For several year’s the Health Design Lab has successfully collaborated with Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School (KGMS), to develop learning tools for children with learning differences. Intended to help Emily Carr students understand the power of co-creative research in design, as well as leaving KGMS with some innovative tools for their students, this ongoing collaboration has been highly successful. Read about the collaboration in the North Shore News. Emily Carr students were deeply affected by how they learned to approach design and the Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School continues to utilize some of the project’s results as learning aids today. More importantly, the KGMS students recognize that their unique learning styles can be easily and positively applied to creative thinking.
KGMS and the Health Design Lab at Emily Carr University most recently partnered to create a gamified application to aid young dyslexic children; “fidget” tools for children with attention issues; and a musical instrument that encouraged collaboration. Finally, a two-year graduate project thesis considered how to use design-based learning as a tool to support children with learning differences. At the conclusion of the project, KGMS hosted a successful and engaging Project Fair open to fellow students and parents showcasing the work of the research project.