I wrote my final project documentation as a blog post because I wanted it to be public and a future reference. This is the link of the post: http://escenaconsejo.org/en/itp-blog/fall-2016/educate-the-future/english-learning-computational-thinking-with-body-movement/
Author: Jose
NY Simulation Center & Project Update
In the simulation center I found interesting that what I thought was going to be there, complex systems based in virtual reality and in devices like the da Vinci surgical system, was instead replaced by an infrastructure designed to have physical / tangible simulations. I enjoyed looking and thinking about the human-centered focus of those training settings. Based on the discussion about the threshold need of realism in the simulations, I wonder what would be the lower limit, and to what extent some of this equipment can be replaced by lower tech with similar results – for example in places with
For my project, I decided what to do and I developed this prototype of library to be used with p5.js: p5.choreograph.js
This is the description (in progress) that I wrote there:
The idea is to shift the usual paradigm of what can be created with creative code: graphics, text and sound. Here, instead of having an instantaneous feedback for the written drawing commands in p5.js, those commands get translated as instructions that a person can follow moving in a space. Basically the lines in the programmed drawing are converted to trajectories to walk on.
The graphical output of the commands is omitted on purpose for several reasons:
- The person following the generated instructions has to follow them without a reference of the intended result, making its execution more authentic
- The visual thinking of the programmed drawings has to be changed to a certain extent to a spatial thinking and to a thinking involving other person(s) in a space.
- It is challenging and engaging
- The feedback on the result of the created code is slowed down, and that may help thinking further what to write before actually executing it
- It allows a new way of human interaction
- The graphical output can always be drawn with the normal p5 functions
Project ideas and plan
Ideas
I’m realizing that we have four weeks left to finish our project. During this week I kept trying to focus my project idea but I didn’t speak with more people.
I am really inspired by the Body Coding reference by Nancy Nowacek that I shared last week. Kinect2Gesture by Gene Kogan seems an easy to use tool. This would be a good opportunity to experience being a remixer.
I have been also thinking about games.
In the Body Coding documentation (but not in the repository) there is a movement dictionary for p5js. What could be done using it with the online editor that has automatic updating of the sketch window? How can it be used as part of a lesson plan in a course like ICM? What about making it a game? I have questions about the possible complexity of the gestural language, and how it could be taught.
Another path is to think in computation in a more general sense. Brainf*ck is a Turing-complete [esoteric] programming language that has only 8 instructions. It is impractical and difficult to use, but it is playful and can be thought as a puzzle, at the same time that it helps to understand the basics of computation. The gestural language would be easier to teach, and I can see a more direct way of making a puzzle/game out of this. I have the question of how it could be used as part of a lesson plan. Apparently the language has been used in some courses, but I think it can have a broader impact.
General plan
We have four weeks left:
- Interviews and definition of the project
- Development of first prototype(s)
- User testing and more interviews
- Development and documentation of final prototype for presentation
Some References about Movement in Learning [Code]
I have been thinking that I will focus in programming classes, because the personal computers or the computer rooms are usually movement limiting.
Some references:
I found out via Gene Kogan this project by Nancy Nowacek, him, and collaborators called Body Coding.
Body Coding is a research work-in-progress that asks the question: how else might code be performed (If not with fingers and keyboard)? If somewhere between sport, hip-hop and sign language that can be passed on the street and in clubs like popular dance, who then, can access and perform coade, and what are its products?
I want to interview Taeyoon Choi. He has some interesting projects, tools, idea for teaching computational thinking using the body. Some examples:
Other references:
Book: Brain Rules 12 Principles for surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School
http://qz.com/592569/a-neuroscientist-says-theres-a-powerful-benefit-to-exercise-that-is-rarely-discussed/
Frame design challenge: The lack of physical activity in higher education courses
What is the problem you are trying to solve?
The lack of physical activity in higher education courses
1) Take a stab at framing it as a design question
How can we add physical activities as part of the normal learning experiences in higher education courses?
2) Now state the ultimate impact that you’re trying to have
Add a layer of physical activities to normal higher education courses to improve health and learning experiences, developing human beings as whole beings and not only brains.
3) What are some possible solutions to your problem? Think broadly. It’s fine to start a project with a hunch or two, but make sure you allow for surprising outcomes.
- A set of physical games that can be used as learning and/or assessment activities
- A digital experience that requires the use of gestures to reach contents or answer questions.
- A [digital] assistant to help manage the physical activity during classes / homeworks.
- Learning spaces that make people move more while taking courses
4) Finally, write down some of the context and constraints that you’re facing. They could be geographic, technological, time-based, or have to do with the population you’re trying to reach.
We are very used to the idea of the usual classroom setting. Even with diverse activities during class time, the physicality is almost never taken into consideration. We have against us the inertia of thought / traditions of the students and the faculty.
Occidental culture has a strong conceptual separation between “body” and “mind”: The priority is given to the “brains” learning and not to their “containers”.
What about people with disabilities? How to make sure that the solution helps to include them?
5) Does your original question need a tweak? Try it again.
How can we develop a general solution to add physical activity time to normal higher education courses?
How can we develop a general and accepted solution to add physical activity time to normal higher education courses?
The Beans Computer: Computer Architecture and the Machine Instruction Cycle
This has been insanely complex… I’ve put here the video, hoping that you’ll be able to watch it, and in some minutes I’ll update the post with more information, the tests, and the video annotations
Pre-test: https://goo.gl/forms/04e7upFJegI6FXu93
Post-test: https://goo.gl/forms/gR4jMCpCEqaNgezI3
About the week 2 readings
Reading the articles and making my other assignment for this week, besides feeling overwhelmed by all the problems the education systems have, I’ve been trying to focus on the value and advantages that having a degree provides, and how could these be provided in some other way. I’m interested in which university features are overrated and which are underrated (for example, I haven’t thought of the lack of critical thinking skills and their development in online courses (and I hope that’s not because of a lack of critical thinking in my own side, having an university degree)). I’m convinced that there are/can be more ways of people to develop as integral beings.
And maybe I get more overwhelmed when, as I mentioned in the first day, I start to think not only about the purpose of [higher] education but about the purpose of all our lives. The system we are stuck in was generated by the decisions of many people, what decisions have to be made in order to steer it toward a better outcome for all of us?
I must add that I’ve been really liking asking all these questions about my own experience and situation here at NYU…
Why Google doesn’t care about hiring top college graduates
Google has spent years analyzing who succeeds at the company, which has moved away from a focus on GPAs, brand name schools, and interview brain teasers.
In a conversation with The New York Times’ Tom Friedman, Google’s head of people operations, Laszlo Bock, detailed what the company looks for. And increasingly, it’s not about credentials.
Link here: http://qz.com/180247/why-google-doesnt-care-about-hiring-top-college-graduates/