Visual Thinking Pilot
An immersive weeklong bootcamp designed specifically for teachers and educators to bring visual thinking into their learning environments.
(August 22 - 26, 2022)
Learn how to incorporate visualization and visual thinking to help your learners be at their best.
You know that human beings both young and old learn best when they are exposed to different styles of communication. You try to incorporate different approaches and tools to help your learners/students succeed, but one of the things you shy away from is drawing and sketching ideas and concepts because you lack confidence with a marker.
You weren’t an art major in school, so the thought of drawing things out in front of your learners is more than a little intimidating. But what if you could let go of those fears? What if you could use your pen as a tool to help clarify ideas, invite engagement, and infuse some fun and creativity into your learning environment?
All languages have alphabets or characters that form the foundation, and visual language is no different. Learning to use your visual language skills starts with learning the fundamentals and then layering on complexity to create more elaborate concepts. As your vocabulary expands you can create more expansive ideas and ways of integrating visuals.
In this 20-hour visual thinking program (specifically designed for educators and teachers) you will learn the foundation skills of visualization and visual thinking using the bikablo® technique and explore different ways of using and integrating visualization and visual thinking into your learning environments.
This is the first time this program is being offered and it is iterative by design. If you are interested in learning more, keep reading.
Visual Thinking
The Pilot
The Visual Thinking Experience for Teachers and Educators is a weeklong bootcamp style experience designed to equip educators with the skills and confidence to incorporate visualization and visual thinking into the design and delivery of the curriculum you deliver to your learners.
The learning experience is 20 hours of learning spread over 5 days. It will be 4 hours each afternoon.
This is an experiment to share the bikablo visual thinking technique with teachers and educators. It has been made possible by a generous grant from Calgary Arts Development who are committed to creating a city that is supportive and inclusive of the arts in many different forms.
What you’ll learn in the visual thinking pilot?
Over the course of one week, we will cover the following;
Learn foundational skills in visualization (how to draw containers, figures, speech bubbles, and icons) on a large scale (for whiteboards or flipcharts).
Get tips to improve your writing, effectively use colour, and create visual hierarchy.
Get past the fear of the blank whiteboard or flipchart by learning the bikablo layering approach.
Walk away with a collection of more than 25 layouts and visual templates you can use in various settings.
Know what tools you need to get started as a visualizer so that you have everything on hand to confidently capture things visually.
Learn different ways of using visuals in your work and to help your learners engage with their learning using different visualization techniques such as sketchnoting, visual presentations, and visual templates.
Introduction to visual storytelling frameworks and how to draw characters that express emotions.
This and much more.
What do you get in the pilot program?
Visual Thinking Pilot Program For Teachers & Educators
Bikablo® StarterSet (pictured left): you’ll receive the official bikablo starter set, which includes 4 visualization markers and 2 exclusive 32-page starter booklets that summarizes the key principles, content, and techniques of the training.
Set of markers and visualization tools. You will also receive a set of colored markers, pastels, and other visualization tools valued at ~$100 CAD.
Photo documentation of the training will be provided in a digital format after the training to use as a reference.
A certificate confirming your participation in the training and a list of the content covered in the course.
Neuland discount: bikablo has an exclusive agreement with Neuland. When you complete the course, you receive a one-time 15% discount on a range of products (excluding. books; cannot be used in combination with other offers or discounts)
Who’s this pilot for?
This program is open to anyone who designs and delivers learning experiences for others in an education context. It is open to traditional teachers, classroom aids & assistants, or other working in education institutions. If you are unsure if it is a fit for you, please reach out and we can figure it out together.
Why sign-up for the pilot?
Let’s face it, the last two years have been very challenging for us all. It’s time to shake things up and find better ways of helping others learn. There is a growing body of evidence that our brains are hardwired for pictures and visuals and it’s time we all start leveraging this knowledge.
Your kids or nieces or nephews get to do summer camp, why shouldn’t you?
You’ve given to everyone and everything, isn’t it time to fill your own creative bucket?
You spend tons of time in front of screens, isn’t it time to take a break?
You are yearning to be in a creative space with other educators who are rethinking and reimagining what education could look like.
You love learning, and getting to spend your afternoon visualizing and drawing sounds fun.
When & where is it happening?
The Details
Dates: Monday, August 22nd through Friday, August 26th.
Time: 12:30pm - 4:30pm each day
Total Hours of Instruction: 20 hours
Location: Platform Calgary
Address: 407 9th Ave SE Calgary, AB T2G 2K7 (downtown across the street from the Central Library)
Cost: $150 +GST
(The true cost would be ~$2000/participant for this program, but I’ve been able to offset the cost through a grant.)
Other things to know.
Just a heads up.
Cohort Size: As we will be working on a large scale at the wall and this is a highly interactive experience, the program is limited to 12 participants.
Materials & Supplies: all paper, markers, and other materials will be provided.
Commitment to the Program: If you sign-up for the pilot, it is required that you participate in all 5 days of the program. The content builds throughout the week and there is a lot to be learned from each other so the group needs your full commitment. If you are unable to commit to the full week, I would ask that you wait and look for future opportunities that align better with your schedule and availability.
Programs Survey & Feedback: I’ve been able to make this in-depth experience accessible at a very low price point due to funding received. A condition of the funding is reporting learning and outcomes of this project. Therefore you will be asked to complete a survey and share feedback and insights about your experience for reporting purposes.
Photography: A photographer will also be present at the sessions to capture highlights of the program. You will be required to complete a photo release on the first day of the program. Photos will be used for reporting and marketing purposes.
Copyright: Everything you learn in the bootcamp can and should be used in your work. However, this is not a train-the-trainer program. The methodology and my teaching approach is copyrighted. We will discuss this further at the training.
Parking & Transportation: You will be responsible for your own parking or other transportation costs to attend the program.
Meet Your Visual Facilitation Trainer
I’m a visual facilitation trainer who helps people who want to create more creative and engaging spaces by teaching them skills to tap into their creativity and facilitate more effective, meaningful, and engaging conversations.