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<\/a>As I walked through an innovation showcase at SxSw 2015 (one of the the largest convergences of creative and critical thinkers last March) I was struck by the juxtaposition of two tables that were adjacent to each other.<\/p>\n
One offered “Creative Circuit kits provide girls with all of the materials to make 10+ arts, crafts, and fashion projects with technology” the other offered “opportunities for students to replicate experiments you perform in your classrooms using an Arduino kit and a sensor kit on a nano-satellite via Nasa\u2019s CubeSat Launch Initiatives<\/a>.”<\/p>\n As a long time advocate for initiatives that increase the confidence and skills of girls with technology, I appreciate that the “creative circuit kit” might provide a great opportunity to engage girls with technology, but I find myself concerned that it would be easy to gain a false sense of accomplishment if we don\u2019t move beyond \u2018bling\u2019.<\/p>\n I find myself wondering what are the steps that connect the excitement from \u201cblink blink\u201d to the curiosity that leaves you wondering \u201cwhat type of sensor do I need to create an experiment that I can test in space?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just girls, I\u2019m concerned about — it\u2019s all our students (boys and girls) and our teachers. As technology becomes easier and easier to use, as developers create user interfaces using the popular design principle Don\u2019t Make Me Think<\/a>, as we advocate for a classroom where the technology is ubiquitous, the threshold for jumping in becomes lower and lower.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve watched iPads and Chromebooks fill our classrooms at a pace that surpasses previous technology adoption. I\u2019ve watched teachers reluctant to use technology become advocates for more technology in the classroom, and hear comments like “The technology has finally become easy enough to use that even I can use it”. Even the marketing departments have caught on and speak to how easy these are to use and manage.<\/p>\n Yes, I understand that the ease of use of the iPad\/Chromebook or the blingy blinking LED ornament do provide a degree of accessibility for a population that might not otherwise have used the technology. And yes, engaging new populations can be one of the ways we bridge \u00a0some of the equity gaps.\u00a0 However, \u00a0if the new strategies keep our new populations of technology users in the shallow end of the pool, the increased engagement could lead to a bigger divide than we started with.<\/p>\n We could end up with a much more diverse group of people having moved from the sidelines to the shallow end of the pool, without impacting whose swimming in the deep end.<\/p>\n The recent DIY maker movement has potential to bring back the need to think more deeply, critically, and creatively with new technology tools (like Arduinos, Raspberry Pis, sensors, 3D printers, laser cutters, and more).<\/p>\n The exciting things about these tools is that their accessibility has the potential to empower anyone to design amazing solutions previously inconceivable. The low cost, the open ended open source power they provide, and the maker community that is engaging with these tools and with each others, is bringing back the the promise of what\u2019s possible when you leverage the potential of technology to solve complex problems in ways that have not previously been considered.<\/p>\n Yes we must create experiences with an entrance into making accessible to a diverse population (of interest, gender, age, ability),\u00a0but we must also create a pathway to move out our emerging makers out into the deep end of the maker process.<\/p>\n I\u2019m talking about opportunities like the one recently provided to Vermont students from Essex to launch a balloon into space<\/a> with a payload containing a GoPro, two Canon cameras, a spot GPS, an Arduino, and student fabricated parts using the school\u2019s 3D printer and laser cutter<\/a>. The students from the Computer Animation and Web Design (CAWD) program<\/a> at Essex used their design skills and coding skills to successfully record the ascent and descent of the flight, detach the payload from the balloon, launch a parachute to guide the payload\u2019s descent, and successfully retrieve it, with the sweet prize — some amazing photos and videos<\/a> from Essex High School to space and back.<\/p>\nBut are we staying in the shallow end of the pool?<\/h3>\n
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The promise of easy use was not what I was hoping would lure our reluctant users to engage with technology. The promise of what\u2019s possible when you leverage the potential of technology to solve complex problems in ways that have not previously been considered is the goal I hope we are shooting for.<\/p>\n\n
It was about innovation<\/h3>\n