NuVu High School Technology Coach Ayush Gandhi hosts students on a journey this fall through a design studio entitled Communal Computing, encouraging students to reframe their relationship with technology.

“Right now, whenever we talk about computing, it's a laptop or phone,” shares Ayush. “It's a very individualized experience. When we want to collaborate, there's a screen in between, so it hampers the collaboration. But if we see computing as a basic input-output processing, can we reimagine computing for a collaborative space?”

The studio will begin with discussions and debates about the role of tech in the student’s lives, such as how do their phones, laptops, and other devices serve them as individuals and in their communities? Ayush says that to answer these questions, students will take on a design opportunity—rethinking the use of technology as they reimagine the future of work.

In partnership with Welo Spaces and their client Oliver Wyman Consulting Group, the studio will explore the Future of Work, to create a truly connected physical and digital space.

It was Ayush’s own beliefs that drove the creation of this design studio. He says “My biggest passion is ecosophy, or ecological philosophy. I feel like the individual habits or individual attributes are bringing forth real climate change. It is the human collaboration which is going to solve this. That is my biggest belief and what I hope to share with the students.”

Using cameras, projectors, bluetooth modules and code, students will design an immersive operating system—a room full of opportunity that uses innovative technology to rethink how they connect with one another. Students will work on developing programs, prototypes, and projects that use physical and digital computing to facilitate the processes of their daily lives in a more communal or public way.

“Welo is working a lot on spatial computing, and essentially,” explains Ayush, “ that’s the problem that we're trying to solve. How do you solve for remote plus physical working together?”

Each NuVu coach brings forth their own unique skill set to their teachings, and Ayush’s passion and experience will surely elevate this educational experience for our students with an impact felt in the classroom—and beyond.