Circuit Prototyping Blog Post

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  How did you prototype?

Having never worked with paper circuits before, I had to really tinker and play around with the materials. I first had to learn how to get the LED light to light up with just the battery. I learned that putting the positive side of the light on the positive side of the battery and the same with the negative, the light would light up. After learning this, I began to tinker with the copper wire. I learned how to get two LEDs to light up by connecting them to each other with copper wire. It was then time to learn about paper circuits using copper tape. I first started with a simple circuit, my first time placing the tape and understanding how to set the tape up to line up with the positive and negative side of the battery. I was then able to get the LED to light up on the circuit. I then learned how to create a switch for the circuit, and how to fix a broken patch in the circuit. All of these steps I was able to do successfully, some not on the first try, and some I leaned towards the videos for help. But overall, I learned a lot, and doing different steps and tests, I was able to create successful prototypes.

• How did you iterate?

Most of the steps of the circuit I had to do more than once to get the LED to light up. Even with just trying to get the light to light up with just the battery, I had to try several different things. With the circuits, my first try, I had to redo because the copper tape was not lined up correctly and I had to figure out what was wrong and why the light was not working. At points in the beginning it was definitely frustrating, however, once I did it several times, I was able to get a better understanding and it became fun. Doing the circuit several times, allowed me to create ideas and prototypes for my tribute card. I like that doing all these small steps, allows us to create something more purposeful and personal.

• What did you learn from your classmates?

Working with classmates during this activity was definitely helpful because there were instances where we could not get the LED to light so we would tell each other we couldn’t and then we would help each other through it. For example, we would ask each other if they did each step and then try to figure out what was wrong. It was also nice to see my classmates prototypes and how they went about tinkering with the circuits and how they are thinking about the tribute card. I am excited to see everyone’s final card and how they interpreted it. I will like to see how different everybody’s cards will come out.

• How might you use this in an art classroom? (How does it connect with your prior knowledge and experience of art education?)

I definitely would want to use paper circuits in my future classroom, I just feel that learning about them is both personal and creative. At the start of this activity, I couldn’t see how we could use the circuits in a more artistic way, but then learning about the card project, made me realize that this can be used for something personal and expressive. Once again, it made me more inclined to use technology in the classroom. These activities are teaching me that technology can most certainly be incorporated into an art classroom and still be artistic and fun. I liked learning the steps at first, exploring, and getting used to the materials, then being able to apply these new skills into a personal finished art project.