Kaitiaki Pūtaiao: Data analysis complete. You've identified the problems and understood the underlying systems. Now, we move from analysis to synthesis. The challenge is to design a solution.
Kaitiaki Toi: And that's where we shine! A design challenge is a story waiting to be told. How can we redesign these digital spaces to be more beautiful, more human, and healthier for our Taha Tinana? Let's become ethical architects!
Knowledge (Māramatanga)
- Define 'ethical design' as designing with the user's well-being as a priority.
- Identify specific design elements that can be changed to improve well-being.
- Understand that design involves making trade-offs (e.g., engagement vs. health).
Skills (Pūkenga)
- Brainstorm creative solutions to a design problem.
- Create a simple prototype or wireframe of a redesigned interface.
- Justify design choices based on principles of hauora and ergonomics.
Values (Wairuatanga)
- Develop empathy for users of technology.
- Appreciate the power and responsibility of being a creator of technology.
- Value solutions that prioritise human well-being over profit or engagement.
Media Anchor | Watch & Discuss (10 minutes)
Video Anchor: Algorithms of Oppression and AI Bias
Frame this lesson as redesign: from engagement-maximising systems to wellbeing-first systems.
- What would you remove from current app design to reduce harm?
- Which wellbeing feature would you prioritise first, and how would you measure impact?
Whakatūwhera | The Design Brief (10 minutes)
Main Activity: The Problem Statement
- Recap (5 mins): The teacher asks for a quick summary of the key problems identified in the last two lessons (e.g., "Apps are designed to hook us," "Using devices can cause physical strain").
- The Brief (5 mins): The teacher presents the challenge: "Your task is to redesign a popular app's interface to make it better for a user's Taha Tinana. You are not just a user anymore; you are an ethical designer."
Main Learning | The Ethical Design Sprint (40 minutes)
Main Activity: Redesigning an App
- Choose an App (5 mins): In small groups, students choose a popular app to focus on (e.g., YouTube, TikTok, Instagram).
- Ideation (10 mins): Using the "Ethical Design Challenge" handout, groups brainstorm answers to the question: "How could we change this app to reduce physical strain and break the dopamine loop?" (e.g., add break reminders, change colours, remove infinite scroll).
- Prototyping (20 mins): Groups use the wireframe templates on the handout (or a blank piece of paper) to sketch out their redesigned interface. They must label at least three key changes and explain why they made them, linking back to concepts like ergonomics or the dopamine loop.
- Prepare to Pitch (5 mins): Groups prepare a quick (1-minute) pitch to explain their redesign.
Consolidation | The Design Showcase (20 minutes)
Main Activity: Pitching the Prototypes
- Pitches (15 mins): Each group presents their redesigned app prototype. They have 1 minute to explain the key changes and the reasoning behind them.
- Class Vote (5 mins): After all pitches, the class votes for the "Most Ethical Design"—the one that would best support their Taha Tinana.
Whakakapi | We are all Architects (5 minutes)
Main Activity: Final Reflection
- The teacher concludes: "Today, you were all architects of a healthier digital world. You proved that technology doesn't have to be the way it is. It can be changed. It can be designed with care. You have successfully strengthened the first wall of your whare, Taha Tinana. Next week, we begin work on the second wall: Taha Hinengaro, our mental and emotional well-being."
Curriculum alignment
- Ecosystems — Knowledge: Human activity and technology impact the environment.
- Materials — Practices: Designing and carrying out investigations that distinguish chemical change from physical changes by identifying and utilising observable indicators; evaluating whether changes…
- Matter Interactions and Energy — Knowledge: Current is the flow of electric charge through a conductor. It transfers energy to make devices work.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to explore digital kaitiakitanga — applying tikanga Māori principles of guardianship, manaakitanga, and whanaungatanga to their digital lives, spaces, and technologies.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can explain how kaitiakitanga applies to digital environments and online communities.
- ✅ Students can connect tikanga Māori values to ethical decision-making in digital contexts.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters and visual frameworks to scaffold access at the entry level. Offer extension tasks that deepen ethical analysis — for example, comparing digital tikanga principles to international AI ethics frameworks.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key kupu (kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, tikanga) with bilingual glossaries. Allow students to express ideas in their home language first before translating to English.
Inclusion: Chunk tasks and provide clear visual instructions. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured choice in how they demonstrate understanding (e.g., verbal, written, or visual). Affirm diverse digital experiences as valid starting points.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Digital kaitiakitanga frames technology through Te Ao Māori — our digital spaces are extensions of our marae, our data is part of our whakapapa, and our online behaviour reflects our mana. Tikanga Māori provides a powerful ethical compass for navigating the digital world.
Prior knowledge: No specialist digital technology knowledge required for entry-level engagement. Best used after introductory lessons on tikanga Māori or as part of a digital technologies unit.
Curriculum alignment
- Te Mātaiaho (2025) · Technology · Phase 4 (Years 9–10) · Design, Make, and Innovate (Knowledge): “Digital content and data must be created, stored, and shared ethically and legally, respecting privacy, attribution, intellectual property, and local cultural considerations.”
- NZC (2007) · Technology · Level 4: “Understand how different forms of functional modelling are used to explore possibilities and to justify decision making and how prototyping can be used to justify refinement of technological outcomes.”