8/4 Reading reflection

Constructivism, the underlying principle of makerspace, suggests that the knowledge is not delivered to the learner, but constructed inside the learner's head. Learners are impulsed by solving a specific problem in a authentic context, where the intrinsic motivation drive them to learn science and math. Any new material can create new learning opportunities.  Student take control of their own learning as they take ownership of their projects; personal learning happen naturally.  These statements could be applied in both science and art.

I really resonate with the author in couple things. Makerspace helps students with their creativity. In that environment, students are encouraged and horned to express their thoughts and ideas in any forms. The results of their projects may not be important at all, but the intellectual processes employed during the making process are most valued.  This skill is a great asset to students which they can carried outside the classroom and can serve them for life-long. Makerspace also nurtures the spirit of not being afraid of failure, just test and try, which is also valued across different subjects. 

Another thing brought into my attention is the social aspect of learning. "Talking and working with others is one of the best way of cement new knowledge."(Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. 2013). Makerspace helps to cultivate a sense of collaboration and build a learning community where students switch roles from learners to tutors. Students get inspired by each other, share their learning and help others, which are rarely seen in the traditional classrooms. In the professional workplace, no matter in technology or art industry, teamwork is crucial for successful products, it should be encouraged since students are young.

7/1 Sounds project

For the recording project, We (Katherine, Yechen and I)  want to track some sounds that have indications in our daily life. We would know someone is coming by hearing the steps. We hear the training is coming, before seeing it approaching the station. We feel cold when we hear the sound of wind and rain. These sounds create vivid images and sensations simultaneously when we hear them.

So we start to record the sound from the rain, from people's steps, from the subway and the sound from the radio on the subway. And then we attach a layer of classical music, which add a sense of luxury to the daily routine.  When we finished the piece and listened to it, I feel like I am experiencing a scenario, in which a person is listening to the classical music and walking in the rain to a subway station and take the subway. The layers give me more sense of a real life.

7/2 Reflections on the sounds

I have to admit that I never thought about the role sounds play in our lives. I take them for granted and never pay full attention to them.

Due to this week assignment, I start to listen to sounds actively. I recorded couple clips from the subway on my way to queens. I took subway a millions times, but never listen to the sounds on the subway. I unplugged my earphone from the music, turned off my e-reader, and concentrated to the sounds around me.

I start to feel the sound, feel the vibration, from all directions. I closed the eyes for couple minutes; I can hear the sound from the train track, the conversation from the people sit near by and the voice of radio on the train. I noticed that I was able to visualize everything I heard, the grind from the track metals, the faces of the people talking. Sounds encircled me and created a three dimensional space surround me. Sound presents more than a picture; it live up the scene, delivers a sensation, comfort or stimulants, and presents a vivid visualization, a phenomena. Our ears are very curious; they always want to find out where the sounds came from and the story behind each sound.  Sounds provide us a tangible approach to discover them.

Some take-away from the TED talk The Art of Listening.
-Listening is an act of generosity and a source discovery. 
Sounds send out emotions. Emotions get fulfilled through listening.
Listening is about focus and concentration.
Tune the body to experience the sounds. The drum skin can resonate with the body.
The power of the listening, instead of prevailing or persuading, give the other one a way to pour out and tell out what they are suffering and struggling with.
Self-recording (listen to ourselves) gives people more chances to express themselves in peace, (self-interview).

6/3 Impact25 !

We want to use our impact 25 project to provoke some attention to the positive environmental impact that vegetarians/vegans have on the planet and help people to realize that being a vegetarian/vegan is a conscious choice, because it can not only save other animals but also save energy for the planet .

We came up with an initiative to meet with 25 vegans and calculate out how much water they have been saved because of not eating meat. There are couple formulas online to convert consuming 1lb of beef/meat to energy/resource usage. 

We found 25 vegetarians/vegans through friends and friends’ friend. The sum of the years of they not eating any meat is years, convert to saved 5944.32lbs of beef and to 14,860,000 gallons of water that they have been saved. We think the numbers are pretty provoking and certainly address the significant impact they made on the environment.

Hope more and more people can get inspired and consider reducing their meat consumption. There are many healthy substitutes in the food market, please explore and enjoy.

Project partner: Yechen Hou

6/1 The video project - Darkness My Old Friend

This video clip was cloned and inspired from two movies : Calvary (the opening scene) and the Seventh Seal (you can find the clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4yXBIigZbg). We have some concerns about the copyright issue, so if you want to find out the original clips, please check them out on Youtube.

6/2 Potential of video in education

Video is a great tool for presenting the learning objects. Students would remember and learn faster when they have visual presentations, which could depict concepts and provoke positive attitude from the kids much easier than any other forms of media.

In the preschool setting, since kids who are in this age group could not read and write too much, video is the best form for them to explore the world around them. Teachers no longer need to draw examples, nor use pictures to explain the details. With couple clicks of a mouse, the video, which is under playing, could easily gather kids’ attention and direct them to the learning objects. Plus, there are a lot of pre-made video programs like BrainPop Jr, and Discovery Education, these featured academic videos are tailored to series of learning objectives and will help teachers to demonstrate knowledge in a logical structure. Teacher could play them and explain the nature, animals, or any other subject at ease.  Also teacher could use cute animation figures to increase students motivation in learning and enhance learning experience. Video can show the live version of these cartoon characters and help kids make connection between them. Video can also be used to document kids' learning process, and their parents can use it to monitor their behavior and performance easily.

5/1 Scanography eBook

Scanography e-Book I

Scanography e-Book II

5/2 Potential of scanography for art making

Scanography is a new way to see things around us. It is more precise and sharp than painting. Same as photography, it captures the essence and details of the objects, but you would have more ways to manipulate the objects in scanography than in photography, such as movement of the object placed to create a different effect.

Arranging elements on the scanner is a means of creating art. By collecting and presenting of the beauty, you would deliver messages to resonate with your audience. Creating a scanography is a process of recording extremely fine details with a rather shallow depth of field, but creating a high-resolution digital file for printing making. It is a new way of documenting art.

5/3 Digital Storytelling

The storytelling applications don’t have steep learning curves to overcome and they are user-friendly, more importantly, most of the applications are free. Plus applications like iMovie have free tutorials online. Users can learn by themselves. These features make digital storytelling much easier than before.

Besides video-editing tool, Photo Story is not inferior in quality at all. It can even create a video from digital images. Since taking pictures is much easier than video recording, Photo Story is even more helpful to educators. What’s more, you can attach your own audio recording to serve as story narration.

The value of sound is not to be underestimated even in visually based digital storytelling. The music can help students better relate to the story.  Sound effects can also be a nice addition. It can help the presenter direct their attentions.

In addition to standing alone as digital stories, podcasts can serve as a supplement or extension to a visually told digital story, and as a source for gathering narrations

4/2 Impact25 - ideas

For impact 25 we want to use an artistic way to deliver a message about how being a vegetarian can impact the environment.   We will interview 25 vegetarians in TC and Columbia university, and ask them how long they have been a vegetarian. Based on a covert formula we found online, we will estimate how much water they have been saved just because of eating a vegetarian diet on a daily basis.   After the interview, we will take a photo for each of them with a frame we designed. The series of pictures will be glued to a carrot shape and presented on a board. 

Here are some ideas about some illustrator, we will draw them out later.