ETEC 568 Makerspaces- Final Reflection

The builds I am most proud of are the first one and the last one. I chose the first one because it was the most challenging for me believe it or not. I actually cried while trying to figure it out and seriously thought I was going to have to drop the class because the whole concept was new to me and I just didn’t understand how it was all supposed to work. Once I finally got that LED to shine, I was so relieved and so proud of that little light! The last build was another that I feel proud of. I think I felt a bit less pressure because we were able to choose our own build for the week and I had already discovered that these challenges were more about the process rather than the product. I still struggled a bit with the build and it wasn’t actually original or creative, but I was actually successful with it after some trouble shooting and it was fun once I got the motor spinning.

Looking back at week one, I can see that I actually learned a lot throughout this course. I definitely learned the importance of having every tiny component of the Arduino in the correct spot and turned the correct way. Those crazy LED’s got me many times! One little misplacement and it won’t work. Most importantly is that I learned that it’s ok to fail at times. I don’t mean to fail a class (hopefully not!) but to fail when trying new things. The Arduino and coding were completely new to me and it was very intimidating, but I stuck with it and kept trying and did find some success mixed in with the many failures along the way. 

I learned many things about the Arduino and coding because I kept trying and didn’t give up. I kept exploring and playing around with different things. When I was really struggling, I read my classmates' blogs and then even learned how to ask ChatGPT for help. I was certainly in my zone of proximal development and needed the guidance and support to get through this! If I had given up that first day (it was very tempting!) I would have never found the success that I did. I would have missed out on the sense of accomplishment that I felt when that first LED started blinking. As Doc B shared in my first week maker challenge feedback, “Successful people are successful not because they succeed every time but because they pushed through the failures to be able to succeed.” So throughout the past eight weeks of this course, I can say I persevered! I’ve never been a quitter and even with the odds stacked against me, I accomplished what I set out to do, make an A in this class (hopefully!) and finish my degree! 

My biggest challenge throughout the course was coding. I really just don’t understand it, it makes no sense to me, it was like trying to read a language I don’t speak. I also struggled with the correct placement of wires, resistors, LED’s etc. Another important thing I learned, that I remember when working with my own students is, “it’s the process, not the product.” Children learn so much from the process of doing things without concern for the final product, and I can say the same for myself in regards to this course. 

As I continue my journey in EdTech, I would like to focus on how to incorporate maker exploration and challenges with my young students. They are capable of so much more than they are often given credit for. They are the perfect little tinkerers and their minds absorb everything. Learning through hands-on exploration will help them develop a love for learning and prepare them to persevere in future challenges. 

Several weeks ago I planned to take a hammer to my Arduino as soon as this course was complete. Doc B encouraged me to "gift it to someone else so they could also have the joy of productive struggle." I'm happy to share that I have decided to hang onto it for a while and plan to play around with it a bit more...I'm still determined to figure out the electronic dice!