I was supposed to be in Virginia this weekend working with a team of collaborators figuring out “What’s next?” for Designers for Learning. At the last minute, we had to postpone the face-to-face trip, but the momentum will continue in the interim with online conversations until we reschedule.
This question of “What’s next?” runs through my head most hours of the day. Designers for Learning started out as a small service-learning project to help a nonprofit that needed some resources to support their adult education program as they made the transition to the “new” (at the time) GED test. Almost as soon as we sent out the “Call for Participants” we knew we had to start thinking about “What’s next?” when far more people applied than we had spots within the cohort. Pretty soon, the project became a nonprofit. Pretty soon, I was managing a nonprofit. Pretty soon, administering Designers for Learning projects grew to be a major part of my day. Pretty soon, interest to participate in service-learning projects far outstripped the volunteer-based infrastructure we had to mentor participants and manage design projects.
Which brings us to today. I wish I had the answer to my nagging question of “What’s next?”, but I have a feeling it will be a perpetual quest.