Computing Making Projects
Making can be thought of as encompassing practical activities which involve the use of creativity to design and develop a product or artefact that can demonstrated and interacted with. The educational benefits of making are usually considered to result from the process rather than the finished artefact itself. The artefacts are usually tangible in nature, however, makes can also be digital.
Making has close links to constructionism, which, builds upon the concept of constructivism in which learners construct their own knowledge by emphasising that learning is particularly effective when learners are actively engaged in the construction of a public entity (Papert, 1991).
The term physical computing also has close links to both making and constructionism. It refers to activities that involve the use of programmable hardware such as microcontrollers to create interactive artefacts. As such, it could be argued that physical computing is a form of making which utilises programmable hardware.
A wide variety of makes can be considered to relate to computing. I propose that one or more of the following three categories could be applied to each computing related make.
- Tool: Tools to aid learning a computing concept
- Process: Makes that involve computing knowledge and skills in the process
- Representation: Makes that represent a computing concept in a new or unusual way
The following section outlines some example computing makes:
Binary Braille Ruler
A 3D printed make designed to help blind students learn how binary works.
Category: Tool
Input-Output Board
Designed to help learners to develop an understanding of how to work with external inputs and outputs in a micro-controller.
Category: Tool
E-Textile Christmas Tree
A physical computing project which employs a number of different computing concepts.
Category: Process
Logo Turtle Snowflake Design
A digital make that enables learners to practice their programming skills.
Category: Process
Programming in Crochet
Many of the familiar programming constructs can be found in crochet patterns.
Category: Process
Relay Logic Gates
Building working models of logic gates using relays.
Categories: Process, Representation
Image Representation in Crochet
A make that illustrates the principles of image representation.
Categories: Process, Representation
micro:bit Logic Gates
This make involves the programming of micro:bits to simulate logic gates and using them to build logic circuits.
Categories: Process
Code Design Board
This is a tool I designed as a medium for blind learners to design their code.
Category: Tool