REFLECTION
I had heard that 3D printing takes a long time and I did not really know why. But by the end of class, I understood. The way it "printed" was to create layers of fine melted plastic and the larger the surface or thickness, to more layers it will have to make. It's a little bit annoying that it takes so long, but maybe it's because we've been in this digital age for a while and expect things to be 1-click fast. In either case, although I don't see the ways to improve it yet, I do believe the engineers who specialize in this field will eventually figure out how to speed things up over time.
On the flip side, it is pretty cool that I got to print something useful! Unfortunately, it does not fit my current lens caps but I will be getting new camera equipment in the future and I'm sure there will be some time when my lens cap will fit since this is for standard Canon lenses. I also have a photographer friend who uses Canon lenses so she might have some use for it too. In any case, it was very interesting to watch it get made. How fine the plastic is as the printer slowly forms the virtual design into something physical. Definitely giving this another try in the future!
READING SUMMARY
This week's reading and video focuses on Dr. Leah Buechley's talk at the FabLearn Conference. Very interesting indeed. Although I'm not that fond of focusing on this topic again, I do agree with her and appreciate very much that at least she is talking about making the change instead of merely complaining. I believe that if we want to make the Maker movement more diverse, we need to make the change. We in this class are abnormally a majority of women. And that is just fine. It's a start. We need to make more things, both electronic things and other things like ceramics, sewing clothing items, paintings, music, and other less electronic things. And I believe we have been doing so. Maybe not as much as Buechley wishes but Audrey sews, Emily is a writer, Alyssa makes music, and I'm sure they have way more non-electronic makes that I just don't know about. Furthermore, we can personally encourage our female friends, friends of different ethnicities and cause them to realize that they are makers when they talk about their hobbies or the things that they do. It all starts from us. And I believe that is what would work the best. Although giving large talks such as Buechley's have their own function too, I don't know how much it actually does in terms of making individuals realize they can be part of this movement especially when the audience she is talking to already knows about this movement or is involved in this movement in some kind of capacity. In any case, I do totally agree with her and praise her for her boldness in speaking this to the public so enthusiastically.
Lastly, the Makerbridge blog was an enjoyable journey. Although, maybe because of Buechley's talk, I ended up analyzing the blog posts to see what the overall blogs were about. I noticed that there are a lot of blogs just about the Maker Labs around the country, Maker Faires and conferences and Maker events as well as what is making and what defines a maker. Secondly, I found a lot of blogs on 3D printing. Then there are a minority of posts which talk about knitting, baking and other non-technical maker activities. This is a great blog, for sure. But I wonder if people would be drawn to this even more if they saw the activities that they are interested it. People may not be initially interested in understanding what a maker is but I think they would be interested in what kind of projects they can contribute as well as learn from the Maker movement. So perhaps more blogs on people's maker projects which include a wide variety of fields would attract an audience. Not even like my blog which talks about whether baking is a making because this topic is still focused on the definition of making. What about refocusing it more on how my making experience was with learning to bake Challah bread instead of questioning if it is a maker activity or not. Just say that it is a maker activity and people will believe it. In other words, I just don't think that we should bring people into the debate of "what is making", rather, we should bring people into, "this is making and you are a maker because you also make things such as.... And you can help define the maker movement with the things you make." I think 80% of the blogs should be on a variety of projects and 10% on Maker events, and 10% on definitions about Maker activity would be appropriate. This is just my opinion. I do not claim to know the goal and aim of this blog. You can ignore anything I say. But nevertheless, Makerbridge was still fun to peruse.
Wow - really great thoughts on defining who qualifies as a "maker." I can definitely relate to your thoughts on how it may be ineffective to advocate for the maker movement among people who are already aware of it (sort of like preaching to the converted). It's also great to hear how you (and everyone in our class) has embraced a very broad view of what "counts" as making. I also think that your arguments about how to include people in the maker movement by showing them that being a maker doesn't mean you have to be working with technology. I wonder though, if there aren't significant pockets of people who consider themselves makers who would disagree with that broader view. Hopefully, like you said, the women (and men!) in this movement will be able to advocate for and model the more inclusive making that you and your classmates have embraced. -Amber
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't necessarily say that I'm a writer, but thank you, Liz, for your kind words--they mean a lot!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assessment of what the balance of posts at Makerbridge should look like, though I wonder what audience its creators are seeking. From the standpoint of educators, trying to initiate debates and looking at the movement from a very high level, theoretical perspective may be precisely the right tack (granted, I am not an educator, so I could well be wrong). As a student and someone who wants to become more involved in the maker movement, though, I also find that the blog doesn't necessarily motivate me to do more. If that is one of the aspirations of Makerbridge, I agree that more project posts may be in order, balanced with the pedagogical views to ensure that the blog doesn't simply become another Hackaday or somesuch. I guess this is a call to action for those of us who haven't yet posted to Makerbridge--time to write about what we're doing!
"Just say that it is a maker activity and people will believe it. In other words, I just don't think that we should bring people into the debate of "what is making", rather, we should bring people into, "this is making and you are a maker because you also make things such as.... And you can help define the maker movement with the things you make." I'm going to share this with the MB bloggers -- I think it's a theme that is ready to be retired. And thanks for taking my slot this month! :)
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