12/2 Reading Takeaways
1. In Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom , Stager and Martinez write about bringing Fab Labs designed for early maker education into the classroom, "a place where students could safely make, build, and share
their creations". They make the argument that digital fabrication spaces are necessary in schools for kids to integrate our vastly growing technological world into their learning processes. Why not have teachers instruct kids in ways of engineering rather than ignoring the fact that technology exists and that kids need to know how to use it thoughtfully and imaginatively? They need time to experiment and have guided learning exercises in technology- having it as a foreign concept that "if you don't learn it online, on your own, it won't be a part of your education" is utter nonsense. I know that for me, if I don't take a class to learn a new media form,
I won't bother to learn it on my own- I'm too busy trying to keep up with other parts of my education. Why not integrate arduinos, programming, laser cutters and low cost 3D printers into elementary and high schools? I wish coding and robotics had been a requirement of my secondary school education, particularly combined with the art classroom. I might not be so afraid of using and learning technology if I had a history of experimenting with it. My artworks could have been so much more interactive and whimsical. Learning how to use arduinos to create fab-tronics and art making machines, or learning how to create an interactive webpage in the classroom sounds so exciting. I would love to have a fab lab in my own classroom one day if I ever get the courage to learn these technologies on my own, or take a class to help me do so. I believe that the learning possibilities for kids are endless.
2. In Digital Fabrication and Making in Education: The Democratization of Invention, Blikstein writes about how digital fabrication in schools doesn't have to be an intimidating activity, separated out from the traditional classroom and made to be learning experience only for those with the highest IQs or geeky boys. I think that digital fabrication can and should be combined with the traditional classroom, meshed with learning math, science, art, and music and available to learners of every level and gender. Educators have the ability to add technological layers to everyday materials, concepts, and practices, as Blikstein states. As we know, building and making are concepts children learn at early ages- stacking blocks, making buildings out of legos, inventing toys out of scraps. Using digital tools to create instead of simple plastic toy ones is a great way to get kids to start learning digital languages early on. I have this vision of every subject in elementary and high school using the fab lab in some part of the curriculum where students use technology to make new tools and programs to help understand concepts or extend their learning. Digital fabrication technology is affordable and widely available for use. There's no reason to have schools remain in a past life where these tools didn't exist. They do exist now, they're relatively easy to learn for all ages, and we need to know how to use them if we are to survive in a world where everything is becoming digitized and engineering based. Digital fabrication always seemed like this foreign thing to me that I could never even attempt to try- it still holds this aura of mystery. I look at people in the thingspace and automatically think "that's not for me, I'm not technologically fluent enough". I want kids to get excited to create when they see laser cutters, 3D printers, arduinos, and circuits- not intimidated and scared like myself.
In the art classroom, I would love to see kids create small robots that can draw by themselves and cnc machines, integrate light circuits into drawing and painting projects, and tinker with coding to create interactive websites or applications. I think that kids need to see technology for its possibilities in fabrication rather than as a consumer product. When art is fully interactive, some viewers are more inclined to look and consider the ideas presented- kids could make more of an influence on their community in this way with ideas that are important to them.
I won't bother to learn it on my own- I'm too busy trying to keep up with other parts of my education. Why not integrate arduinos, programming, laser cutters and low cost 3D printers into elementary and high schools? I wish coding and robotics had been a requirement of my secondary school education, particularly combined with the art classroom. I might not be so afraid of using and learning technology if I had a history of experimenting with it. My artworks could have been so much more interactive and whimsical. Learning how to use arduinos to create fab-tronics and art making machines, or learning how to create an interactive webpage in the classroom sounds so exciting. I would love to have a fab lab in my own classroom one day if I ever get the courage to learn these technologies on my own, or take a class to help me do so. I believe that the learning possibilities for kids are endless.
2. In Digital Fabrication and Making in Education: The Democratization of Invention, Blikstein writes about how digital fabrication in schools doesn't have to be an intimidating activity, separated out from the traditional classroom and made to be learning experience only for those with the highest IQs or geeky boys. I think that digital fabrication can and should be combined with the traditional classroom, meshed with learning math, science, art, and music and available to learners of every level and gender. Educators have the ability to add technological layers to everyday materials, concepts, and practices, as Blikstein states. As we know, building and making are concepts children learn at early ages- stacking blocks, making buildings out of legos, inventing toys out of scraps. Using digital tools to create instead of simple plastic toy ones is a great way to get kids to start learning digital languages early on. I have this vision of every subject in elementary and high school using the fab lab in some part of the curriculum where students use technology to make new tools and programs to help understand concepts or extend their learning. Digital fabrication technology is affordable and widely available for use. There's no reason to have schools remain in a past life where these tools didn't exist. They do exist now, they're relatively easy to learn for all ages, and we need to know how to use them if we are to survive in a world where everything is becoming digitized and engineering based. Digital fabrication always seemed like this foreign thing to me that I could never even attempt to try- it still holds this aura of mystery. I look at people in the thingspace and automatically think "that's not for me, I'm not technologically fluent enough". I want kids to get excited to create when they see laser cutters, 3D printers, arduinos, and circuits- not intimidated and scared like myself.
In the art classroom, I would love to see kids create small robots that can draw by themselves and cnc machines, integrate light circuits into drawing and painting projects, and tinker with coding to create interactive websites or applications. I think that kids need to see technology for its possibilities in fabrication rather than as a consumer product. When art is fully interactive, some viewers are more inclined to look and consider the ideas presented- kids could make more of an influence on their community in this way with ideas that are important to them.
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