headphone Holder

Supplies

  1. Wall Mounted Headphone Stand
  1. Lattice Headphone Stand

  1. Funny Husky Headphone Cord Winder - materials can vary

  2. Pegboard Headphone Holder

Materials for customizing finished design (e.g., markers, stickers, pens, or paint)

Various types of headphones that could include:

  • Earbuds
  • Over-the-ear
  • Wireless
  • Wired

Lesson Outline:

Get Ready:

  1. Read through the activity details to review the steps for completing the activity.
  2. Sometimes, more complex designs require different materials or multiple sheets of material. They will also show in the Glowforge app in your Dashboard as a few separate prints. For these designs, print them in order and follow any instructions in the design details window. Refer to the key below:

  • Print 1 - (1. Medium Plywood) Wall Mounted Headphone Stand

  • Print 2 - (2. Medium Plywood) Wall Mounted Headphone Stand

  1. Gather all of the materials needed to print, assemble, and customize the Headphone Stashers.
  2. Have a printed version of each Headphone Stasher design for individuals or groups to explore prior to customizing for a specific end-user.
  3. For this activity, you may use the Trace and Print Tool to turn an idea into a design. Review the linked resource to learn how to add your own artwork to the design.
  4. Explain to students that the Headphone Stashers are intended for end-users in and around their school community.
  5. This activity serves as an introduction to Design Thinking. If necessary, familiarize yourself or students with the concept with Education Buzzwords Defined: What is Design Thinking? or 5 Stages of the Design Thinking Process.

Production Time:

Note: Print and assembly times may vary based on customizations.

Print

  • Wall Mounted Headphone Stand - 15 minutes
  • Lattice Headphone Stand - 13 minutes
  • Funny Husky Headphone Cord Winder - 5 minutes
  • Pegboard Headphone Holder - 3 minutes

Assemble

  • Wall Mounted Headphone Stand - 10 minutes
  • Lattice Headphone Stand - 15 minutes
  • Funny Husky Headphone Cord Winder - 0 minutes
  • Pegboard Headphone Holder - 5 minutes

Lesson Instructions

Section 1 – Plan:

  1. Divide class into small groups of 3-4 students.

  2. Show the video “The animated guide to inclusive design” and have groups reflect using discussing questions such as:

  • How were items like captions and sidewalk cut-outs developed?

  • What are other items that you use everyday that are inclusively designed?

  • How can designers figure out the needs of their end-users, or the person who actually uses the product?

  1. Have groups share their responses.

  2. Display the pre-printed and assembled Headphone Stashers and distribute headphones to each group. Ask: “Which of the Headphone Stasher designs would best accommodate your group’s headphones?” and “What features make this the best option for your headphones?” Have each group share their responses.

  3. Consider how and where headphones are used around the school. Create a

three-column table on a white board or chart paper with these headers: Places, Uses, and Unique Needs. Brainstorm and discuss as a class to fill in the table.

  1. In their small groups, have students select one end-user to focus on for their Headphone Stasher design.
  2. Reinforce the importance of understanding an end-user’s needs before designing a solution. Introduce the concept of Empathy Interviews by watching “What Are Empathy Interviews?”. Refer to the Stanford d.school’s “Interview for Empathy” for interview suggestions.
  3. As a class, develop a question bank for empathy interviews. Questions might include:

  • What type(s) of headphones do you use? How do you usually use them?

  • If you currently store the headphones somewhere, what does a typical experience look and feel like?

  • What types of headphone storage haven’t worked before?

  • What are some hobbies, pets, interests, or symbols that represent you, your school, or community that you’d like to see included in your Headphone Stasher?

  1. After generating the question bank, conduct practice interviews within the class. This may be done in small groups or as a whole class using student volunteers. Take time to reflect on the process and give feedback on ways to improve the interview referring to the components of the “Interview for Empathy” resource.
  2. Help facilitate setting up a day or time for the interviews to occur. Encourage students to bring samples of the different Headphone Stasher designs for their end-user to explore. Students will take notes and thank their end-user at the end of the interview.
  3. After conducting the interviews, encourage students to reflect using the following questions:

  • Who are you designing for?

  • What stories did you hear from your end-user?

  • What organizational needs or challenges arose based on your conversation?

  • Which Headphone Stasher design would be helpful to meet the end-user’s needs? Are there any changes that will need to be made in the Glowforge app to adapt how the Headphone Stasher functions?

  • Which aesthetic, or visual components, did the end-user seem most interested in?

  • What could be added to the printed design, such as magnets or double-sided tape, to impact how the Headphone Stasher functions?

Section 2 - Customize and Create:

  1. Have groups select which Headphone Stasher design that they will adapt based on their end-user interview.
  2. Have groups plan for printing the Headphone Stashers by gathering all of the materials and reviewing the designs in the Glowforge app. Remember that each Headphone Stasher design has unique features and that customizing certain components could impact joinery or other functions.
  3. If adding icons or text, encourage students to review the original design for areas where customizations could occur.
  4. Have groups customize their designs using the Glowforge app's icon library, built-in text tools, or the Trace and Print tool to turn original drawings into a design.
  5. Have each group pair with two other groups to offer each other feedback on their designs. Each group will take a turn explaining how they incorporated the end-user interview into their customized design in the Glowforge app. While students are presenting, other groups use sticky notes to leave feedback addressing the following items:

  • What worked well in this design?

  • What is most interesting about this customized design?

  • What is one change to consider making to this design?

  1. Review peer feedback and adjust their designs as necessary in the Glowforge app.

Section 3 - Use:

Ask students to...

  1. Test print their customized design. Create prototypes prior to doing final prints using cardboard for test prints. Just remember that if the design uses joinery such as slots or finger joints, these may need to be adjusted to suit the prototyping materials.
  2. Meet with their end-user for feedback. Evaluate and test their prototypes considering:

  • What changes need to be made to their Headphone Stashers designs?

  • Did all of the functional and aesthetic customizations print correctly?

  1. Revise and iterate the chosen designs in the Glowforge app as necessary. Repeat the steps to print test prints if needed. When all changes have been made, print final versions of the chosen designs using Proofgrade materials.
  2. Deliver the Headphone Stashers to their location or end-user, and, if necessary, help install.
  3. Reconnect with all of the cooperating end-users. After several days, collect feedback with questions like:
  • Have any unexpected needs arisen since we delivered the Headphone Stashers?
  • Did any pieces not work as originally planned? How can we help resolve the issue?
  • Do you have suggestions for how we could improve our process in the future?

Reflection Questions:

Help students consider...

  • How did the design process help me to understand my end-user’s needs?
  • What strategies did your group use to adapt a Headphone Stasher design to meet the end-user’s needs? How might you improve this process in the future?
  • What impact did shifting from a personal to an end-user perspective have on your brainstorming and design process? How might this have changed what you considered for your design? Why is it important to design for a potential customer’s interests?

Pro Tips:

  • For this activity, you will use several design features within the Glowforge app to turn your idea into a design. Refer to the Trace and Print tool and Add Artwork for assistance in customizing your design.
  • Connect with a special education class to meet specific needs of students at your school.
  • Add items like double-sided tape, magnets, keychains, or command hooks to affect how the design functions.

Reimagine:

  • How can you market your product to customers? Create marketing slogans, displays, and signage for your product that appeal to your customers and help increase sales.
  • How could you add your icon to other designs? Now that you have completed empathy interviews revealing more about your customers’ favorite hobbies and interests, combine your custom designs into other Glowforge designs and continue to expand your customized product offerings.
  • How can you use different materials to add extra layers of customization to your design? Explore other Proofgrade materials in the Glowforge shop such as multi-color acrylic that you can use for your Headphone Stashers.

Remix:

Have students...

  • Improve the Headphone Stasher’s effectiveness by incorporating the item into other school or classroom furniture to help with organization or by adding customizations like magnets or keychain loops.
  • Consider other ways to use either of these designs in and around the school. Brainstorm places—like the media center— and uses—like organizing wires and cords— where the Headphone Stashers could be helpful throughout your school. Consider how to customize designs for these specific use cases.

Rubric:

Use this optional rubric for student self-reflection or formative feedback throughout the Headphone Stashers experience.

Share your students' creations on social media! Post your photos and use the hashtag #GlowforgeEDU and tag us @glowforge for the chance to be featured.

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