We’re kicking off the “Tinkering Together” newsletter with a two-part series that focuses on equitable virtual facilitation moves, exploring animation, and tinkering with code through making faces!
Join us online and share what you’re tinkering with on Twitter using the hashtag #TinkeringTogether or leave a comment on this newsletter.
Making equity visible:
A thread that connects the experiences shared in this series is how learners are encouraged to incorporate personally meaningful objects and materials found in their living spaces into their projects. We see this as an equitable move because it signals to learners that you don’t need specialized, technical materials to engage in tinkering or computing and that their personal knowledge and experiences are valuable. Everyday materials, creativity, and personal connections matter in computing and tinkering spaces.
Activity Spark 💥: Making Faces
Making Faces is a tinkering activity the Tinkering Studio developed while tinkering-in-place during the last year. We ask participants to make a self-portrait using everyday materials and objects of significance, and then bring them to life with stop motion animation!
We believe it is important to use easily accessible materials so everyone knows that they can participate with the materials they have on hand. Personal connections to materials and objects provide an opportunity for participants to share more about themselves and their culture with one another.
Inspired by the artist Hanoch Piven this project uses the software Stop Motion Studio app [iOS/Android] to add expression and personality to self-portraits. For tips/tricks on Stop Motion Studio, check out this blog post from Tinkering Studio member, Ryoko Matsumoto. In the next newsletter, we’ll share more about how coding can extend this activity.
Creating to Connect: Making and Animating Faces 😁
How can we offer engaging and meaningful ways for people to connect with each other online?
Lifelong Kindergarten collaborated with the Clubhouse Network to organize online workshops for staff and mentors who work with youth in their communities. The workshop built on the Tinkering Studio’s experience developing the Making Faces resource and workshops—adding a new dimension of animation.
A key focus of these workshops was to facilitate the workshop to make participants feel welcome and a sense of connection. Making participants feel welcome and connected helps to create a learning environment where participants feel comfortable sharing their stories and projects. We did this two ways:
Name “connection building” as value at the beginning of the workshop
Create an informal environment for making together (playing music as people arrive, posting “getting to know you” questions in the chat)
In making their faces, participants shared what meaningful objects they included to bring their personalities forward. On the left, one participant used natural materials because they really love materials found in nature. Another participant (center) plays table tennis and used a paddle as their face. One participant (left) used a variety objects from around their Computer Clubhouse. They used clothespins for hair because “I struggle with my hair and someday it feels that it looks like this.”
Through making and storytelling, participants were able to share pieces of themselves with a community of peers during this workshop. What are ways you build connections through your work?
Educator Spotlight: Meet Renato Barboza!
While our team started to explore “making faces” earlier this year, Brazilian educator Renato Barboza was experimenting with ways to deliver creative activities to children in the São Paulo area during pandemic lockdowns. After participating in an online course by artist Hanoch Piven, Renato also started to engage learners in making faces using everyday materials. Eventually our paths crossed and we were delighted to learn about Renato’s approach to facilitating this activity. Here’s why he values making faces: “I think this activity is an amazing opportunity to exercise our slow looking at the world around us. This way to play with familiar materials and explore them in an unfamiliar way creates opportunities to make our minds more flexible and creative.”
Renato has an amazing virtual facilitation tip that emerged as he prepared to facilitate a workshop for the Tinkering World Tour. He shares an image of a variety of randomly arranged objects and asks participants to use Zoom annotation tools to “find faces” in the image. We see this as an equitable practice because it allows participants to find an entry point into the activity without needing to turn on a webcam or gather materials.
Renato shares more about why it’s important to create multiple entry points to this activity: “These activities aim to expand the perception of looking at objects around us. They are different exercises that help in the process of resignification of the world. Activities that, when used in a complementary way, enhance the educational process and open doors for important reflections that can emerge from practical experience.”
You can learn more about Renato by visiting his blog or instagram.
That’s all for this month. What did you think? Share your thoughts or your own animated self portraits!
You can also connect with us on Twitter using the hashtag #TinkeringTogether or by tagging the Tinkering Studio.
Tinkering Together is a monthly newsletter crafted by a community of educators and researchers sharing explorations in designing and facilitating computational tinkering experiences that strive towards equity and joy. This newsletter was edited by: Celeste Moreno (Creative Communities Group, CU Boulder), Deanna Gelosi (Tinkering Studio, Exploratorium), and Rupal Jain and Natalie Rusk (Lifelong Kindergarten, MIT Media Lab).
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