Creating School Library Makerspaces While there is no clear, single definition to the term makerspaces (Burke, 2013; Fontichiaro, as cited in Bell, 2015), there are commonalities existing in terms of features, functions, goals and activities that makerspaces provide. A makerspace is a place where people gather as communities to be innovative, create and collaborate, to share knowledge, tools and resources (Britton, 2012). Makerspaces have transpired from the maker movement which has been popularised by Make magazine and Maker Faire founder Dale Dougherty. Regardless of educational or community contexts, makerspaces are learner-centred and facilitate cooperative and participatory learning, independent nquiry and experiential hands-on exploration via iterative activities, including robotics, 3D design and printing, electronics, physical computing, textiles, craft, gaming, digital fabrication.
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! Step 2: Get Others Involved Start a steering committee for your makerspace by involving interested teachers and students. If you can, reach out to the community and get parents and community members involved. Step 3: Purchasing Makerspace Resources Here are three guidelines: What purchases will give you the most bang for your buck? Step 4: Building a Community of Makers Immerse your students in maker supplies. Photo Credit: Colleen Graves Step 5: Hosting Workshops and/or Design Challenges Here are some design challenge ideas that worked for me:
Free Technology for Teachers Exploring Makerspace culture It’s twelve months since Kristen Fontichiaro presented Sharpening our toolkit: defining great work, exploring Makerspace culture and badging accomplishments at the SLAV Conference Transliteracy: whom do you ask and how can you participate? At that time Kristen spoke of the value of Makerspaces as positive learning opportunities based on her experience and research with the Michigan Makers group and the University of Michigan, USA. A number of schools have explored the idea and are implementing them in various ways. Makerspaces: creating an opportunity Regardless of the focus, Makerspaces share a common definition: A place where people can use tools and materials and can develop creative projectsCan be embedded in an existing organisation or stand alone e.g. Opportunities for innovation are emerging rapidly as schools purchase 3D printers and the notion of introducing computer coding as a primary school subject is being canvassed by education departments worldwide.
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. Both makerspaces and libraries are constructivist learning spaces that share a number of common goals, while approaching them in different ways and through very different material resources. Similar Yet Distinct Makerspaces and libraries are sites of informal learning. Libraries and makerspaces are inherently interdisciplinary spaces. Makerspaces and libraries are more than just resource closets.
The Daring Librarian Your Students can be “Makers”: 16 Projects Invented by Teachers (This post was edited on 6/30/2015 to add a 17th project previously omitted. Be sure to scroll down to see that project!) New York City, The Big Apple, a global hub for innovation and invention from the Otis elevator through the MakerBot 3D printer… The perfect location for teachers to flex their own innovation and invention muscles at Design, Do, Discover 2015. In June 2014, I attended the second Design Do Discover conference at Castilleja School in Palo Alto, CA. The first year was a wonderful learning experience for everyone – coaches and participants alike. The premise is simple: start with a quick tour of the facility and very brief show-and-tell of the tools (less than 30 minutes!) The final projects blew ALL of us coaches away! 1. This project was created by a team from my own school in Seattle… They were pursuing an idea of presenting the whole school with the same project prompt: solve a problem related to water. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Lego Mindstorms, Laser cutting. 9. 10. 11. 12.
A Librarian’s Guide to OER in the Maker Space Dynamic, living, breathing, current, personalized, adaptive, engaging, creative, cutting-edge, and current are just some of the words that have been used to describe the open educational resources (OER) movement. The U.S. Department of Education recently expanded its efforts to increase schools’ access to high-quality, openly licensed learning resources, giving educators more access to technology to personalize learning for their students. What are OER? OER are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits sharing, accessing, repurposing—including for commercial purposes—and collaborating with others. The benefits of using OER in the maker space The Williamsfield School District in Illinois has been leading the OER charge. Because of their capacity to stimulate creativity, OER are the perfect complement to the maker space movement. A switch-activated circuit from “High-tech Fashion.”
uTEC Maker Model he uTEC Maker Model visualizes the developmental stages of creativity from individuals and groups as they develop from passively using a system or process to the ultimate phase of creativity and invention. As illustrated in the model below, there arefour levels of expertise. A Makerspace participant begins at the Using level. A User enjoys engaging in an activity to sample something new. Here individuals or groups use a tool, device, or program in the way—and for the purpose— the inventor intended. Examples include learning how to, then playing the computer game, playing the musical score, or using a software program pretty much the way it was designed to be used. We recognize high levels of skill and perhaps even addictive behaviors on the part of these consumers, but they are still just at the consuming level. At the Tinkering level, the user begins to fiddle with or retry things that the original creator did not intend or build into the invention or instructional pattern.
“Hatch” Library Maker Space in a Mall Draws DIYers, Students, and Entrepreneurs A lightbox in the mall explains what Hatch is about. Photo by Sarah Bayliss It’s a Tuesday evening and the Watertown (MA) Free Public Library’s (WFPL) maker space, Hatch, is humming. Volunteer Steve Small is demonstrating a 3-D printer and directing a steady stream of people toward the 3-D design class across the hall. Located near the Dunkin’ Donuts in the town’s Arsenal Project Mall, Hatch, which had a soft launch in October 2014 and a grand opening in January 2015, supplies tools and materials to help users create a variety of projects from handmade to high tech. Kids in creation mode at Hatch. paint, and other raw materials are arrayed in bins on shelves. “Libraries create maker spaces to increase access to both tools and a workspace. LittleBits materials on display. Hatch user Cassandra Phillips-Sears calls the space “a free place where I can get together with new friends to work on projects, learn from each other, and build new skills.” Hatch volunteer Steve Small. address.)
Maker Space In Education Series… 20 Reasons Your Students Should Be Making It’s still summer time in the States and I couldn’t help but think of the idea of play, and that of course made me think of Maker Space. I have long encourage Making in the classroom. It wasn’t until recently that I discovered that this idea is now a movement and one that I suggest all 21st century educators Make some room for. I hope you enjoy this series and I encourage you to send me information and resources, as I am also Making time to learn. First, to ensure you do not miss one of these valuable posts or other resources covering PBL, Digital Curriculum, Web 2.0, STEM, 21st century learning, and technology integration please sign up for 21centuryedtech by email or RSS. As always, I invite you to follow me on twitter (@mjgormans). Booking Info – Time to think about your new school year needs. Maker Space In Education Series… 20 Reasons Your Students Should Be Making – Michael Gorman ( Like this: Like Loading...