Taking students to present at a national conference is indeed always challenging, but finding out that we would not have wifi available for our presentation sent us into a whirlwind of uncertainly. If we created a "low-tech" version of our presentation, it would most likely lose its flavor with our audience. As the students were working on doing just that, though, as our possibly only option, (other than grab a wifi hotspot or pay lots of cash to a company willing to take our cash to make our presentation work), I was toying around with the equipment we needed to pack.
Suddenly, I told the students...I think we could just present from my phone. Amid the crazy and uncertain looks, I proceeded to grab an adaptor and a projector, open the presentation on my phone, and, indeed, make it work. The students, feeling a sense of relief, I know still wondered somewhat about me and how my brain works.
Now, while I would never, ever equate this to a risk taken in the business world where financial and other risks are critical, I certainly see it as a small, to some somewhat insignificant step in thinking outside of the box to solve a problem. After all, isn't that what design thinking is all about?
I'm happy to say that our "prototype" worked, and we are set for the conference regardless of the wifi situation.
To teachers...no step is too small. Model problem solving for your students so that they, too, become outside of the box thinkers for those larger obstacles down the road.
