Assignment 4Type your name(s) here:Nathan Campbell Lisa Doan Briefly discuss the following issues for the paper that you have read: 1. what did you find 1.1. interesting about the article? We thought the creation of a physical environment matched with a computational environment was a very interesting concept. In the bus example, it was very interesting to see how people interacted with each other and with the computer and how valuable it was to have a computer available to do all of the calculations, models and simulations in a model the group could understand and use. We also thought the "Exploiting Symmetry of Ignorance" was interesting because of the possible advantages of "creative chaos." Oftentimes, people who are experienced in their particular domains will discount possibilities before even trying them because they assume the ideas aren't feasible or won't work. When unexperienced people are exposed to the domain, they may come up with ideas that the experts had not considered. A somewhat related example of this is when one codes a program and is debugging but cannot identify the errors because they are too familiar with the code. A friend who is unfamiliar with the code could look at it and identify the error within seconds because they haven't been staring at the code for hours. At the same time, the Symmetry of Ignorance can be a major obstacle. Example: marketers coming up with plans that cannot be implemented because of technical implementations. Another interesting point was the discussion of treating humans as consumers. It's surprising that in a capitalistic society such as ours, consumers have played a very limited role in the creation and design of their goods. 1.2. not interesting about the article? The introduction to the need for externalization in collaborative design was drawn out and redundant as we've previously covered this topic in class. 2. what do you consider the main message of the article? Software should not be designed as it is now. Emphasis should be placed on hardware and software that is more conducive to collaborative learning. We need to create computational environments that are more human-compatible and encourage more collaboration among people and nurture community among the people. 3. are themes discussed in the article which you would like to know more about? We'd like to learn more about the EDC and how it works. We'd like to learn more about any other projects like the EDC that are creating more collaborative environments. 4. what did you find interesting about the “EDC” system? It was able to do all of the computational work: perform modeling and generate results that the humans could understand, but it also provided a physical environment that the humans could interact with. It was interesting because it doesn't seem like the users are directly interacting with the computer hardware and software (though they are) and were playing with Legos, and the computer was able to generate useful information from the actions for the group to reflect. 5. do you know of other papers, ideas, and systems which are closely related to the article and the “EDC” system? The Silence of the Lands project – a project aimed to create a community among users by putting sounds into a community environment. 6. what do the article and the associated system say about 6.1. design Static design will not work in the future. Software should be able to evolve with its users, and users should be able to evolve the environment. They need to be central to the design of the software rather than just consumers of a static system. 6.2. learning People can gain much more knowledge by working with each other than alone. The EDC created such an environment and demonstrated that people with different backgrounds can learn more from each other than people who are from the same background. They were able to understand each other's concerns and incorporate those ideas into the system. 6.3. collaboration Collaboration can drive learning and lead to ideas that wouldn't even come up if people weren't interacting with each other. 6.4. innovative media to support these activities? The EDC is an example of innovative media that supports collaboration, learning, and design. We've never seen anything like the EDC, and other collaborative environments will possess the same ideas and qualities that will support people and their ability to collaborate over a computational environment – not necessarily in the same way as the EDC, but with innovative design and uses of technology. 7. do you have any ideas how this research could / should be extended (based on your own knowledge and experience)? Talk to kids – they don't see technology the same way we do. They aren't bounded by the limitations that we have developed from working with design. Additionally, everything kids interact with have to be designed innovatively because they don't have the same knowledge adults do. Example: kindergartners can't program in C++, but they can play with Legos.
|
