Thread: if you could have a product designed to help out your day...

Design a podium- light enough to be lifted easily, large enough to hold a laptop computer and two large books, and sturdy enough for a 200-lb man to lean on. Preferably, one that also has a lower shelf for a tiny bit of storage, and one that has a shallow angle at the top. And, if you can- adjustable height.

are you still looking for product design examples?

Originally Posted by 5point0

What else is there?

Ah ... now that's the fifty million dollar question. If you could design a product that's so wonderful, so helpful, so convenient and easy to use that teachers would line up in droves for 'em, you'd be able to produce said gizmos and sell hundreds of thousands of them and become wealthy beyond your wildest dreams.

For example, the vacuum flask was first invented by Sir James Dewar in 1892. Two German glass blowers marketed the first commercial insulated flask in 1904. They called their product, the "thermos" after the Greek word, "therme" or heat. Three years later, the Germans sold the Thermos trademark rights to three different companies which developed the Thermos vacuum flask into a widely sought after product.

The thermos was taken on Robert Peary's trip to the Arctic, Roosevelt's expedition to Mombassa, and into the air with the Wright brothers and Count Zeppelin.

Mass production techniques that used blow molding to create plastic bottles eventually made the thermos into a commonly used device that was as popular with school children as it was with construction workers.

I wonder how many thermos bottles have been produced since 1907? Tens of millions? Hundred of millions?

8O

And to think that this all began with one person's "what if" idea.

Here's a thought.....


A modernized A-V cart. Made of hard, lightweight plastic. An integral projector with integral speakers. All you gotta do is plug in your laptop. Built with a shelf space that has a door or drawer. And with a nice dropcord- 25 feet. Yeah, pricey. Crank 'em out by the million and they'll be cheaper. But roving teachers everywhere will thank you.

Something that cleans overhead transparencies!!! I have a stack of used overhead transparencies covered in marker. I hate washing them off and they are hard to dry. Plus, my hands are always covered in marker from them.

Flor, I picked up a neat trick for that (from this board, I think). I take old phone books to school. You put the transparency in the book and squirt it with water (liberally) and close the book. Leave it there for awhile (perhaps overnight) and remove them the next day (or whenever you need them). It dries them and cleans off all the ink with no wiping.

An added benefit is that the kids are fascinated if you do this while they are in the room. They always ask me, "Miss, what are you doing to your phone book?" :lol:

Some type of electronic recording equipment that would come on automatically whenever the teacher is teaching and made accessible to students who need to make up work because they missed the lesson is my suggestion. Students who miss instruction invariably come back and say, "What did I miss yesterday?" or "Did you do anything yesterday?" We always do something, and they always miss out. But teaching a 90-minute lesson in 2-3 minutes just isn't possible. Students should truly make up the work by sitting through it.

I would love something that keeps desk legs from becoming uneven. I spend too much time going around and checking the balance of student desks. Otherwise they spend all day rocking back and forth and it is pretty disruptive. Also better carts that we can use with overhead projectors. Our carts are pretty worn out.

A crescent moon shaped desk that inclines slightly towards you, leaving you with a comfortable angle to work on. Having some low, florescent type lighting lining the entire top back edge facing you. A desk, in my opinion, is the teachers sanctuary of sorts in the classroom. If the teacher is comfortable there, he or she is comfortable with the entire class making the learning experience more enjoyable and productive for the students.

Yes, I have a thing about desks.