Learning Blog 4

Constructionism has been very helpful for me trying to fix things by taking them apart, figuring out how they work, and putting them back together.

Halfway into the semester I had a bad week because of my computer and washing machine.  

The computer that I had been using to program for my learning blog project became unusable.  At random moments the screen would go crazy, the speakers would make an awful sound and then the computer would shut off.  When I started it up again nothing would turn on and three repetitive beeps would come from inside the tower.  This was pretty devastating because all my work was on that computer.

I decided to take the CPU, ram, hard disk, and graphics card from that computer and put them in another, older machine. So where do I turn to know how to do all this?  The internet.  I started with the CPU and found a video on YouTube that described the process.  I was happy with how well things were going until I found that the better CPU didn't fit in the older machine.  I did in the process learn about the fans, thermal paste and the pins that make up the CPU.

That same week the washing machine stopped draining properly; water got all over the laundry room.  I added to the mess by opening the washing machine door (it is a front loader).  Water went everywhere and had to haul soaking clothes out to the front yard.  I had never fixed a washing machine before.  So where do I turn to know how to do all this?  The internet.  A search on the internet led me to instructions on how to clean the filter.  After doing so I gave the machine another try. No luck, more water spilled everywhere.  I started to take it apart some more and found the drawstring of a hoodie wrapped around the pump of the drain.  I got it out, put everything back together, and voila! a working washing machine.

I guess you could call this unstructionism or learning by undoing or unmaking. In my life I have taken apart a telescope, a car radiator, a swamp cooler, and most of my kids toys :) because they didn't work. That has been a powerful tool for my learning.

Oh, and does anyone know how to put back together the axle on a kid's bicycle? That one I am struggling to put back together :).