A Design Thinking Approach to Strengthen Rural Literacy and Numeracy in Indonesia
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Indonesia invests nearly one-fifth of its national budget in education, yet literacy and numeracy outcomes, especially in rural regions, remain critically low (Kurniawati et al., 2018; Rakhmawati & Mustadi, 2022).
This project applies a hybrid Design Thinking model, combining the Stanford D.school and Double Diamond frameworks, to co-design a community-based offline learning companion app.
Working collaboratively with children, parents, teachers, NGOs, and community leaders, the project aims to strengthen foundational learning through low-tech, gamified, and culturally grounded approaches.
The plan spans a 3–6 month design cycle, emphasizing empathy, iteration, and inclusive collaboration to promote equitable, sustainable educational change.
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AI Acknowledgement
I use Generative AI (https://chatgpt.com) to help me brainstorm every appendix in this assessment. Furthermore, I treat ChatGPT as a “stakeholder” on this assessment to give me a better understanding of every stakeholder. In addition, I use ChatGPT to generate the mock-up of StoryQuest App.
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| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Unit | EDF5766 – Digital Futures in Education |
| Task | Assessment 2 – Design Solution |
| Author | Rahmat Syawaludin |
| Examiner | Joanne Blannin |
| Michael Phillips | |
| Mohammad Jokar |
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This design journey continues the work begun in Assessment 1, expanding from wicked problem definition to collaborative solution design. It reflects a belief that sustainable educational change grows through empathy, iteration, and shared ownership among all stakeholders.
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Indonesia allocates nearly 20% of its national budget to education, yet learning outcomes in literacy and numeracy remain among the weakest in the region (Kurniawati et al., 2018). National reforms such as Merdeka Belajar and the Gerakan Literasi Sekolah (GLS) program have expanded access and infrastructure but have not translated into improved outcomes, especially in rural areas (Rakhmawati & Mustadi, 2022).
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Wicked Problem Insight: Persistent learning inequities arise not from a single cause, but from interconnected systemic loops: policy overload, teacher workload, parental capacity, and community fragmentation (APS, 2007; Rittel & Webber, 1973).
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