Abstract
Internet of Things (IoT), one of the latest technological advancements, will transform our future in ways we can only imagine. The necessity for young people to understand and design with IoT technologies seems unequivocal; however, there is currently limited integration of IoT in K-12 education. To address these gaps in current research, we conducted a mixed methods, multiple-case study during a five-day “maker” camp focused on the informal design of IoT passion projects. Our research sought to understand what participants learned about IoT, as well as how they designed basic IoT artifacts within a constructionist context. Results indicated several factors contributing to a successful design, including guided inquiry, detailed planning documents, access to knowledgeable support in the form of peers or facilitators, and perseverance. Participants also experienced substantial gains in IoT knowledge and skills resulting from their experiences designing and creating IoT artifacts, which will be valuable as IoT becomes more prevalent in society. However, the inquiry-driven model also posed several challenges relevant to educators in formalized settings, including wide variability in the level of scaffolding and support required, progress paralysis resulting from a context with limited instruction and restrictions, and the impact of time constraints on students’ learning and designs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
All names are pseudonyms.
References
Chaudron, S., Di Gioia, R., Gemo, M., Holloway, D., Marsh, J., Mascheroni, G.,…, & European Commission. Joint Research Centre: Kaleidoscope on the Internet of Toys: Safety, security, privacy and societal insights. Publications Office of the European Union (2017)
Ericsson Mobility Report. https://www.ericsson.com/assets/local/mobility-report/documents/2018/ericsson-mobility-report-november-2018.pdf. Accessed 06 May 2019
Cocciolo, A.: Situating student learning in rich contexts: a constructionist approach to digital archives education. Evid. Based Libr. Inf. Pract. 6(3), 4–15 (2011). https://doi.org/10.18438/B8DP6N
Papert, S.: Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. Basic Books, New York (1980)
Doppelt, Y.: Assessing creative thinking in design-based learning. Int. J. Technol. Des. Educ. 19(1), 55–65 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-006-9008-y
Gobble, M.M.: Design thinking. Res. Technol. Manag. 57(3), 59–60 (2014)
Razzouk, R., Shute, V.: What is design thinking and why is it important? Rev. Educ. Res. 82(3), 330–348 (2012). https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654312457429
Resnick, M., et al.: Scratch programming for all. Commun. ACM 52(11), 60–67 (2009)
Seely Brown, J., Adler, R.P.: Open education, the long tail, and learning 2.0. Educause Rev. 43(1), 17–32 (2008)
Halverson, E.R., Sheridan, K.: The maker movement in education. Harvard Educ. Rev. 84(4), 495–504 (2014). https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.4.34j1g68140382063
Harel, I., Papert, S.: Situating constructionism. In: Constructionism, pp. 1–11. Ablex Publishing, Westport, CT (1991)
Noss, R., Clayson, J.: Reconstructing constructionism. Constructivist Found. 10(3), 285–288 (2015)
Ratto, M.: Critical making: conceptual and material studies in technology and social life. Inf. Soc. Int. J. 27(4), 252–260 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2011.583819
Wohlwend, K.E., Peppler, K.A., Keune, A., Thompson, N.: Making sense and nonsense: comparing mediated discourse and agential realist approaches to materiality in a preschool makerspace. J. Early Child. Literacy 17(3), 444–462 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798417712066
Bunterm, T., Lee, K., Kong, J.N.L., Srikoon, S., Vangpoomyai, P., Rattanavongsa, J., Rachahoon, G.: Do different levels of inquiry lead to different learning outcomes? a comparison between guided and structured inquiry. Int. J. Sci. Educ. 36(12), 1937–1959 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2014.886347
Hughes, J.M.: Digital making with “at-risk” youth. Int. J. Inf. Learn. Technol. 34(2), 102–113 (2017)
Marsh, J., Arnseth, H.C., Kumpulainen, K.: Maker literacies and maker citizenship in the MakEY (Makerspaces in the Early Years) project. Multimod. Technol. Interact. 2(3), 50 (2018). https://doi.org/10.3390/mti2030050
Marsh, J., Wood, E., Chesworth, L., Nisha, B., Nutbrown, B., Olney, B.: Makerspaces in early childhood education: principles of pedagogy and practice. Mind Culture Act. 26(3), 221–233 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2019.1655651
Kafai, Y.B.: Playing and making games for learning: instructionist and constructionist perspectives for game studies. Games Cult. 1(1), 36–40 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412005281767
Spencer, J., Juliani, A.J.: Launch: Using Design Thinking to Boost Creativity and Bring out the Maker in Every Student. Dave Burgess Consulting Inc, San Diego (2016)
Cahn, P.S., et al.: A design thinking approach to evaluating interprofessional education. J. Interprof. Care 30(3), 378–380 (2016). https://doi.org/10.3109/13561820.2015.1122582
Hansen, A.K., Hansen, E.R., Hall, T., Fixler, M., Harlow, D.: Fidgeting with fabrication: students with ADHD making tools to focus. In: Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference on Creativity and Making in Education (FabLearn 2017). ACM, New York (2017). https://doi.org/10.1145/3141798.3141812
Somanath, S., Morrison, L., Hughes, J., Sharlin, E., Sousa, M.C.: Engaging ‘at-risk’ students through maker culture activities. In: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI 2016), pp. 150–158. ACM, New York (2016)
Hsiu-Fang, H., Shannon, S.E.: Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qual. Health Res. 15(9), 1277–1288 (2005)
The Works Museum. https://theworks.org/educators-and-groups/elementary-engineering-resources/engineering-design-process/. Accessed 05 July 2019
InkSmith. https://www.inksmith.co/k8-robotics-kit. Accessed 05 July 2019
Vygotsky, L.S.: Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1978)
Vega, V., Robb, M.B.: The Common Sense Census: Inside the 21st Century Classroom. Common Sense Media, San Francisco (2019)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering
About this paper
Cite this paper
Hughes, J., Robb, J.A., Lam, M. (2020). Designing and Learning with IoT in a Passion-Based Constructionist Context. In: Brooks, A., Brooks, E. (eds) Interactivity, Game Creation, Design, Learning, and Innovation. ArtsIT DLI 2019 2019. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 328. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53294-9_59
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53294-9_59
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-53293-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-53294-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)