FACT SHEET: New Commitments in Support of the President’s Nation of Makers Initiative to Kick Off 2016 National Week of Making. “During National Week of Making, we recommit to sparking the creative confidence of all Americans and to giving them the skills, mentors, and resources they need to harness their passion and tackle some of our planet’s greatest challenges.” -- President Obama In June 2014, President Obama launched the Nation of Makers initiative, an all-hands-on-deck effort to give many more students, entrepreneurs, and citizens access to a new class of technologies—such as 3D printers, laser cutters, and desktop machine tools—to design, build, and manufacture just about anything, as well as increased access to mentors, spaces, and resources to support making.
Today, the President is proclaiming a National Week of Making, and the Obama Administration is announcing important progress on the Nation of Makers initiative, including: Full details on today’s announcements can be found here HERE. Background. How Libraries Are Becoming Modern Makerspaces. If you could ask Ben Franklin what public institution he would like to visit in America today, I bet he would say the public library.
And if you asked him which part of the library, I bet he would say the makerspace. Ben Franklin is well known as a founder of the early subscription library, the Philadelphia Library Company, almost 300 years ago. It may be less well known that Franklin used the library’s space for some of his early experiments with electricity. Q&A with Makerspaces Innovator Laura Fleming on the Best Creative Spaces in K–12. Laura Fleming has quite a bit of knowledge about makerspaces.
She’s created them at the elementary, middle and high school levels. A former classroom teacher, Fleming became a library media specialist at New Milford High School in New Jersey at the behest of her principal, Eric Sheninger, also a well-known education figure. A frequent blogger and makerspace advocate, Fleming also is author of the bestselling Worlds of Learning: Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School. Fleming spoke recently with EdTech Managing Editor Jena Passut about makerspaces and how she makes the best spaces for the kids in her school.
EDTECH: How did you first become interested in makerspaces? FLEMING: This is my 19th year in education. 3 Challenges As Hands-On, DIY 'Maker' Culture Moves Into Schools : NPR Ed. Take a look this summer inside some of America's garages, museums and libraries and you'll see that the "maker movement" is thriving.
This hands-on, DIY culture of inventors, tinkerers and hackers is inspiring adults and children alike to design and build everything from sailboats and apps to solar cars. And this fall, more of these chaotic workspaces, stocked with glue guns, drills and hammers, will be popping up in schools, too. But the maker movement faces some big hurdles as it pushes into classrooms. Here's the first big one: Schools "are not thinking about it as an instructional tool," says Chris O'Brien, a former teacher who helps schools create maker and project-based learning spaces in New York City.
He says schools make a big mistake if these programs are merely a popular elective with the hip teacher, or the place to go after school to play with wood, cloth or a 3-D printer. Another student is working on a drone prototype made of Styrofoam. Create a school makerspace in 3 simple steps. As maker education gains steam, many educators are looking for ways to incorporate making and tinkering into their schools and classrooms — often on a shoestring budget. “Kids are saying they want to learn more about technology and science, but they also want to experience it creatively and use it personally,” said Dale Dougherty, founder of Make Media, which produces Maker Faire and Make Magazine.
He’ll address how educators can deliver these types of experimental learning experiences during ISTE 2014’s EdTekTalks, a provocative series of mini-keynotes from thought leaders beyond the world of ed tech. “One of the ways we can do that is create more makerspaces for kids. What's STEM Got To Do With It? School Librarians as STEM Super Stars! Lots of schools across the country are either considering, experimenting with or diving right in to full fledged STEM initiatives; that is to say instructional programs emphasizing Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
Even if your school isn't going full STEM ahead, I imagine there's movement in your district and/or state towards encouraging student exploration of these subjects and fields. To me it's a natural fit. If STEM is about encouraging exploration, teaching kids to ask and find the answers to meaningful questions and using resources to change the world, librarians really ought to be leading that parade. Not only do we have the skills to carry that banner, but frankly this is a shared pedagogical philosophy. How to Build Your Makerspace. Learning by making has been around since long before edtech—just think about what the adventurous explorers or intrepid settlers of yore would have thought of "Do-It-Yourself.
" But with thousands of kid-friendly tech tools and a whole World Wide Web of resources out there, creative, interesting opportunities for learning-by-making abound for everyone. Okay, so with all those resources, where should you start to build a makerspace? Here at EdSurge, we've rolled up our sleeves, put on our protective goggles, and built a Maker Guide from scratch, just for you. Read on for ideas from the educators and entrepreneurs who think making 24/7, including what is involved with project-based learning and making in the classroom and tried-and-true lessons from the field on starting your makerspace.
Creating a School Library Makerspace: The Beginning of a Journey. Our library at Silver Creek High School in Longmont, CO is an active hub for extracurricular activities.
We host an Anime Club, monthly Poetry Slams, and Book Buddies, but I felt like we could do more. I wanted something that I could tie to student learning which would promote inquiry, giving students opportunities to solve problems and find answers to questions. My assistant and I began looking at innovative library programs and community partnerships. Many of the teacher librarians in my professional network have been expanding their libraries by adding makerspace opportunities, classroom collaboration, and even 3-D printers.
I used these folks as inspiration. Makerspaces are a natural evolution for libraries. No need to reinvent the wheel We have great models to guide us as we select the equipment to purchase and the procedures to follow. Where to get the money? Next steps. Our Makerspace Journey. The Stewart Middle Magnet School Library Makerspace Journey I first started my makerspace journey at Stewart Middle Magnet School in January 2014 with a few bins of K’nex spread out on some library tables.
It then grew and expanded into a thriving program and a vital part of the library and school. Take a look back at our journey and see what we learned along the way. The Makerspace changed, grew and evolved since it was first conceived and started in January 2014. Follow along with the first two years of the story here. (Note: I left Stewart in May 2017, but the makerspace there continues to grow. Starting a School Makerspace from Scratch. With the National Week of Making behind us, you might be ready to start a makerspace in your school -- but not know where to start.
Will purchasing a costly 3D printer and the latest robotics kit ensure learning and maker success? What are some steps to starting a successful makerspace from scratch? Step 1: Immerse Yourself in Maker Education Before you can build your own community of makers, you need to join one! Immerse yourself in makerspaces by joining a summer maker camp like Exploratorium's Tinkering Fundamentals or the virtual Camp Google for cheap and easy STEM ideas, but most importantly: make stuff! Step 2: Get Others Involved. A Thematic Approach to Planning Your Maker Space. When schools talk about the Maker Movement and creating maker spaces, they often focus their initial thinking on purchasing the tools and materials.
This resource-driven approach can create a buzz in your school for some time; however, that excitement will inevitably fade. While resources are an important part of any maker space, taking a thematic planning approach is much more effective. No two maker spaces are alike or should be alike. School Libraries and Makerspaces: Can They Coexist?
More and more schools are coming to value maker education and exploring ways to create makerspaces in their schools. Many schools are discussing how they might utilize their library to facilitate this. As my school has increased our commitment to constructionist learning and maker education over the last few years, we have done so in close collaboration with our school library. In exploring the relationship between the school library and school makerspace, it's not difficult to see why conversations about the growth of makerspaces are often tied to the conversation about the future of libraries.
FAQs about Makerspaces. What is needed to start a Makerspace in a classroom or school? Passion - You need to have passion and a belief in the educational value of maker-style projects. Space - This can be a whole room or only part of a room. Supplies - Start small with simple craft materials. A Librarian's Guide to Makerspaces: 16 Resources. "There were more than 135 million adult makers, more than half of the total adult population in America, in 2015. " What is a makerspace?
You’ve no doubt been hearing that word more than a few times over the past several years. Librarians on the Fly: Baby Steps to creating a Makerspace in the Library. Makerspaces in Your Library When I entered Fields Elementary Library, it was traditional in every way. Slowly, I have worked to make it a learning space, one where I can share technology and create a community of shared learning. Gone are the days that the library is just a place to check in and check out books. Since McAllen ISD is a 1:1 district, I am thrilled to see the potential every student has in this space. When I interviewed a month ago for this library position, my principal asked what my vision was for the library. Make that 3D printer materialize along with other tech gadgets. The exciting part of this whole concept is that the library holds the potential for collaboration between students in other parts of the country or world.
Evolution of a Maker Space, From “Monstie Stuffie” Projects to a Giant Catapult. LittleBits activities at the circulation desk in Colleen Graves’s school library. Two years ago, I was asked to write an article for Knowledge Quest about how I created a maker space at Lamar Middle School in Flower Mound, TX. (Rethinking) Makerspaces. How a School Library Increased Student Use by 1,000 Percent. Listen to the full interview: Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:45 — 71.4MB) Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Read Transcript Last year at Big Walnut Middle School in Sunbury, Ohio, there were some days when fewer than ten students passed through the library doors. How to Start a Makerspace When You're Broke.
Everyone’s Favorite Excuse. Launching a Makerspace: Lessons Learned From a Transformed School Library. Excitement about school makerspaces has been in the air, but many educators eager to create hands-on learning spaces in their schools still aren’t sure how to get started or why it’s worth the effort.
The Maker Space Difference: Amazing Inquiry, Shared Learning. Students work with the new 3-D printer. “Is it true? Makerspaces in Libraries, Schools & More » MakerBridge. Makerspace in the Library! Masl makerspaces. Makerspaces, Participatory Learning, and Libraries – The Unquiet Librarian. The concept of libraries as makerspaces first hit my radar last November when I read about the Fayetteville Free Library’s FabLab. Makerspaces in the school library environment 1yl39z1. Making Space for a No-Frills Maker Space. Volume 3, Issue 4, Number 4. The Role Making Can Play in Education and Future Work. “American kids should be building rockets and robots, not taking standardized tests.” — By Dale Dougherty.
A Thematic Approach to Planning Your Maker Space. Why the 'Maker Movement' is Popular in Schools. The maker movement is a global, DIY movement of people who take charge of their lives, solve their own problems and share how they solved them. And it's growing in schools that are searching for more authentic learning experiences for their students. Since the beginning of time, people have made things to solve problems and otherwise improve their quality of life. But previously, the amount of exposure individual projects received was limited. Now the Internet has driven projects into the limelight.