Adjusting The Thesis To The Ongoing Pandemic

Unfortunately, this project has been challenging to complete due to the current circumstances we live in during an ongoing pandemic ³. This section will first describe the intended plan of this project. This is followed by a series of challenges that led to me shifting towards alternative solutions to conduct the project.

3Viken undergoes pandemic guidelines https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/innforer-strenge-regionale-tiltak-i-hele-viken/id2838828/

7.5.1 Original Plan

At the earlier stages of the project, I planned to create a tangible prototype that is dedicated to digital fabrication for arts education. The idea was to create a toolkit, combining microcontrollers and electrical components with crafting tools. The prototype was to be evaluated in an educational conference as part of an exercise for teachers. I had also planned to create a set that could be tested in higher education with preservice teachers. In addition, I was planning to conduct a session with potential users in brainstorming sessions. I also wanted to observe a couple of art classes in K-12 schools to collect data on the activities that were practiced. As early as of March 2021, the Norwegian government classified the entire county at the highest contingency level due to the rise in confirmed cases, causing the institution to shut down its doors to students and employees alike. This removed my only possibility to create a tangible prototype and its respective evaluation as intended. The design activities with participants were primarily conducted through distributed meeting systems (Zoom and Microsoft Teams).

The restrictions during the project have created barriers to conducting the intended activities, causing me to change my approach to a distributed solution. This has evidently led to a different prototype then what is planned. I will discuss the challenges concerning the education sector in the next section.

7.5.2 Strain on education sector

The restrictions forced schools to implement digitally based education. In the context of arts and crafts, this change entailed a minimum of physical interaction. Consequently, it was challenging to recruit participants for design activities. The same challenged applied to conducting them through distributed systems. This showed that even if I performed the intended activities, there would still be a challenge in applying the intended methods in an unusual situation.

Despite the challenges stated in this section, the project still contributes valuable research. Furthermore, the prototype in this form adapts to the current situation and can still support digital fabrication in arts education.

Conclusion

In this thesis, I have explored the relationship between technology and arts education with a theoretical background. Furthermore, I have examined how the changes in the curriculum affect the current practice in the subject of arts and crafts in Norwegian K-12 programs using qualitative methods. Throughout the project, I applied Research through Design as my core methodology, adopting frameworks that structure the basis of my work. The activities that followed resulted in the creation of a prototype that introduces teachers to digital fabrication using a digital platform that functions as (1) an entry program for beginners, and (2) a supplement for teachers that need to fulfill the requirements set by policy makers. The prototype was the result of an iterative design process with a user-centered approach. With the implementation of the curriculum aimed at explicit digital fabrication in arts and crafts, I performed an evaluation of the prototype with four art educators.

The results of this study broaden our understanding of how art education perceives the use of digital tools in Norway in light of the changes made by policy makers.

Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that art educators can be facilitated with a digital platform when introducing digital fabrication to comply with the curriculum. The

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work from this study shows that participants seem to favor familiar projects with the incorporation of technology. In addition, the results indicate that they would be interested in using the platform for their practice. The home page helped the teachers understand how the Micro:bit worked and its applications in arts education. There is still a need to present technical concepts, as terms such asprogramming are still new for art educators.

The first task presented the teachers with a practical walk-through of digital tools and their first code. The second task appealed significantly to participants. This is due to the reiteration of familiar projects with the incorporation of technology. In addition, the implementation of animated instructions helped participants understand the technical assembly of components. There is a need to provide teachers with learning outcomes for each task to validate its purpose. The platform should contain other elements of digital fabrication, such as 3D printing in the resource page. Furthermore, the results indicate a need to supplement the platform with other existing practices in arts and crafts today.

This can be achieved by reframing the platform to a community-based resource, where teachers and educational specialists can contribute with relevant projects to increase engagement in their field.

I hope to contribute not only by presenting my results, but also the documentation of my design process in regards of using research through design as a methodology.

Furthermore, the contributions from this thesis will also come in the form of the findings of the preliminary interview and an extensive literature review on digital fabrication and computing in education. Finally, the following sections will come in the form of suggestions for future work, as well as the limitations of the study.

8.1 Limitations

This section presents and discusses the limitations of the study, excluding the limitations described in Section 7.5. These limitations may have affected the design of the prototype and the results to some degree.

8.1.1 Participants

There were 3 participants in the preliminary interviews, 4 in the evaluation of projects, and 4 in the evaluation of the final prototype. The project would benefit from looking at a variation of pedagogic perspectives, looking at different regions in the country.

Furthermore, I was an acquaintance with one of the participants, which could have influenced their perception towards the research. Their relationship towards the author of this thesis may have impacted their attitude towards the study and influenced them to react positively. This should be regarded as a possible limitation.

8.1.2 Data Collection

This section follows through on the topic of participants. The research would have benefited from using other forms of data collection. Using the prototype in a realistic setting, for instance, a classroom would provide more reliable results. A systematic approach to collecting data would allow for a comprehensive analysis in the form of open coding. Another limitation is the data collected from the preliminary interviews, as I was not able to observe their practice due to pandemic restrictions. Their responses could not be representative of how they practice their work in the classroom and can therefore be considered a limitation. There is a possibility of participant bias considering that the evaluations of the possible projects and prototype have been performed in distributed meeting systems.