What is littleBits?
"littleBits is a platform of easy-to-use electronic building blocks that empower you to invent anything, from your own remote controlled car, to a smart home device. The Bits snap together with magnets, no soldering, no wiring, no programming needed." (http://littlebits.cc/)
How does littleBits invention cycle compare to the art creation process?
littleBits allow students of any age to begin tinkering with technology. littleBits aid to redefine projects in the art classroom to create projects that were previously inconceivable. When technology is introduced into the art classroom, art-centered computer programs (such as Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator) are generally the focus in the classroom. There is a plethora of programs, projects, and tools to create artwork with technology; technology creates unlimited possibilities to invent art. littleBits allows students to tinker with technology, explore engineering, and create artwork. In using littleBits in the art classroom, students can be creative in a variety of ways. The video below explains what littleBits are and how they work. What is littleBits? from littleBits on Vimeo.
How can open source technology be used to improve education?
"Open source culture and concepts help students, teachers, schools, and communities have a better learning experience being free to share their ideas and build on the work of others.Learning and teaching 'the open source way' will better prepare students for their careers, while helping schools differentiate themselves and growing the next generation of open source contributors." (https://www.redhat.com/en/about/open-source-education) Using open source technology allows students to learn about any form of technology they are interested in and can build off of sources already available. In exploring this library of technological information, students have the opportunity and resources to to invent, create, learn, and grow. Open source is a library substitution for acquiring technology-based knowledge. Why not use that library to our advantage? Below is a short video showing how students can use littleBits in STEAM.
"We’ve already built the Internet. Are we going to rebuild it now in the physical world? I believe that we don’t have to, that the idea is to create these entry points to the Web. And so I go back to an idea that Neil wrote about in Scientific American (with Raffi Krikorian and Danny Cohen) in 2004, at the very beginning of his field. My first interaction with the Internet of Things was learning about Internet-0 from Neil’s article. It explores the idea of a distributed open network of sensors and terminals, and sometimes dumb devi‐ ces that aren’t computers that enable you to do different things. So the idea comes back as: “can we make the Internet the building block?” Can it become a building block that empowers people to invent with the Internet in the same way that you would invent with light, sound, cardboard, or paper, and really make it a material?" (Bdeir, 2015, p.13)
Bdeir, A. (2015). The internet as material: Empowering the next phase of connected hardware innovation. O'Reilly.
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