Non-digital technologies, such as a cardboard automata, expands critical thinking of digital technologies. Cardboard automatas are constructed with primitive materials based around a simple system of axels and cams, which allow movement to occur on the top of the piece. At first, this seems like a relatively simple task to take on- it is just cardboard and found objects! Once the planning stages are in full force and the construction begins, there was a lot of trial and error that came about. Cams needed weights in order for the object to fall back down once it was pushed up, measurements corresponding to the axel, cams and sides all needed to be precise, hooks in the cams needed to be dramatic enough to show a change in motion, etc. Creating the cardboard automata consisted of plenty of troubleshooting before the piece was even remotely ready for decoration- and then more adjusting was needed if the decorations that were moving on top were too heavy.
The final product that I created had three moving mechanisms: a boat rocking on a wave and two ghouls causing havoc in a forest. Through the execution of this non-digital technology, my understanding of how technology works expanded as I found issues with the pieces and tested possibilities out to fix them. In a classroom setting, this is highly beneficial to students. When coming across an issue with your work, you have now creatively thought of modifications that result in solutions. By having a better understanding of how something works, you can use this to your benefit and control your outcomes (or modify them until you reach that goal!) Now, you have redefined learning by creating the impossible, possible.
The final product that I created had three moving mechanisms: a boat rocking on a wave and two ghouls causing havoc in a forest. Through the execution of this non-digital technology, my understanding of how technology works expanded as I found issues with the pieces and tested possibilities out to fix them. In a classroom setting, this is highly beneficial to students. When coming across an issue with your work, you have now creatively thought of modifications that result in solutions. By having a better understanding of how something works, you can use this to your benefit and control your outcomes (or modify them until you reach that goal!) Now, you have redefined learning by creating the impossible, possible.