Countless Obstacles
1. The students are asked to imagine that they are eight centimeters in height. They are given five minutes to reflect on this and are asked to generate solutions for the challenge and note their answers on their computer/phone.
2. The students place their answers on the virtual whiteboard and explain how they contribute to solving the challenge.
3. The teacher tells the students that they must incorporate the use of a smart phone to create solutions for the challenge. They should note their ideas and explain how these ideas help solve the challenge.
4. The students place their answers on the virtual whiteboard and explain how they contribute to solving the challenge.
5. The teacher explains that the challenge will be turned ‘upside down’ and the students generate ideas for the challenge that are flawed and useless.
6. The students write down their ideas and place them on the virtual whiteboard.
7. The students review the ideas/solutions to their challenges and identify ones that are appropriate for solving the challenge.
8. The students note down their ideas for the challenge on their phone/computer.
This activity involves the use of lateral or divergent thinking to generate original, creative solutions
to challenges. The facilitator should emphasise that it is OK if the initial inputs do not give the
students any ideas for solutions. They can just wait for the next inputs to see if they generate any
ideas.