Hi everyone, and welcome to our presentation for Moveable Feast and our topic for week 6 is DIY “Do-it-Yourself” Learning.
We have created a website about DIY and the influence of Mobile technology on this type of learning. Please read through our website. When you reach the Activities page, you are welcome to choose any of the DIY video suggestions and it would be a great pleasure to have you share your achievement on our Reflections page using the Padlet discussion tool.
We hope you enjoy the reading and discussions.
please click this link
It would be great to get your ideas on DIY on the blog Page discussion below too.
You can choose any of the following questions to guide your ideas.
What are some of the most popular mobile apps for DIY projects and how do they assist users in completing projects?
What role do online communities and forums play in the DIY movement, and how have they been impacted by mobile technology?
How important is user-generated content, such as tutorials and reviews, in the DIY space and how has mobile technology impacted its availability and spread?
What challenges and opportunities exist for DIY enthusiasts in terms of using mobile technology for their projects?
Noor & Iris
Dear Noor and Iris,
Thank you very much for building an impressive site with wonderful content. You truly are knowledgeable in the topic, and the diversity of your interests is amazing.
I believe David was 100% right when he gave us a choice of topics to work on. I can feel that you love what you are talking about on the site.
Thank you, ladies!
Lovely website that is clear and easy to follow, thank you to Noor and Iris! I am not hugely knowledgeable about DIY but we are certainly living in the right era for it due to vast amounts of digital and online technology available that can act as a guide and support framework for DIY learning. The plethora of online content available to teach oneself is growing by the day and there is almost nothing that you can’t learn by watching youtube tutorials, listening to instructional podcasts and using paid online learning platforms such as Skillshare or Coursera, to name just a few. Additionally, inclusive online spaces for creating worlds that also allow social interaction and online learning are now ubiquitous and we can observe very young children participating in activities such as Minecraft and Roblox which both allow them to build their own worlds, create and learn in a DIY manner. Home virtual assistants device such as Siri or Google are tools that contribute to DIY learning and I find myself asking my Google device daily questions about metric conversions, recipes, mapping, and general knowledge queries that contribute to me being able to DIY a new activity or learning experience.
How important is user-generated content, such as tutorials and reviews, in the DIY space and how has mobile technology impacted its availability and spread?
User generated content is really the foundation of the DIY space. While some products are decent at providing effective instructions, I find most barely skim the surface of what’s possible or try to word them so concisely that they don’t end up being helpful. Real people who have gone through trial and error are often better at providing instructions at the appropriate granularity for the skill level they are discussing. I appreciate the number of people who take the time to share their knowledge with the internet and record themselves completing tasks – they’ve helped me with a lot of over the years. With regard to reviews, I hardly ever buy anything anymore without combing the reviews to ensure the product or service is going to meet my exact specifications, and I don’t often trust a rating if it has less than 10 reviews – really the more the better. There is, however, an increasing challenge with reviews since the advent of influencers and the ability for companies to pay for highly-rated reviews, so you do have to be critical when reading them.
One of the ones that I use most frequently use is YouTube. My nephew learned how to butcher a pig using YouTube. The way my dad described it, he had the knife in one hand and his phone in the other, showing the video of what to do and how to do it. I also use YouTube quite extensively for the how-to’s, and to help provide my students with alternative information sources, in case my explanation doesn’t work for them. I have also used YouTube to help remind me of how to do crafts that I have done in the past, but haven’t for a while, just as a refresher. My dad learned how to carpet his stairs, fix the leather on his leather couch and how to fix the headlights on his Jaguar by watching YouTube.
The videos that you can find to help with any kind of DIY, I think, make YouTube one of the best sources of DIY videos.
Other ones that I really like are: Instructables, which has a number of different DIYs with instructions, and Ravelry, for all things yarn related (knitting and crochet projects galore!)
What role do online communities and forums play in the DIY movement, and how have they been impacted by mobile technology?
Online communities and forums are a whole other superb learning experience that is constructivist and social. Through the peer-to-peer or whole community interactions, members develop new content knowledge, social and emotional skills, motivation, creativity, and subject-specific skills. Not to mention disrupting the global economy when members develop new tools and devices, whether virtual or real, that help accomplish projects and sell them world wide!
Mobile technology has certainly made this process more convenient and increased the connectedness members of these communities share. It has definitely increased the spread of such communities and facilitated access to them and made it more equitable, to some extent.
I am a long-time Pinterest user and love the ability to organize my interests and ideas into different categories/boards. This makes it much easier to find what I need later and return to previous ideas or inspirations. I also create in so many different media, that a broad platform like this is more interesting for me than something with a more narrow focus.
I believe that the contemporary DIY learner has developed great skills in using key words to narrow a search; I used to spend a lot more time with students and this specific skill. I see, now, how ingrained this skill is at a young age. I also enjoyed when a student wanted to look up a Japanese anime character on my iPad this week, but he didn’t know how to spell it. A peer across the table told him to just put on the speech to text feature, speak the character’s name, and the iPad would spell it for him. Succinct answer, problem solved and I wonder about the spelling tests that my daughter does every Friday in grade two. Will she do much word processing, typing or spelling in another decade?
What challenges and opportunities exist for DIY enthusiasts in terms of using mobile technology for their projects?
Challenges: Mobile devices can’t talk back to you. Okay, yes I know that a device has the capability to chat/video/message with others, so in this way a device can definitely be a useful source of two way communication, but from a DIY task perspective, I’d imagine the vast majority of projects are completed through a search engine or video sharing website. This means that for whatever DIY project one may be working on, it can be much more challenging to ask specific questions, or get help with a need that may be specific to your personal situation. Mobile friendly forums do a good job of helping to address this issue, but it can be challenging to get an instantaneous answer, so often times this brings your DIY project to a halt.
Opportunities: Mobile devices can go anywhere. I think that the ability to be able to bring your mobile devices wherever your DIY project is happening, is extremely beneficial. I also think that it allows for people to complete DIY projects more efficiently, as getting halfway through a project, and needing to look something up, potentially doesn’t impede the creative process as much (for most, it’s as simple pulling their phone out, and Googling/youtubing away).
Noor and Iris, thank you for your OER on DIY! Well done! What are some of the most popular mobile apps for DIY projects and how do they assist users in completing projects? This site has 8 DIY mobile apps, that could be useful for the DIY er.
https://www.doityourself.com/stry/our-8-favorite-diy-apps#:~:text=Our%208%20Favorite%20DIY%20Apps%201%201.%20Handyman,Woodshop%20Widget%20%28iOS%29%208%208.%20Smart%20Plant%20%28Android%29
One that I have used personally is the “smart plant” app (which has now changed to “Iris”, and is available on Apple). This app provides easy plant care instructions, and allows you to “ask a plant doctor all your growing questions.” It also has video tutorials created by experts and a finder; to discover gardens to visit near you. There’s also a plant identification tool, where you take a picture of the plant and the app will identity it for you. DIY apps such as this are very helpful as they provide useful tools and tips, while also creating a community of plant enthusiasts to share and grow with!