Micro:bit

In this weeks material inquiry we started to familiarize ourselves with micro:bit and its relationships with motors as well as making a set of instructions from our experience for someone with the same skill level would have no problem following. What I took away from this material inquiry is how important note taking is when it comes to the recollection of new experiences of materials. We started by picking up a micro:bit box which contains the Micro:Bit, a USB cable, and a battery power pack with batteries. After setting up the micro:bit we were asked to download the hex file from the website and upload it to the micro:bit.

This is when problems started occurring. For reasons unknown, the file was not being successfully uploaded to the micro:bit. I tried disconnecting it and reconnecting, tried different methods of uploading it to the micro:bit, and tried connecting it in different USB ports to see if it would made a difference. I was constantly trying to upload it even if time after time it was being prematurely ejected without saving anything. In between every trail and error I was growing more

frustrated. Suddenly, a classmate figured a way around it where it was still able to connect to scratch. Although having that step skipped made me feel a bit disappointed, I did feel relief in being able to move on to the next steps. Once we were connected to scratch it was time to play. I was very intrigued and excited to see the potential of the micro:bit and what I would be able to create. I had to follow the demonstration being presented on the projector first in order to have an idea on where to start. I started with a simpler process where I had set down a micro:bit event "when 'A' button pressed" followed by attaching the

"display ___" block. I was thrilled to see how my LED pattern showed on my micro:bit. After I got comfortable with it, I decided to keep exploring it further little by little. The next thing I did was the same amount of blocks, but change the button to "B" and attached the "display text Alex" block.

I decided to play around with the other regular scratch blocks and see if they would still work with the micro:bit blocks. At first I tried the tabs where it allows you to play a sound just out of curiosity. However,

those were some of tabs that was not working when I attempted to play a sound. It was a bit of a let down, but after some self-reflection I believe I know where I went wrong. I do not think I placed the correct micro:bit event block in order to with the sound. Then I decided to add a "wait 1 seconds" tabs and worked perfectly. I simply added it to the already set patterns under the "A" button. Except I added another LED display at the end in order for me to clearly see the placed time in between them in action. There was also an event micro:bit option where you could physically move the micro:bit with a certain motion and it would display whatever block was inserted. I chose to use the "when shaken" event with a combination of displaying text, LED pattern, and the "wait 1 seconds" tab. After

playing on scratch we moved on to the actual micro:bit website. It looked very similar to scratch where the formatting was the same in terms of tabs and blocks. Having that familiarity definitely eased my way into what was to come. One of the biggest starting differences was that we had to download what we created and upload it to the micro:bit. After learning the basics by following what was presented on the projector, it was time to learn how to add in the motors. Adding in the aspect of the motors made me nervous. I did not want to explore it

all on my own at first so instead I followed exactly what was being demonstrated to get my motors moving. My partner and I did have initial trouble figuring out how to connect the motors to the micro:board which made me feel momentarily lost. However, with a bit of up close direction we manged to figure it out on our own. Those directions made me realize to take a moment and actually look at what is written on the board rather than just guessing, inserting, and getting confused since it is immensely helpful. After adding in the moto:bit tab and placing in the blocks to create movement into the motors,

it was time to download and upload it to our micro:bit. In between some of the motion blocks we had to place a pause block. I was confused as to what difference it made when we turned on the motors. It is still something I need to further explore to truly get the hand of since it is something that makes me nervous because of incomplete comprehension. During all of this learning, I was documenting all the steps taken in order to get me to specific places in the process. Even if is was quick jotting, it was still clear instructions to me where I can formally convert them to well thought out instructions.

The note taking helped me out greatly when writing the formal

instructions and allowed me to realize how beneficial it was to refer back to it, especially if I would be using it again in the future. Although we do this a lot in this class, I never knew how vital it would be until I formally wrote them out instead of simple jotting. I am going to try to start doing this with all new mediums I explore with in the future. The next one being oil paint, where I for example, will write down steps to achieve a color, or how to finesse certain techniques. In addition, I know these notes are going to be used and come in handy when it comes to hacking a toy. That assignment is one I'm most nervous for because of how elaborate it is probably going to become. Going through this material inquiry however, started to get me mentally ready for what is to come. The tool I can see being greatly useful in an art classroom is the note taking of the process. Just as I have mentioned with writing down the process of color making in oil paints, it can be beneficial having that set information to make the process of creation easier. Even if it seems far from an "artsy" perspective. The physical tools such as the micro:bit are very fun, but I can see having the computers and enough time as an obstacle. Although, if there were an after school art program it would be a great activity for the kids to explore and play with because of how the micro:bit set is inexpensive and encourages critical thinking skills in building and executing.