Lego Digital Designer

So during the Christmas break I thought I would get a little creative and build a VIRTUAL LEGO MODEL using an application called Lego Digital Designer (LDD), which is a completely free computer program created by the LEGO team. The aim of the program is to allow users to use their imagination and build LEGO models using virtual LEGO bricks designed within a computer-aided manner. It is designed to run on Mac or Windows platforms, where the screen loads up with a clean LEGO board as shown below:

The beauty of the program is that it isn't age-based, and therefore means children and adults alike can share in the building experience and follow their interests. Children can also use this to develop their imagination in a way that is not lead by adults, without the stress of mess, while also developing their computer skills. Using the different range of tools building becomes easy and using the Save Tool allows you to close the program and come back to it again later, allowing you to add more and more to your model until you are completely satisfied with the outcome or want to start again on something new!

You are also able to share your mode with the rest of the world once you have finished, as stated on the LEGO website 'when you are finished with your amazing creation, you can upload your LEGO Digital Designer file to the MINDSTORMS Community. Other LEGO MINDSTORM fans from around the world will have access to your instructions to build your new robot! You can also read comments and feedback'. This is an interesting feature as those who share a love for LEGO can easily go online and view what their friends have created and then get ideas from their designs, or can proudly show their models to others as well. 

I myself have tried using the program and decided to build a simple red brick house with a white picket fence. At first I found the program rather difficult to navigate and needed my more experienced friend, Archie (a link to his portfolio can be found here), to show me the ropes and find my way around the LEGO board so to say. I would therefore suggest children who want to use this application be supervised by an adult as it can be quite mindboggling to a new Virtual LEGO Builder! Its fair to say that I'm far from becoming a Master Builder, but I am rather happy with the overall result of my house design as shown above! 

Testing The Authenticity Of A Website Of Our Choice

During one of our sessions in class we were given a task to research the authenticity of a website of our choice in groups. The website my group chose was:

One of the reason we decided on this website was because it was very useful as it is relevant and specific to the needs of any individual who wants to learn how to do origami, but mainly we decided on it as a bit of fun and wanted to bring some creativity to the classroom by introducing something new. The website is also authentic and easily accessible for everyone varying from adults to children. Adults in particular who are hoping to learn the craft would find this website aesthetically pleasing. When looking into the authenticity of the website we found the author, Fumiaki Shingu, and typed his name into google using "site: Fumiaki Shingu" to find out what links came up in relation to his name to make sure that the site was appropriate, we came up with the search results that Fumiaki Shingu can be seen as an authoritative figure in the making of origami as he has three books published in the subject that can be bought on a number of sites like Amazon.co.uk. Some other results that came up can be seen in the example above.
Additionally the authors authenticity can be backed up through using research where I found information regarding the author such as he graduated from a design college and founded the company CITY PLAN Co., Ltd in 1984, where he then produced products in origami called “JOYD” which were successfully sold in major shops such as Toys R Us and Tokyo Hands, Loft. As well as this he has also done business overseas with clients in New York and Paris and then set up this site in 2002. Although the site was set up over 12 years ago the style of origami hasn't changed and therefore still makes it useful for everyone. Furthermore those with children will be pleased to know that the content of the website is completely appropriate, which can be checked and analysed by typing site: http://en.origami-club.com/fun/index.html on Google as well. We found when checking the authenticity of the website using this method that nothing other than origami links could be found. All in all we found this a nice little site to use if anyone reading is interested in origami as there are a different range of toolbars and buttons that redirected you to areas of the site that showed different types of origami until you found the model you wanted to create specifically.I personally would give it a massive thumbs up as the instructions included are very easy to follow, where you get a choice to either follow a diagram or an actual animation of someone folding the paper step by step which I thought was pretty cool!