Digital Divide and The Sakura Star Origami
The project outlines how I use non digital methods to make an origami sakura star.
I have sought the help of my mother, but realised I could not go very far with her because it would mean video calling her to show her what I wanted to do. I therefore resorted to seeking out people I know and meet on a regular basis and people who have interest in origami. Luckily, my friend makes origami for his cats to play with ( he is the creative guy I know, who even designs action figures). We decided to sit down and he will teach me how to make one, however, as of today, due to my midterm and his work schedule, we were unable to get a fixed time to sit down.
Getting back to that, just prior to finals week, my friend and I reconnected to sit through the process of making the sakura star. The sakura star is considered a pretty difficult to master, let alone try on the first go. It was something that even he had difficulty to pull off without internet resources to help. He had colored paper at his house to make the origami. We started off easy because he made simple versions of the 5-point sakura star. Our initial progress led to some intricate folding (first fold out a five pointed shape) and double folding (folding out the inner pentagram from the existing five point shape) to come to a 5 point base.
Logan and I found it relatively easy to get to this part. At certain part, I had to stop and ask him to refold several of the petals to get the shape right. There were other occasions he volunteered and folded some of the trickier folds(the central pentagon). We reached a point where even he was stuck, the central spiral pattern. The only bit of technology we used was looking at the picture in the question prompt. he inspected in, putting his face up close (we resisted the urge to zoom in as that would constitute usage of digital technology). Spending about 20 minutes, and using toothpicks (to our failure) we attained a somewhat spiral flower at the center of our sakura star. As you can see from the picture, the center is scratched and jagged.
What I have learned from this exercise about digital divides is that in today’s day and age, it is very difficult to learn new things without the use of internet. On my previous project, I engaged in bricolage, utilizing a youtube video to create an origami balloon, even contributing and commenting on how the process can be made easier. Whereas, in this origami exercise, I was more like a student rather than a critic. I only had a few tries to get it right, or else my friend would have lost his patience. Whereas, I could repeat a YouTube video any number of times till I achieved perfection. If I had not been “lucky” to have a teacher at my disposal, I would have had to make a trip to a public library, look the book up (without using locating software i.e ask a librarian for help), searched through a book till I came across the process of making a sakura star, through images that are still. Not moving images like in a youtube video
In Communities, Cultural Capital and Digital Inclusion Viviana Rojas studied the impact of digital technologies on a community, and how those who had access to a computer, fared well compared to those who did not have access. Putting personal stories in context, I have come across a university student, who was studying Electrical engineering in Bangladesh. He grew up in the rural region of the with very little access to computers. He was struggling in his classes due to the heavy influence of digital technologies, whereas his peers (who grew up in the city) had very little trouble. He was considering dropping out rather than face shame (a common stigma in South East Asian societies), and going back to working in a mechanical garage, where he would learn the skills of the trade through physical applications. A comparison can be seen in the Digital divides reading where a hispanic boy was counseled to opt for refrigeration repair rather than architecture (which had drafting in digital means).
It has become imperative that people adapt to using digital technologies in order to remain competitive in today’s age. With the creation of youtube, even the simplest of learning processes have been encoded into digital means. And therefore it has turned into the go to resource recommended by teachers.
