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Computational thinking (CT) has been hailed as a necessary competency that should be incorporated across the curriculum; however, research shows that CT is generally confined within programming curriculums. If we are to foster CT in areas like the humanities, we must extend our understanding ofCT to include emergent and creative expressions of computational concepts. We explore the makerspace as a fertile environment for experimentation and play with CT concepts, which can then be extended through creative writing and imaginative extrapolation, during which learners metabolize and imaginatively project computational thinking beyond the confines of the actual and into rich potentiality.
Keywords: computational thinking, makerspace, creative writing, arts-based inquiry, new materialism
CIRCUIT AS ALGO-RHYTHM
The classroom is transformed into a clamorous workshop: orange wires spill from fish-tackle boxes accordioned open upon the table and offering an assortment of littleBit™ modules. Hands dart in and out of the boxes as makers intuitively discover the functions of each magnetic bit. The bits are colour-coded according to type: power, input, wire, output. Their soldered circuitry is tangible as braille upon the back of each module. Bits snap together magnetically, ensuring correct input-output orientation: A light turns on, nothing happens, a speaker emits a buzz causing eruptions of laughter. Very little explanation has been given other than that, together, the bits create circuits through which flows a signal. The signal may encounter a variety of possible modulations as it moves towards its output: motion, light, sound, or nothing - which becomes a problem to solve. Around the tables, makers collaborate, experiment, laugh, talk, and tinker towards an understanding of the bits and their functions. As discoveries are made, new problems arise: How can we make this sound more rhythmic? How can we cause the lights to blink in alternation? What kind of bit would we need to make the artifact fly? As makers become attuned with the technology, the making becomes more creative. Now a huddle of makers surrounds a maker-turned-musician who has created an algorithmic synthesizer. The maker/musician collaborates with the technology/instrument as together they co-cause sounds to emerge from the speakers. Using a wire to split the signal, she has created parallel oscillations, one path of the signal loops on a sequencer, the other changes pitch at the...