I had never heard of a makerspace before researching them for this blog. I have gathered that they are areas where students can explore, discover new ideas, create, and build (Explee, 2014). These spaces often include a diversity of materials and electronics. These may include cardboard construction, woodworking, robotics, bicycles, sewing, and 3D printing (Cooper, 2013). Makerspaces are places where students have the freedom to build and take things apart. Maybe there are some old computers that they can take apart and figure out how to put them back together. The goal is for students to learn with their hands and deeply engage in science, engineering, and tinkering (Cooper, 2013).
One school found an old, working computer and took it completely apart. The students organized the parts and then put it back together using cardboard as the computer frame. They got error messages along the way, but persisted and researched to find the solution to the problems (sheninger, 2014). The students were working with real world devices and finding solutions that would give them skills that they could use in real jobs. One may say that using makerspaces as pedagogy could give students the skills they need to function in the world after school. This may not be so easy. Gary Stager (2014) cites a quote that says, “In spite of research that shows that experiential classrooms and long-term projects are effective in teaching higher-order thinking skills and deep content knowledge, such pedagogical methods are not widespread. This may be a result of the current focus on standardized testing and the acceptance of teaching to the test as never before.” Makerspaces have many benefits, but they also require a lot of time. That time is necessary for students to have a throughout go at exploring, discovering, creating and building. Explee TM. (2014, July 13). Retrieved June 8, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLEJLOB6fDw Cooper, J. (2013). Designing a School Makerspace. Retrieved June 8, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/designing-a-school-makerspace-jennifer-cooper Sheninger, E. (2014). A Principal's Reflections. Retrieved June 8, 2017, from http://esheninger.blogspot.com/2014/12/impact-of-makerspace.html Stager, G. (2014). What's the Maker Movement and Why Should I Care? Retrieved June 8, 2017, from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3758336&eml=SSO%2Faff%2F20141015%2F21181%2Fbanner%2FEE%2Faffiliate%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F2-238950%2F&affiliate_id=21181&click_id=1997258196
1 Comment
Dr. F
6/12/2017 01:17:49 pm
Good information and thoughts. You hit on two of the big items for a Makerspace; a safe place to explore, tinker, discover and create, and the fear of not covering the standards. These are two of the things that are always brought up when discussing putting Makerspaces in schools.
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