Description of the course
The course offers basic knowledge on accounting and logistics. It also addresses how ICT solutions can support financial management practices.
Description of the participants
The course is an elective in the Financials Management, Accounting, and Information Systems graduate program of the Department of Logistics and Information Systems of the International University of Greece, which is located in Thessaloniki. A design thinking workshop based on the principles introduced by ICT-INOV was delivered in the context of the course in spring 2024 after a formal invitation by the International University of Greece. The workshop was attended by approximately 30 students enrolled at the International University of Greece.
Description of gamified design thinking activities
Students worked towards introducing solutions to challenges related to the UN Sustainability Goals. They worked in groups of 5 individuals. An activity was created for the purpose of the workshop in the ICT-INOV digital learning platform. The course took place virtually. Students used the ICT-INOV digital learning platform to collaborate in teams from a distance.
Activities were organized in the following steps.
Step 1. Creativity and team building.
Students were encouraged to draw an object that is of use to someone using predefined shapes. The purpose of the exercise was to boost the confidence of students in their creative nature.
Subsequently, students were asked to decide on a team name and create a team logo as a team building exercise.
Step 2. Discovery.
Students performed discovery exercises on the broad subject of sustainability. They noted ideas related to sustainability. They established associations between the concept of sustainability and places, people, actions, and feelings. Finally, they selected a specific sustainability topic and described it through images, videos, scientific articles, and press articles that they researched on the internet. Students presented their work to the class.
Step 3. Problem re-definition.
Students defined the problem they decided to work on in the form “how might we … design something that … allows users to …”.
Step 4. Ideation.
Students performed ideation exercises in order to generate as many ideas as possible towards solving the problem in focus. Exercises included identifying high level ideas, high and low-cost ideas, ideas that require technology for implementation, and ideas that start from different letters of the alphabet, an exercise that promotes the use of different parts of the brain.
