CREATE YOUR
OWN “ ”
During my
visit to MIT Museum in Cambridge, I was attracted to the “Makey Makey” tool. It
is a simple system that includes the main bored, alligator clips, and a USB
Cable; which when connected to a laptop can transfer orders by touch (like a
mouse or keyboard). The idea was simple but I was impressed by the unlimited applications
that ranged from educational to entertaining. So, I started to search and read
about it and found that it was a Kickstarter project; where the inventors presented
their prototype, and proposed some possible applications. Their goal was to
collect $ 25,000 to develop the project, but the people’s interest was so high
that they collected more than $568,106, and here is one of the inventors’ main statements
in explaining their goal:
“We believe
that everyone is creative, inventive, and imaginative. We believe that everyone can create the future and change
the world. So we have dedicated our lives to making easy-to-use invention kits.
We believe that the whole world is a construction kit, if we choose to see it
that way.
We are inspired by the Maker Movement. We want to help people start to think of themselves as Makers and agents of change. When you have the "Maker's Mindset," you know you can change the world. “
We are inspired by the Maker Movement. We want to help people start to think of themselves as Makers and agents of change. When you have the "Maker's Mindset," you know you can change the world. “
After reading Kaplans’
preference-matrix model of environmental preference which suggests that the
highly preferred environments are the ones which are easy to understand and
allow for more exploration, I can see that this system is a good example of
achieving a high level of easy understanding and exploration.
First, Makey
Makey does not require specific knowledge or skills, and therefore can be used even
by children or elderly. You can just use the USB connection between the board
and the laptop, and the alligator clips between the board and any material that
can transfer even a low amount of electricity such as BANANAS! download a piano
software, and now you have created a banana piano keys.
Which brings us
to the second point of high potential of exploring. People have tried many
different materials and applications with Makey Makey. The materials include
food, paint, plants, human skin, etc. Furthermore, they used the system for games,
music, and painting. The following link shows some of the creative ideas:
This is not the
only successful example that applies the Kaplans’ preference-matrix model of
environmental preference. I think that we are surrounded by many others in our
daily life such the smart phones which act as device that can be used for many
functions depending on the application that we install in. Another more simple
and classic example is the children blocks that brings the joy of creating
different models and being surprised with what you can do with (e.g. the Lego
creative models).
As a person
who works in the academic field I am thinking about how to use the preference matrix
to create environments that students and educators would prefer. An environment
that provides support for understanding and a chance for exploring, and therefore
result in more creative outcome. On the other hand, as a student I keep
thinking about how to overcome the challenge that I face in some courses where understanding
or exploration is a challenge. Do you have some successful strategies that worked?
or experiences that you would like to share?
References:
Kaplan, S. (1987). Aesthetics, Affect and Cognition:
Environmental Preference From an Evolutionary Perspective. Environment and
Behavior, 3-32.
I agree with you that the "Makey Makey" tool is a good example of preferred environment in our daily life. I think two of Kaplan's four components play an important role in making it preferable: coherence and mystery. Its logic is easy to understand because it follows the operating rules of most contemporary electronic products, which people are adaptive to. At the same time, it produces an enjoyable cognitive involvement (people can create their games or music), which in Herzog's (1988) work creates mystery. Through this interaction with the "Makey Makey" tool, people can also add new information to their cognitive maps. This process is adaptive from the view of evolution.
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ReplyDeleteThe "Makey Makey" tool is very intriguing in that it gives enough information to promote understanding of the tool, but does not afford a specific use and thereby hinder exploration. In response to your question about strategies for preferable environments for students and educators I am reminded of the work of Kopec (2012). It highlights a possible paradigm shift in the academic environment as a result of the advent of internet technologies. Opportunities now exist to move traditional auditory and visually focused learning online allowing for the use of classroom spaces as studio or labs that promote creativity and kinesthetic learning. These types of learning spaces promote understanding rather through trial and error or instructor guidance, but also allow for individual student exploration, possibly beyond that of the established curriculum.
ReplyDelete"Makey Makey" reminded me of the theory of intrinsic motivation proposed by Deci and Ryan. Based on this theory, people are motivated to do something because it gives them a sense of autonomy and mastery. Autonomy reflects the need for creativity and choice and mastery reflects the need for learning and personal development. "Makey Makey" or similar do-it-yourself tools are great ways to motivate people to not only consume technology but also explore new potentials. This will also bring the expert knowledge of technology to people that have local knowledge of a specific domain. DIY projects are rapidly growing in different domains as people are want to distance themselves from ready-made and designer objects. This creates a great potential for new opportunities that gives people frameworks and tools to create and not objects to use.
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