I really had a great time trying to make something with Makey Makey even though it was not very easy to do what our group wanted to do. It is amazing to see what the technology can perform, but that makes me feel like I am kind of behind and I need to catch up with the ever-changing technology.
If we just looked at the surface of today’s session, we would see that we were just playing around with the Makey Makey and doing things that are totally unrelated to our English class. However, if we think more deeply, we will see many similarities, especially with the process of writing. At first, we need some ideas to invent something amazing with Makey Makey; if not, we will just be playing and there will not be any creation. It is like writing our essays; we need a specific thesis to write a good essay based on the thesis.
Our situation is a little different. We had a specific idea that is to match each borough with its significant songs, but we couldn’t do it at first because there were technological difficulties and challenges. The MacBook we had is old, slow and cannot open garage band that is the main component of our invention; we needed it to record the songs. Then we also needed software to transfer the recording so that when we connected with Makey Makey and tapped each borough, the songs would be played. The professors were very helpful and tried their best. We also had to be patient and, finally, we were able to record and transfer the songs. Our invention was not very perfect because we messed up a little when we exported the songs.
That situation is very similar to my writing process for my first paper. I had an idea, but I had to spend a lot of time to put down my idea into a clear, concise thesis statement and write body paragraphs which support my thesis. Finally, I could produce a three-page essay. However, it was not very good because my thesis was not specific and not argumentative, and my body paragraphs didn’t really support my thesis. Then, I rewrote it and made it a better essay. Therefore, if we have another session, I am sure we will be able to create our idea perfectly. We only need time, patience, and perseverance to reach our goals.
