by Patricia Yu Overview I helped to develop ideas for and prototype a set of documentation tools to better integrate technology, space, and education. These tools will connect students with their creative processes to strengthen and deepen learning. This was part of a research project to help us develop a hypotheses for how documentation as a mediating process productively supports learning. These tools were created for the teaching program, Startable in Pittsburgh. Smart Tools: Bringing concepts together The Hub Projector The Hub Projector allows the tools that are being used personally to be integrated into a public space. The Hub Projector is able to connect to all of the other devices and project each individual device's functions onto a screen for everyone to observe. The form of the projector takes a complementary shape as the camera tools in this series. The back of the projector is smaller to the front face in order to establish the tilt of the body to be able to project an image onto a wall. This is valuable to students where documentation does not only become a process that is solely for themselves, but also something that can be publicized and shared with others. The projector acts as a platform that allows students to use these tools as part of their documentation, in presentations, and as a way of language to communicate their ideas to others. Final Product Reflections and Future Steps
Overall, I really enjoyed this research experience, especially discussing these tools and ideas with other students and experts. Next semester I hope to follow on these 3 major areas: 1) I would like to further expand on interaction amongst all the the tools and how they can connect to the Hub Projector. For example, how exactly should a user navigate the digital interface when transferring data amongst the tools, and how do the different functionalities the tools when "collaborating" with each other emerge. To do this, I will be creating mockups for the UI/UX of these tools on an app. 2) I want to also experiment how I could completely eliminate the presence of personal phones in the context of these tools to allow a complete immersion of a "work space". This was a concept discussed with the teachers at Startable and the idea of creating almost a new "language" with just these documentation tools was agreed to be a very interesting and unique path for this project. There may also be an external device that students can wear that replaces the function of the phone, so when students enter a physical computing room, they place their phones in a stowaway area and replace them with a tool that will allow them to focus on their work. This could make the physical computing room seem like walking into a complete different space from the rest of the campus space and give students a new experience. 3) With working prototypes, I would want to do more user testing research to help me determine what other tools students may want and need in their making processes. Talking with experts of the physical computing lab would also help gather insightful information that would make these tools more valuable to student usage.
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