Response to Chapter 8

Designing is always something I have felt inadequate at. Often times, I like to let others do the designing and I will employ the design and give feedback. However, after reading this chapter, I realized that I design often, even when I don’t realize that I am. I have also realized the importance of design and how no advancement would ever occur without people looking to create and design new medias, ideas, places, theories, etc. Without creative design this world would be a boring place.

On a personal note, the text mentioned Science Olympiad, which is basically a national organization that breaks down by states and holds a large science competition one weekend per year. The top three winners from each state go on to compete at the national level. Although the competition only takes place over the course of a weekend, the preparation for each event takes months of studying and designing. The competition looks similar to the Olympics in that there are a series of different events to compete in. Each school takes a team of students who compete in a few events each. In middle school, I was a part of our Science Olympiad team. I competed in 3 events, Balloon Race, Pentathlon, and Reach for the Stars. Balloon race was an event where you had to fill a balloon with helium, and then figure out its exact mass, then to go on and cut and attach a piece of cardboard so that the balloon would leave the ground but not rise to the ceiling, basically finding the equilibrium. Pentathlon was basically a relay race where various physics questions were answered and then an experiment related to the question was completed. Finally, Reach for the Stars was an astronomy question competition. There are tons of other events. But I have very fond memories of participating in this competition and wanting to learn more. I never realized how much design and preparation went into my time in those events until now. This however is really all of the design experience I have had.

Considering my little experience with design, especially technological design, this chapter was very interesting to me. The text mentioned the use of CAD or computer-aided design. Again, to my surprise, I have had practice with such a program. In middle school we were required to take an AutoCAD class. By the use of this program we created CO2 racing cars that were streamlined and that we would eventually build and race based off of our AutoCAD designs. We also did very minimal and basic architecture drawings. Although this was many years ago and the technology is much more advanced now, I remember how fun and intriguing it was to use such a program. It was very challenging at times, because with programs such as that, precision is key. However, I do remember that advantage to creating such drawings on the computer than with my terrible drawing abilities. The issue that I have with this chapter is that I feel that in order to properly learn or grasp any of these programs or concepts, hands-on practice is needed. For example, when the text tried to describe how to create the Lego using CAD it was hard to follow. I think that if we were taken through a step-by-step process with the program in front of us it would be much easier to grasp. Which leads me to my second problem. Although programs like this are very beneficial to use with students, it will be hard to find a school with a budget big enough for each student in a class to have a computer with this software on it to practice and design. That has been a common theme throughout this entire book and I think will be until the cost of technology comes down, which is probably never. All of these different technologies are so useful and beneficial to students however, most schools today do not have the budget to fund such technologies or maintain them, which is truly sad. Especially considering how our future students are part of the technological age. How are we supposed to ever keep up with them or maintain relevant if we are always lagging? After doing some research, I found that some CAD programs can cost upwards of 1,000 dollars. However, I also found a website that is basically a database of several free CAD programs that are usable and accessible online.

http://www.freecad.com/

On this site, there are over 750 links to various free CAD programs, accessories, and services. With free sites such as this, I believe that we may be able to bring more technological designs to the classroom.

Simulation software is something that is much more familiar due to chapter 3. Using simulations as design software can be very useful in my opinion. My mind was immediately brought back to one of the simulation sites that we used in our chapter presentation.

http://phet.colorado.edu/index.php

This website allows not only partaking in simulations but in designing them as well! And the best part of all is that it is free. Students can become members of the site and contribute designed activities or simulations that they have created. For example in our science class, our teacher showed us an example of states of matter and how the molecules move when the temperature drops and rises and the pressure increases and decreases. The simulation was designed and constructed by a 10th grade physics class. An activity such as this would be great to conduct as a whole class or group assignment, having the students work together to design and create a model that can help them better understand how something works or is created. Not only will designing simulations help students to understand concepts of design better, but having to actually create rather than “recreate” something pushes students to understand the ins and outs of what they are learning. I think that creation requires the highest and most advanced levels of thinking because many different facets need to be considered in order to ensure that something is going to work. I also really enjoyed the activity that the text mentioned using the Trebuchet simulator. I think that even simple activities where students have to create something within certain parameters is a great place to start with design and creation. In middle school, we had to create a bridge out of toothpicks that could support a certain number of bricks. There were very clear guidelines as to what we could use. Some people created their plans using programs similar to the Trebuchet one mentioned, while others, like me, drew their plans. Not surprisingly, the bridges that were created using the software were better suited to hold more bricks. Using simulations not only makes designing easier but also makes it more effective.

The section on media design immediately reminded me of Scratch. My time spent with Scratch has both been frustrating and fun. Although, it is very challenging to discover and learn about programming, it is also semi-exhilarating when you create something and get it to work. I think that Scratch is an impeccably designed introductory program that any and all students could use. With the use of the easier terminology and the tutorial, the program is easy to catch on to when used often enough. Simply playing around with the program allows for new discoveries each time. I have found, in exploring the Scratch website that not only is it fun and beneficial to create programs, but also fun to play and deconstruct the ones that are already created. This is one of my favorite features of Scratch. Although it is great to create a program, it could be just as beneficial for students to deconstruct an already created program. In doing this, they can see how the creator thought, discover what their purpose was, and learn even more about how and why certain things work the way that they do. Something also interesting in this section was the iStopMotion. I think that students would love to create their own movies and animations. Also, I think that it is interesting that even elementary schoolers could use it. I have found that at several different points throughout this book that some of the suggested tools are far too advanced for elementary schoolers. Therefore, when a tool is mentioned that is suitable for even the young students, it is very exciting. In doing some research there is also a free download available that students can choose to use at home or even schools can download. Usually used only on Macs, this download can also be used on PCs as well. What is also nice about programs such as this is that they truly can be integrated into any area of the curriculum. Using programs such as this to enhance other curricular areas will not only make it more exciting to students but more relevant as well.

Finally, designing music with computer software is also highlighted in the text. Although I believe that music is important and an outlet for many students, I think it is hard to make using such programs viable in many content areas. I understand that such programs would be useful in music classes or in adding depth to other lessons, but I don’t think they would be as valuable in using them within core curricular content. I understand that music is extremely important I just am still unsure of where this type of software would fit in the curriculum and an already stretched budget.

Overall, I enjoyed this chapter. I wish that I could have been more hands-on with some of the tools so that I would be better able to understand them. I think that the ideas proposed here all have validity and could be very valuable within classrooms. Not all would be suitable for elementary grades, but with serious scaffolding and guidance I believe that upper elementary students could utilize a great portion of those highlighted. I hope to gain more experience with CAD and programs like Scratch in the future!