Last conducted at previous fieldsite, 2014
Blinkybugs are simple little electro-mechanical insects that respond to movement, wind, and vibrations by blinking their LED (light-emitting diode) eyes. Despite their simplicity, they have a strangely lifelike quality.
Skills learned by the girls we studied:
- Rudimentary programming-how to arrange a circuit
- Crafting-Designing Blinky Bug bodies and where to place LEDs (normally as eyes)
- Creativity (Aesthetics)-Deciding what Blinky Bug bodies should look like overall (pipe cleaners; copper wires; LED colors)
- Crafting-arranging Blinky Bug antennae (copper wires) properly
- Intermediate programming-steps leading to activating LEDs via copper wires.
- Two dimensional to three dimensional visual learning-Looking at directions represented on paper and then attempting to emulate steps and finished product.
- Bricolage-observing research team members building Blinky Bugs and then tinkering with their own Blinky Bugs, playing with circuit functions and aesthetic decisions.
- Collaboration-girls consulted one another and research team members as they built their Blinky Bugs throughout the process.
- Computational thinking-emergent.
- Design agency-emergent.
For more information: http://blinkybug.com