It is certainly no secret that the RP has caused more than one person major stress and frustration. As I am writing this I have given up for the second time. This makes me nervous, as the points are a large part of the grade in this class. So please don't fail me. I'm going to use this blog post as a sort of conversation (one-sided though it may be) about the project as a whole and my thoughts and feelings.
My classmate, Anne, mentioned this to me yesterday while we were talking about course of study and it was sort of a lightning rod moment for me. I think in large part the reason that this is so frustrating is the RP project seems exists wholly outside of the actual class of LIS 2000. We have had many interesting guest lectures, and papers pertaining to those lectures. And then sudden bursts of panic as we remember that RP is something that is suppose to be happening. It just doesn't feel like it fits in that class. It would almost make more sense for it to be a LIS2600 semester long project or something.
Something that has frustrated me personally throughout is the thrown in the shark infested waters with no chain mail feeling. I was a computer science minor (computer science for liberal arts majors but still) and for two years in my coding classes we started with the basics. And then in the final month or so, we were given our chain mail to complete our final projects. I.e. build a website from scratch. I survived the swim, but only because I experienced the training. On the one hand I understand what the goal was in giving us the project the way that we were. That is how the actual world works. We will be confronted with technology throughout our careers that will confuse and astound us. On the other hand. I am paying a lot of money to go to school to learn and hone my library and information technology skills. And as a student I expect to be taught, not stressed.
This next thing sort of ties into the previous basics statement. If we were to get basics we would be (possibly) more free to actually create something with the Pi. Like my friend at my previous library did. She did not use coder, but she still built a thing. The lack of any knowledge was compounded by the restrictive nature of the project, that is, that we had to use Google coder, an OS, when there are hundreds of things to do with a Pi, that could also be Windows based.
Which brings me to the biggest sticking point. The tools. This was discussed in class, but let's rehash it a bit shall we? SD card, mouse, separate keyboard and screen, HDMI cables, inaccessible routers, who has the kit right now. Who can afford all these extras for one use? I bought an Ethernet cable and a micro SD I didn't plan for, and don't have another use for. The logistics are shaky.
My attempts were fraught with roadblocks. The assignment instructions on courseweb are just as sparse as the google coder website itself. And it took me a while to realize that the steps were not necessarily as chronological as there seemed. I also, for some reason, had the hardest time keeping anything on my SD card, and now my mousepad is acting up. I was unable to attend the outside class time sessions. Which brings me back to the feeling of it not really belonging in LIS 2000. They were outside my set aside time.
I have no doubt that the Pi project could be a useful, interesting, and even fun project. And I also understand that we are the guinea pigs so there was bound to be issues. At this point, I want this post to be informative to the professors of this course. And to not lose 20 points. I shall post a picture with proof of my attempt to get everything running.
