In search for the right 3D printer for my needs and for schools I might work with has been an eye opening journey. At first all eyes pointed to the Makerbot Replicator 2, but as I have been meeting more 'makers' I'm finding lots of different possibilities including the Lulzbot, the 3D Cube and new models from Printrbot.
Although the 'extreme' maker would MAKE their own 3D printer, program their own arduino board to operate motors and extruders and laser cut or 3D print the parts, I wasn't quite ready for that journey. However I felt confident enough to order a KIT and do my own assembly. Although I didn't feel the Printrbot Simple would be the right kit for a classroom environment, the company's reputation was sound enough for me to give the build of their low cost model a try.
The package arrived the other day and I could not wait to dive in. It was a great feeling to open the box of parts and find that a degree of comfort with the parts included. I could envision the machine that had laser cut the wooden pieces; I immediately recognized the arduino board, and was not afraid of the colored wires and end stops, motors, and wire tires. The combined documentation (in the box and online supplement) was very thorough. I especially liked the way that the online documentation broke down the steps by steps with 3 visuals for each of the 67 steps. Also helpful was the way each step linked to user comments as they completed the steps. (I always read those, figuring I could benefit from other's questions and feedback). I used my Nexus 7 to document my own work. Here are the first 2 days of the build.
My amazing partner/coach/friend/husband was great support and lent me his tools and showed me all these little tricks (i.e. working with zip ties and hex nuts, cable management, etc) while demonstrating extreme self-discipline by letting me fumble through some awkward moments with tools I've never used before. (And yes, I did let him play with a few of the steps, but only after I experienced it myself first). The build did require a trip to Home Depot to pick up a few tools we were lacking including a micro cutter, more exacto blades, tinier Allen Wrench, and thread blue). As the assembly started to take shape, my motivation to make it to the end increased and we spent a LONG day at it on Saturday and finished the build! Yeah!
I had to laugh at the last step when I read the following
"
Step 67
Simple build finished. Great job! You're not quite done though. There are a couple more steps on your journey to 3D printing glory. ...I know, it is sort of like beating a level in Mario Bros, when the bad guy runs off with the Princess again.
Because that was exactly what I felt as I discovered that I had NEW software to learn and didn't have a clue how to calibrate the x, y, z, motors and extruder -- all steps which ARE NOT in the Getting Started Guide! Ask me how I know! --- (perhaps by the glob of filament stuck on the extruder, instead of stuck to the print bed, where it should be.... KILL Print Job... Stay tuned for more learning)
But boy am I EXCITED that we have a working 3D printer in our bus - and I assembled it - with a little help from my friend, coach, partner, travel companion, husband - Thanks, Craig.
Well I started with a plan to use the Makey Makey with Scratch and even had a plan to procure one. The folks at Sparkfun at SxSwEDU offered up there Makey Makey to me on the last day of the exhibit, so I didn't order one. I showed up at their exhibit on the last hour of the last day and almost walked away with one. But unfortunately got engaged in a great discussion with Jeff one of their reps that is very connected with the Vermont Maker movement and we started to make plans about future collaborations and I walked away forgetting to grab the makey makey. It wasn't sure that we were going to be stationary long enough for me to order one now, but alas, I remembered that I did have a PicoBoard with me and that this could possibly serve a similar function in that it also works with Scratch. Working with the constraints of using materials I had with me in the bus - I came up with the idea of making a "portable drumset" for people who "live in a bus" and reached for some picnic supplies to help solve this "problem" <<grin>>
I apologize ahead of time for quality of the video, I was focusing on making and realized AFTER the fact that I should have gotten out the tripod. (sorry)
I started by using the resistance sensors on the Picoboard to make a physical drumset play a virtual drumset created in Scratch. Once I got that working, I decided to add new features that would use each of the sensors found on the Pico board.
the slider sensor adjust the volume of the drums
the push button changes the Lighting (stage background color)
the light sensor was used to make colored laser lights appear when its dark
the sound sensor turns the stage to dark with an Thank You message when you applaud loudly (now that I think about it I should have applaud loudly result in an encore performance)
I need to give credit to the user cwb2001 on the Scratch community whose "sprites" I found that would serve my purpose. I learned that if you try to download the sprites from the online community, they did not work in my local version of Scratch, but if you click on the individual costumes, you can export the png locally (very useful tip for remixing for those of us who are NOT artist). I also want to acknowledge Mr. Michad from Nebo Elementary School who has some great lesson ideas for music, technology, and more for the idea of creating a drumset.
My First Cut is a story of Synergy and one more fun story I will be able to tell about Living and Learning Mobile. I can't wait to have some time to add it to my blog. When the CNC topic was introduced in our Physical Computing class, I had NO clue what CNC was and started to read about it and learning about gCode and all the converters and the multi steps from the design stage to the CAM stage. Seems like it was accessible with enough scaffolding but also offered many points of failure. (the first of which was having a Mac).
I kept looking for opportunity to complete this assignment and am happy to say that thanks to events like SxSwCreate (which was open to the public and did NOT require a SwSx badge), and maker groups who are active on Twitter, I was able to complete my first CNC project, and use the soon to be released EASEL app along with the Shapeoko 2 at the Inventables station. I believe that the affordability and accessibility of these two tools will mean that school Maker Labs will end up with both a 3D printer and a CNC mill. Easel took the complexity and extra steps out of the equation. It currently only does 2D, but is on the way to be able to work with 3D. I encourage you to sign up for the release which is happening over the next 2 months Here's my Synergy story
This week's challenge for my graduate class had me 'scratching' my Creativity itch.
Probably my favorite learning tool in the world is SCRATCH as it makes THINKING and LEARNING really visible. You can take any pedagogical textbook and illustrate its key concepts using Scratch as a tool.
(can you tell I'm a fan)
Here is a video I captured from my Tech Savvy Girls Camp of a group of young ladies designing their first game in Scratch. I filled the room with lots of fun creative objects to provide inspiration.The girls were asked to use the physical objects in the room to design a game. The game had to have at least 1 FAIL state and 1 SUCCESS state. Then they were given a short intro to Scratch lesson, and then asked to use Scratch to implement their design.
Here is their final Game Implementation on Scratch - Can you you use the cursor keys to navigate the frog through the maze.
This example was an "outside" of school learning activity, but Scratch can be used in the classroom, as you can see from this "connecting Scratch to literacy" example.
A few years ago I went on a mission to move these creative type activities INSIDE the curriculum and worked with another Creativity enthusiast colleague to kick off a project that we called "Create Simulate Innovate"
I was astounded at how hard it was to get teachers to buy into this idea. Even my most creative teachers went would respond with "sounds like a great after school activity" or 'perfect for enrichment class".
I did have a few successes and here is one of them.
A fifth grade teacher who I saw a connection between teaching kids procedural writing in language arts and SCRATCH. She discovered that having kids "LIVE" and "EXPERIENCE" procedure was a perfect connecting to WRITING out procedures.
They examined the ultimate procedural writing text - "cookbooks" then create their own Interactive procedural pieces using "Scratch" before they moved on to the actual writing piece (which I believe was a local assessment)
As we entered New Orleans I found myself with the challenge of completing a Toy Hacking Project for my grad course. The assignment started by having us visit our basements or other places for used or broken toys. Since I took all my toys to Good Will before I moved into the bus, I had little to work with. No Good Will stores nearby, but aha a Dollar General. Rounded up a few toys with potential and came up with this Toy Hack.
Deconstructing was great to do "after" a circuit unit. I understood what was happening and imagined the parts I could not control (like the song being played) .
I appreciated the programming in the Toy Phone which had both English and Spanish, and lots of conditionals (including a built in Quiz)
One of the toys appeared not to work, but after swapping out the watch batteries from another toy, we discovered it was the batteries and upon further deconstructing discovered the switch was stuck on ON (thus the drained batteries).
After I got everything apart I started to imagine possibilities. In playing with possibilities, I managed to dislodge some wires, which gave me the opportunity to learn to solder. Lucky me, I had a great teacher nearby who let me use his tools.
This got me to reflect on the importance of having access to resources (both tools and people) to support your process. Also important is a person who notices when you've reached capacity and encourages you back on your journey to a point where you have the desire and confidence to keep going. After all the tools were put away and we were working on some decorative elements, Mr. Potato Head's light up nose, stopped working - didn't take me long to spot that one of the wires had broken on the switch. ;-( By that time it was late at night, I had worked all day on this, and didn't have any stamina left for this 'slight' setback. Although Craig had left me to my "inventions" most of the day, he was within earshot and stepped back into the picture long enough to get my spirits up again, and offered to take out the solder so that I could "practice my new skill". ;)
A school environment does not lend itself well to the extra time mishaps take to fix. And many kids do NOT have mentors outside school that could lead them through this type of learning. When I read the Steve Jobs biography, I learned that Steve's adopted father was a tinkering and set up many opportunities for Steve to feel empowered as he learned to control computing devices. Where is that opportunity for our kids today?
To me creating these type of opportunities provides a common goal for schools and community to work for together on. I'm glad to see the interest in "making" come to the surface again. I think its a sign that our society is try to correct its path after having wandered too far off course.
Time to make to learn, invent to learn, and play to learn.
One of the things living and learning mobile allows us to do is not only to work from the road, but to also learn from the road through courses that are offered online. Navigating so much opportunity is not always easy. People who know me, know I'm always exploring and learning about new technologies. But being officially enrolled in Intro to Physical Computing Course from Marlboro College Graduate and Professional Studies means I have deadlines that conflict with some of the opportunities to enjoy the view or socialize with new friends. I completed by last assignment while traveling in 4 states (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana). Here's a short video of combining traveling and learning for your enjoyment.
And for those who are interested in learning more about learning, I've cross posted my latest reflection from my Make, Create, Innovate blog/journal from my course.
I See the Light - Exploring the world of Microprocessor Circuits
As I worked through these circuit building exercises from my Intro to Physical Computing Course from Marlboro College Graduate and Professional Studies, I became more deeply aware of how the experience gap widens as kids miss out on the opportunity to learn some basic science about the world around them. I’m not sure when budding scientist usually get introduced to circuits, but I don’t remember it from my elementary school days. It certainly didn’t happen in my household of 5 girls. I don’t have any memories of doing this type of thing with my parents either. So by the time I got to high school, I found myself accepting the fact that my understanding of the world of science was “muddy” and learned to live with that and cope. I put off taking Chemistry until my senior year, and then used my ability to ‘play school’ well to get through that without any deep understanding. Needless to say, I never made it into any physics classes.
I was pleased to learn that my science/math distribution requirements in college could all be fulfilled with math classes, which offered me yet another way to stay in the dark with my understanding of science. Ironically I am fascinated by science and frequently in awe of engineering, but I’ve learned to accept that this is something I can enjoy the marvels of without ever being able to do it (or truly understand it) myself. After all, we can all enjoy music without being able to play an instrument or art without being able to draw or paint - so it must be with science. Maybe! But by curiosity always made me wish I could have had a deeper understanding of so many wonders that could be explained by science. I learned to accept the fog--which of courses increased the gap in experience and in understanding. [photo credit: doug.siefken via photopincc]
As I proceeded through the first couple of projects in this Inventor Kit, I had a real meltdown. Circuit 1 was pretty easy to put together. But as I was completing Circuit 2, I became very aware of my lack of any deep understanding of what was happening outside my ability to follow directions and assembling wires and components accordingly. The tension made me want to shut down and not move further. There was no way that I would be able to complete the next 14 projects feeling this incompetent. So I took a step back and did what I usually do when I feel over my head - and that is to become a student and tune into my learning style. I copied the code to the circuits into a Google doc and started to break it apart 1 line at a time, using yellow to highlight important concepts, orange to highlight any actual snippets of code as I dissected it, and pink to highlight any points of confusion that remained. The comment feature allowed me to add free form thoughts and ideas as I worked through the circuits.
But that was not enough. I was seriously lacking some very basic basics. Thankfully my husband is an engineering type and was more than willing to help me fill in the gaps. After some of the fog had lifted about the basics of circuits and circuit boards, I went back and redid the first project and moved through the next several projects with increased confidence each time.
By circuit 3 I was able to look at the little schematic and understand what was going to happen, even before I turned the page and read on. I found myself color coding the wires I selected according to the energy flow and polarity. Anything that went to + or 5 volt got a red wire. Anything that went to ground got a black or white wire. Wires back to certain pins got a different color. As my confidence and understanding grew I started playing with positioning the wires and resistors in locations that worked for me that would yield the same results. I ran into another challenge when I hit the project that introduced transistors and relays. My curiosity and unwillingness to wander in a state of fog lead me to grill my coach/mentor/husband once more until things became clear enough for me to have a basic understanding of the role of transistors and relays in circuits.
I completed a video of each circuit as I completed it. Explored it further by playing with the code and then sailed through most of them (except 14 - which gave me a real hard time). Here is my documentation.
I had 3 circuits to complete by the time we had to leave Grayton Beach, Florida on Monday, but I managed to complete and shoot the video documentation for those last 3 circuits on the road while we travelled from the Florida, through, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Throughout this wonderful learning opportunity, I found myself thinking about the importance of Curiosity, Confidence, GRIT, Motivation and understanding your learning style. Had I not had the curiosity, I would have never sought out this experience; had I not had the motivation and GRIT, I would have given up; had I not had the understanding of my learning style, I would have failed to see a way through the challenges and had I not gained confidence along the way, I would not have enjoyed any of it, nor built any desire to explore further.
In education today, we are doing more and more student centered learning, and offering students more choice in determining their learning path. But what does it take to create the curiosity, confidence, motivation for students to venture into unknown territories or discover areas of knowledge that might never cross their natural path? What if a desired path leaves you in the dark lacking major understanding of what is and what’s possible in our world? How can we move forward in the personalization of education without failing our children? Providing access and opportunity to learn is not the same as providing students with the ability to reach beyond where their natural path or choices might take them. My choices left me void of understanding of many scientific concepts. But should my educational system have allowed this to happen? [ photo credit: Auntie P via photopincc}]
Some would say this is why we have high stakes testing - to spot the failures and fix them. But is that fixing the problem or making it worse. Not only do these test not reveal much data about Curiosity, Confidence, GRIT, Motivation and understanding one's learning style, they don’t yield improvements in the design of learning that increases any of these essential components. Often, they have done the opposite in that they have brought about an increased focus on remediation at the expense of creative learning environments that challenge learners to wonder, take risk, construct knowledge, and persevere. Finding a path where learners can experience that joy of thinking hard, where they have choice, follow their passions, and unpack their own understanding of the world without missing important and key understandings will not be easy - especially in a world where knowledge is growing at an exponential rate. Thankfully people are still asking the important question of “How do we do this.. where is the path that will yield the best results?” [photo credit: NASA HQ PHOTO via photopincc]
How my 3D printing assignment turned into a fun Friday Night Date night in Delray
This semester I am enrolled in a graduate class - Introduction to Physical Computing from Marlboro College Gradaute and Professional studies. Our assignment this week was to complete the cycle from design to printing of a 3D object.
I already knew that I’m not very 3D spatial by nature, so I was not surprised to be challenged by this assignment. I had tried Sketchup a few times and always amazed at what I have seen 5th graders do with this professional level tool. But then again I can’t hold a candle to a 5th grader at any video game that requires 3D movement.
Craig suggested that a dice might be a good entry point for me. Sounded good, but I wanted something a little more creative, than the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 on a cube, so I came up with the idea of six inspiring words on each side of my cube. (imagine, invent, innovate, create, make, learn).
Now inspired, I was ready to tackle the task.
Since I am on a personal inquiry about the role of mobile tools in the “maker movement” I thought I’d give this a try using some of the AutoDesk iOS Creativity apps that I had once downloaded on my iPad.
Although these are amazing apps, I was not inspired by the parts available on the 123D Design iOS app. They all felt so mechanical and robotic, and there did not appear to be any way to add text to my cube, so I proceeded to the online version of 123D design using my computer and found that it had a feature called SmartText that allowed for text extrusion. By sticking with a cloud based product I felt like I was still within the realm of mobile since inspired students could use this tool on ANY computer that had internet access and would not have to download software.
Unfortunately my lack of experience did me in. Although I was successful in getting one of the words etched into one side of an object by pushing it down into the object and using the void feature, I eventually became frustrated at my lack of understanding of how to join objects on different planes as I tried to work with the other sides. There was so much more to learn to get this right and every piece of new learning was taking so long. Thus I decided it was better to complete the ‘cycle” from design to print with something simpler than to keep building my skills in using the design software. So I settled for a small object that had the word “imagine” etched in. I could always come back and build my design skills later.
On to the next step in in the process. After exploring 2 popular sites for getting objects printed on a a 3D printer (Sculpteo and Shapeway) I learned that as long as I could get my design in a format called STL I could upload it to those sites and order my object in a variety of colors and textures. I was even more impressed when I noticed that 123D Design (and probably many other pieces of software) had a “Send to 3D printer” feature what connected with one or both of these online printing services.
However I was quite surprised at how small my object had to be to stay under the $10 cap we were trying to work with. I reduced the size of my objects to about 3 cm long.
Unfortunately the turnaround time for delivery was a little too much for my mobile lifestyle and even with expedited shipping it would arrive the day after we hit the road again. However this constraint led me to explore makeXYZ.com where people list their 3D printers locations and offer to 3D printing
services. I found 2 within a 20 minute drive from our campground and started a conversation with a young man named Johnny Harris in Delray. He quoted me $10 or $15 depending on the resolution plus a small service feel. I opted for the higher resolution and made arrangements to pick up my 3D print in a public place (hotel lobby in Delray).
I now own a $17 red piece of plastic (3 cm long) with the word “imagine” etched in. But heck, the experience was totally worth the cost.
The best part of the experience was hearing Johnny’s story. He is self taught with no formal training. He bought the 3D printer because he had an invention he wanted to make and didn’t have a way to get a prototype. The invention ( a vegetable peeler that peeled from all sides) is now in the patent process and this young man is now building a new fancier 3 D printer. We were quite impressed with him.
So much so that we commissioned him to model a part for our bus window screens and print 10 of them. The $100 feel might seem a little more than we wanted to pay for 10 small plastic pieces, but we both liked the idea of supporting Johnny’s entrepreneurial journey - and if the material is strong enough to do the job of holding our screens in place, then perhaps Johnny will have lots of new customers from the Wanderlodge bus owners around the country who can no longer get this part.
It was our first time in Delray and we were quite taken by the creative economy in Delray. We ended up walking around an Arts Garage (seemed like an incubator building for artistic industry), a puppet theater, and a few galleries. We ended up purchasing some fancy olive oils and vinegars and went in search of crusty breads. Lots of dessert bakeries, but no crusty bread until we hit a health food store and walked out with two different types of gluten free bread. The search for bread inspired us to stay for the evening. We did happy hour at an Oyster bar and dinner at a Mexican place that had a large choice of tequilas , really fresh local ingredients, and wonderful service.
Part of the street was closed off for a well attended fashion show featuring local designers and shops, which we watched for a while as we walked around town. We finished up the evening lingering over decaf and conversation about how my 3D assignment turned into an unexpected but very fun Friday night date.
Every new stage in life involves some new learning. No matter how much anyone tries to prepare you for a new stage of life or how much you read about your new destination; there are some lessons that are only learned through the school of hard knocks. And since this blog is about LIVING LEARNING mobile, why not share some recent “learning”.
I'm not usually a high maintenance girl, but one thing I've accumulated over the years is a very fun and versatile collection of glassware. I knew that 9 champagne flutes, 4 martini glasses, a dozen wine glasses, a half a dozen cordial glasses, juice glasses, beer glasses, tall water glasses, and the ever so practical size milk glass weren't going to accompany us on this trip, but I could not bring myself to give or sell my collection. So these made the cut of things that would survive storage in somebody's attic.
But that doesn't mean I succumb to drinking wine in the multipurpose LL Bean blue plastic cups which Craig has assured me can be a coffee cup, soup container, measuring cup and any other container one might hope for on the road. I rearranged the dishes and was pretty tickled when I found room for 4 wine glasses and 2 martini glasses. Craig just shrugged, smiled, and accommodated me.
School of hard knock lesson #1 - Stemware was not made for small RV size kitchen.
Okay…I get it, now. So when we got down to a single wine glass, I had another bright idea and measured the opening of the wooden glass holder, and found stemless wine classes that were narrow enough to fit these.
School of hard knock lesson #2 - Stemless wine glasses are no better at surviving the RV kitchen.
Down to one solitary wine glass, I noticed a set of red trimmed goblets in a thrift shop in Cedar Key that looked like they might survive our lifestyle. Who would have thought that plastic wine glasses would have made their way home with Lucie. Ah well.
School of hard knock lesson #3 - Be careful when opening the overhead bin - contents may have shifted during transit
We have all heard it many times, but what does it take for us to actually prepare for "shifted content". Well for me it was when my Chromebook (that was neatly tucked away in my overhead office bin) came flying out and landed squarely on my once unblemished Macbook air (sitting on the living area table - a.k.a. Lucie and Craig's shared office desk). Who would have thought that this wimpy little plastic Samsung Chromebook could put a huge dent into my shiny well built Macbook Air. Sigh! I guess having a dent in ones Macbook is something I can live with.
School of hard knock lesson #4 - Strewn wires in small spaces are a trip hazard
Much like an old house, our old bus could use a few more outlets around the couch area. Unfortunately, that’s where I like to sit and my old Windows laptop usually needs to be plugged in making its power cord the perfect trip hazard. In a recent entanglement, my old Lenova offered just enough resistance to bend the connector so the power cord no longer fits snuggly enough to keep the laptop charged. With just the right amount of tweaking I can get enough of a charge to do the few things I still need my Windows machine for.
School of hard knocks lesson #5 - My Macbook Air does not like coffee - not even a little sip
Despite the fact that my coffee was in a covered travel mug nestled in one of the two cup holders on the bus , enough java managed to to jump out to splatter on my Macbook.
School of hard knocks lesson #6 don't assume that the shiny new red protective cover you just added to your Mac book protects it from all types of damage. Especially when that protective skin traps a dash of liquid inside so you don't know that you have actually marinated your computer for days, until the screen starts to flicker and dark and dim sections of the screen move around from left corner to right corner.
School of hard knocks lesson #7 Don't assume that Apple Care covers all possible damages to your computer
I assumed that the Apple Care I have been buying with all my Apple products was there to help people like me that are hard on their technology. Last week I learned that all it takes is a little bit of moisture to trigger a liquid sensor that disqualifies your $700 computer repair from being covered by Apple Care. When we drove to Gainesville to retrieve my “unrepaired” Macbook Air from the Apple 'hospital", I did get to handle a new Macbook Pro Retina and was impressed by the lack of difference between its weight and that of my Air. (something to ponder) Thankfully I can continue using the Air with an external monitor for now.
School of hard knocks lesson #8 Moving your “work space” from inside to outside sometimes requires a 3rd hand
It’s been great to bounce back and forth between inside and outside workspaces, but all that moving around requires extra precaution. Hours after unpacking and setting up a brand new iPad mini, Craig gathered his ‘mobile’ tools to move inside when his new iPad mini slid out of his hands and landed on the cement pad outside our bus. The screen now has a 3 inch crack. ;-( Thankfully Craig’s experience handling the technology needs of schools has included repairing many iPad screens. Parts are on order. We’re thinking that the iPad might have had a better chance of survival if it had landed on the the outdoor patio carpet instead of a concrete slab. Note to self: Always roll out the carpet for yourself!
School of hard knocks lesson #9 Always double check and triple check the pressure of all tires before moving to a new location
We have no idea what caused the right tire of our tow dolly to shred (8 miles before our arrival at Cedar Key) but we took it as a reminder that we needed to be more diligent about checking the air pressure on all tires (not just the bus, but also the dolly). Thankfully this lesson happened on Route 24 instead of on Interstate 95. A friendly local musician stopped and offered us both help and advice about where we might find a replacement and another local resident agreed to let us store the dolly in his driveway for a few days while we secured a new tire. We’ve decided to take heed of this warning to double check our tire health frequently.
School of hard knocks lesson #10 Don’t ignore your body when it says “step away from the technology”
Probably the most important lesson learned so far in this trip has been to pay attention to how your body is reacting to change! Although I was still able to use my Macbook Air when tethered to an external monitor, it no longer served me when I wanted to move outside. Craig lent me a new Windows 8 Lenova that he uses to support the students and teachers back in Vermont . As soon as I started to use this slick new laptop, I found myself cursing the trackpad . I decided that it was just a matter of my learning the new Windows 8 gestures, and that this would be a “good” thing for me to practice and would help me better support educators who use this platform. The more I used it the more I felt my neck strain as my right hand tried to use a trackpad that was trying to emulate the “touchscreen” functionality built into Windows 8. (BAD IDEA!) Craig has deployed 100 of these Windows 8 Lenova laptops and almost 90% of them have been downgraded to Windows 7 OS by request of the user.
Between the trackpad and my already questionable posture, I kept feeling the strain in my neck increase, but I kept working in 5th gear for long hours at a stretch to support students' final projects, get grades in for my 3 online graduate courses, and also launch a few new projects before everyone left for holiday break. Unfortunately, I am now going to be spending my holiday break looking for remedies to make my arm, neck, back strain go away and regain the range of motion I seem to have lost in my neck.
I bet that those of us living and learning mobile could add a few additional insights to this study of New Technologies, New Behaviors, and New Postures. I wonder if Steelcase might consider creating a “mobile” chair that could accommodate today’s new generation of mobile workers!
This lesson (listening to my body) has persuaded me to go ahead and order a New Macbook Pro Retina. I wasn’t quite ready to upgrade yet, but eventually decided that adding a new member to our Apple family” might be worth it IF
But one thing I am enjoying with my new purchase is that being untethered again is absolutely helping me take fuller advantage of living learning mobile!
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