The three main questions framing the day were:
What are the strengths / the benefits of using Making as a pedagogical tool?
What are the weaknesses / the limitations of using Making?
Are there topics which cannot (or ought not) be addressed through a Making pedagogy?
We were first introduced to the concept of polyrhythms and the ratios required to make them. After this, we split into 2 groups for different activities. In my group, we did an eTextiles activity to create a bag with flashing poly-rhythmic lights which used a version of the Arduino Lilypad.
After examining a pre-made model, we cut material from a pair of old trousers.
It looked like this after the conductive thread was added:
So, lets answer the original questions:
What are the strengths / the benefits of using Making as a pedagogical tool? Well, the bag was quite impressive when completed and would naturally lead to the requirement of not just how you made it, but also why the lights blink in the order they blink in. This takes learning away from simply doing and internalising, to doing, internalising and then explaining, which is quite a leap.
What are the weaknesses / the limitations of using Making? That bloody conductive thread! I lost patience, so I imagine students would to. Huge amount of preparation would be needed too, but the bag looked great. We estimated you would need at least 8 hours or 1 whole term to complete this project with a class.
Are there topics which cannot (or ought not) be addressed through a Making pedagogy? We looked predominantly at Maths as a theme, introducting textiles, computer science, design technology and a bit of physics, which isn't bad for one task.
What are the strengths / the benefits of using Making as a pedagogical tool?
What are the weaknesses / the limitations of using Making?
Are there topics which cannot (or ought not) be addressed through a Making pedagogy?
We were first introduced to the concept of polyrhythms and the ratios required to make them. After this, we split into 2 groups for different activities. In my group, we did an eTextiles activity to create a bag with flashing poly-rhythmic lights which used a version of the Arduino Lilypad.
After examining a pre-made model, we cut material from a pair of old trousers.
We then sewed conductive thread in the material to allow a circuit to be made in the textile.
Whilst Salma and I were doing this, the other pair in our group were programming the polyrhythm algorithm for the lights to blink and testing it worked on a paper based example:
Then we hit a tricky spot, hand stitching the LED lights onto the bad using conductive thread.
The conductive thread would fray extremely easily, making it nigh on impossible to thread through the needle we used. Everyone got frustrated, but David persevered and created a working bad with 2, rather than 4, lights which flashed polyrhythmically.
What are the strengths / the benefits of using Making as a pedagogical tool? Well, the bag was quite impressive when completed and would naturally lead to the requirement of not just how you made it, but also why the lights blink in the order they blink in. This takes learning away from simply doing and internalising, to doing, internalising and then explaining, which is quite a leap.
What are the weaknesses / the limitations of using Making? That bloody conductive thread! I lost patience, so I imagine students would to. Huge amount of preparation would be needed too, but the bag looked great. We estimated you would need at least 8 hours or 1 whole term to complete this project with a class.
Are there topics which cannot (or ought not) be addressed through a Making pedagogy? We looked predominantly at Maths as a theme, introducting textiles, computer science, design technology and a bit of physics, which isn't bad for one task.
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