This six weeks I learned a lot about designing and working with limited materials to create something. I discovered that coming up with an idea is actually a lot harder than it sounds – an idea that’s original and creative and meets the constraints of your client. Then there’s process of elimination and having to compromise with your partners to create something everyone likes and agrees on. This is a lot harder than it sounds; while there are many benefits and disadvantages to working alone and working with a group, having to come to an agreement and decide on something with others can be a little difficult but will most likely end up appealing to more people because it was created with diverse point of views and opinions.

First we had reviewed what exactly computers are, and we divided them into groups of ‘simple’ and ‘complex’. Then we came up for our own definition of Computer Science: The study of principles and use of computers. We decided to create something with light, because we liked the neon wire glow in the dark littlebot. We discussed ideas like nightlight, book lights, disco ball, flashlight, and we decided on a night light. Then we talked about design, and listed lots of ideas until we decided on a Christmas tree because it sounded simple, had to do with light, it’s Christmas soon, and it sounded fun. Our team got frustrated a lot, and we had different ideas so it took a while to come up with something we all liked. We brainstormed on materials and appearance of the Christmas tree, and how we were going to attach the tree to the rotating cervo. We decided to make the tree white, because the light is already green, and we wanted a contrast in color. We decided to use the 3D printer to make our Christmas tree, and then we decided to cover it in glitter! That was kind of a messy part, but we really liked the way it came out and we had fun covering it in glitter. The project came out really well and we were happy with our product.

Now we’re faced with choosing a project for the Makerspace project, which is a lot harder than it sounds. I had a lot of fun doing the Hour of Code and think that online coding would be something that I’d be really interested in doing, like an app or a game. I kind of wanted to do a team project, but everyone had so many different ideas and opinions that pretty much everyone is doing a solo project. Though I haven’t even done a Mediatech module yet, I want to do something on the computer for my Makerspace project, and am looking forward to discovering how to create something new for my project.