Study Subject:  Charter High School Communication Project

Date: 06.01.02
Client or Sponsor:  Urban Pioneer Experiential Academy
Objective: Information design to support formation of public charter high school.

Summary:  This project was designed to provide students with the experience of designing and delivering communication to their own communities. This was a framework for collaborative design within an innovative educational model. It did not succeed in engaging the students and as it was not required by their school ultimately did not function as intended. The primary challenge was my own concept as the students who were attracted to the program which was transitioning to a charter high school were not motivated to use computers for design or even communications, even to help their cause. While the charter was finally awarded to the school this project did not play a significant role in that process. After 5 or 6 months of trying different approaches I finally shelved the ideas as unworkable in that context. I continue to believe that it makes sense to place students at the center of and in the driver's seat for developing their own paths through education. In fact the UPEA experience re-inforces this conviction since people will learn best what they are self-motivated towards. Today, the concept continues to develop in various other instructional design projects.
Sadly, after nearly 30 years of benefit to youth in San Francisco Urban Pioneers Experiential Academy has been de-chartered by SFUSD in Fall 2003.

Keywords:  Instructional design, experiential learning

Additional Documentation: 

• Instructional Framework
• Gallery