First Things First

This section of the guide is designed to support design club leaders, parents, and others who are interested in:

• Thinking about ways of starting and sustaining an Imagination Place! Design Club.
• Collecting materials that will help enhance workshop sessions
• Locating important background information about design, gender issues, technical issues, etc.
• Identifying related sites availabe on the World Wide Web (WWW)
• Obtaining supporting print materials not currently available on the web

Sections within this guide lay out the goals of Imagination Place! and provide a framework for the suggested activities. To orient yourself we strongly urge you to read:

• About This Guide which contains:
  • Goals of this resource guide
  • The Imagination Place! in KAHooTZ Environment
  • How To Use This Guide
  • Tips and Strategies
• Background and introductory information about Imagination Place! including:
  • Girls, Boys, and Technology
  • Why Imagination Place!?
• What Is Design? contains information about design and its relationship to the Imagination Place! in KAHooTZ environment.

Start Gathering

Because sketching and drawing are so important to design there are certain materials that you need to have available for participants all the time. They include:

• paper: lined, unlined, graph, colored, etc.
• felt tip pens, pencils, crayons, etc.
• glue: white, sticks, etc.
• scissors
• notebooks or folders that will become participants' design portfolios / notebooks

Many of the discussions that participants will have, focus on technology, invention, design and imagination. Having concrete examples on hand for participants to look at is helpful. Start collecting examples of technology including: physical objects and devices, drawings and magazine photos of inventions, imaginative devices, and things that have been designed in more than one way. You also might consider having participants contribute to the on-going collection.

Optional, but recommended: Videotape player (vcr) and monitor to show video clips pertinent to technology such as: video clips from the Flintstones and/or Jetsons or any children's program that features imaginative technology. A 10-15 minute presentation of these clips can drive home the meaning of technology and its importance in everyday life. It is also a dramatic, fun way of getting children to think about the nature of technology.

Take Stock of Your Technical Needs

Lots of the design work that participants will be doing will happen on computers, so you will need a plan for how participants can make the best use of the available computer resources. Currently, KAHooTZ is only available for IBM compatible computers. PCs with KAHooTZ loaded and ready for participant use should be available. Additionally, you may want to consider the kind of software that can enhance participation efforts such as: a graphics program, tours that help familarize participants with operating system conventions, keyboarding games, etc. Hardware and software issues are discussed in more detail in Help in Setting Up and Managing IP! Clubs.

The KAHooTZ Environment combines powerful tools in an active world that thrives on exchange, participation and the communication of ideas. Icons (visual representations of particular identities), Xpressions (the things created in KAHooTZ and what KAHooTZ is based on), and Chat (where participants go on-line to talk with other kids in KAHooTZ) are three main elements of the environment. Create, Save, and Publish are three important functions in the environment. An extensive on-line help, that is part of the KAHooTZ environment, details the who, what, when, how, and where of the KAHooTZ environment. Through out this resource guide, related KAHooTZ help titles are given.

Other Project Resources

• Imagination Place! Resource Guide for Design Club Leaders
• Imagination Place! Poster("What You Can Do in Imagination Place! / Design Is a Process")
• Imagination Place! Brochure
• Imagination Place! Stickers
• KAHooTZ Brochure
• KAHooTZ In The Classroom