Educational Makerspaces

Part 3 of Making an Educational Makerspace Laura Fleming, R. Steven Kurti, and Debby L. Kurt To download a PDF version of this article, click here. A culture of innovation in an educational makerspace arises from student ownership rather than from the presence of high-tech tools. Even though the map to educational makerspace success remains vague, pioneers in the field are pushing forward and reporting their findings. By most standards, New Milford High School (NMHS) in Bergen County, New Jersey, is a normal high school. Figure 1. The renaissance of learning and creativity in the library at NMHS had humble beginnings: a simple makerspace where students could learn from one another and from unscripted tinkering. The new librarian took the challenge to transform the library into a vibrant learning environment, and the principal extended immense professional freedom to adjust the space in any manner necessary to inspire students at NMHS to learn, create, and innovate. Figure 2. Figure 3. R.

preddy-creating-school-library-e2809cmakerspacee2809d.pdf Creating Makerspaces in Schools Two weekends ago, I attended EdCamp NYC at The School at Columbia, an independent school on Manhattan's Upper West Side. One of the things I love about attending edcamps is that the day is always unpredictable because you don't know what will be discussed or who will be leading conversations until that morning. What ensued was an inspiring day focused on tinkering, exploration and innovation. A Day of Play and Exploration The day began with a discussion led by Don Buckley, The School's Director of Technology and Innovation, focused on design thinking in schools. Following this, my colleagues and I ran a session entitled "Programming with Food," during which the four of us set up our new MakeyMakeys along with Play-Doh and various types of food ranging from tomatoes and grapes to potatoes and orange peels, to show how students can manipulate existing programs and websites using the MakeyMakey board and conductive materials -- or build their own to manipulate in Scratch. Why Makerspaces?