Module 3: Project Plan

OTL545 Technology and Innovation

Module 3: Fostering Innovation and Creativity

Tech-Driven Creative Project Plan

Matthew Klaver

Professor Virginia Vigil

2/1/2026

Project Information

Project Title

Make it sustainable, make it smaller, and make it your own.

“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” (Dewey, 1938)

Grade/Subject Area

Middle school Math 6th grade

Measurable Learning Objective(s)

Students will analyze real-world problems and apply content knowledge to design solutions. “The best way to learn is to make something.” (Papert, 1980)
Specifically, students will choose the packaging for their favorite brand of snack or beverage and redesign the packaging to create a smaller footprint (area and volume) and use sustainable materials (recycled or biodegradable).
This project directly aligns with ISTE’s emphasis on iteration and creativity, reinforcing that “students learn best when they are actively designing, testing, and improving ideas rather than consuming information passively” (ISTE, 2016)

Curriculum Standard or Course Learning Objective

ISTE Student Standard 1.4: Innovative Designer — Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful, or imaginative solutions.

Technology and Creativity

Technology

Canva to design a presentation in digital format
TinkerCAD to create a 3D prototype of their design
3D printer to print a physical copy of the design they made in TinkerCAD.

Canva allows students to create their own presentation and format it to fit their style and project goals.
TinkerCAD allows students to take drawings/ideas/prototypes and build 3D models of them on the computer. This requires lots of problem-solving, iterations, and practice on challenging computer design tools.
3D printers allow students to print real prototypes of their designs in order to see, touch, and interact with their solutions to determine viability and have a tangible model to share with their project presentation.
Students learn best through designing, testing, and improving ideas. (International Society for Technology in Education [ISTE], 2016)

“People are more engaged and persistent when they feel ownership over their learning.”(Deci & Ryan, 2000)

Student Agency

Canva: students are able to choose their own design format for their presentation, fonts, pictures, color formatting, and personalize their presentations. “Multiple means of representation and expression support diverse learners.”(CAST, 2018)
TinkerCAD: students get to make their own designs, nothing is premade for them, it’s all their own thinking, and the problem-solving process of utilizing/navigating the TinkerCAD site promotes excellent real-world computing skills.
3D printers: allow students to print different iterations of their design while also learning to operate a complex piece of digital machinery. Problems with printers always arise, plastic printing spools need to be replaced, and choices have to be made about the design in order for it to print a clear 3D model.

Project Structure

Key Stages

(select one or create your own)

Time Allocation

Description

Introduction

1 class session

Overview of factory processes in manufacturing and material choices in the design process for students' favorite snacks and beverages.
History of mass-produced foods and the impact of waste from disposable packaging.

Choosing their snack/beverage and finding/measuring its area and volume.

1 class session

Students will make their choices of which snack or beverage packaging they would like to redesign.
Students will find the area and volume of their product package.

Students will research sustainable packaging solutions and what’s currently being done to reduce packaging waste.

1 class session

Students will research sustainable packaging options/solutions.
Students will research what is currently being done to reduce packaging waste.

Students will begin the design process for their packaging idea

1 class session

Students will bring in the snack that they chose for their project (snacks will be provided for students who cannot provide their own).
Snacks will be eaten or embibed, and packaging will be cleaned.
Packaging will be taken apart to make a net of their product packaging.
Students will begin drawing designs of their packaging, building paper/cardboard models as preprototypes to get a feel for reducing area and volume.

Students will continue to create iterations of their prototypes and evolve their thinking

1 class session

Students will continue making/problem solving shapes, sizes, and designs to find solutions to reducing the area and volume of their packages.

“Iteration is a critical component of learning and design.”(Kolodner et al., 2003)

Students will design a 3D model of their solution in TinkerCAD.

1 class session

Students will use TinkerCAD to take their paper/cardboard models and produce a digital 3D model of their solution.

Some students will continue working in TinkerCAD, some will begin their Canva presentations

1 class session

Students who need more time will have time to work on their TinkerCAD designs.

Students who are finished will work on their Canva presentations.

Students will work on Canva presentations and begin printing their 3D designs

1 class session

Students will continue working on their presentations in Canva.

Students will also be pulled one at a time to download their TinkerCAD design into the 3D printer program.

Students will present their projects

1 class session

A panel of experts will visit our classes.

Students will present their Canva presentations with their problems, products, and solutions, and share their 3D models with experts who will give them feedback.

References:

Bruner, J. S. (1961). The act of discovery. Harvard Educational Review, 31(1), 21–32.
https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.31.1.5605g783x36m5082

CAST. (2018). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.2.
http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.
https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01

Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. Macmillan.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2016). ISTE standards for students.
https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students

Kolodner, J. L., Camp, P. J., Crismond, D., Fasse, B., Gray, J., Holbrook, J., Puntambekar, S., & Ryan, M. (2003). Problem-based learning meets case-based reasoning in the middle-school science classroom: Putting learning by design into practice. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 12(4), 495–547.
https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327809JLS1204_2

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815355

Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. Basic Books.