The excitement and buzz around Maker Spaces is being compared to that of the early days of personal computers. A Maker Space is defined as “collaborative workshops where young people gain practical hands-on experience with new technologies and innovative processes to design and build projects…a flexible environment where learning is made physical by applying science, technology, math, and creativity to solve problems and build things” (makerspace.org).
“The first step to being able to do something is to understand your own accomplishments,” MAKE Magazine founder Dale Dougherty recently said at this months’ American Library Association Mid-Winter conference in Seattle Washington. He added, “We are not going to create a generation of kids who are interested in science and technology by having them read textbooks.” Dougherty has been a driving force in encouraging libraries to redefine “tools” and expand their ideas of programming. Making can include anything from creating homemade holiday cards to designing solutions for providing clean drinking water to rural areas. The ability to prototype and physically design abstract ideas is not only something that is plausible, but also possible- due to technological innovations, crowdsourcing and access to inexpensive materials.
Innovation and creativity is in our blood, and there is something very human about the process of making. Steve Jobs is quoted as saying, “everything around you that you call life was made up by people who were no smarter than you.” This program would encourage this innovation and creativity among all students, faculty and staff. It is an opportunity to allow students to create even if they are not enrolled in an art or computer science course. It will allow for leadership opportunities and apprenticeships with existing programs and provide doorways to other disciplines. The program will encourage networking, peer collaboration and community involvement. By allowing students to use their creativity and imagination, we predict personal growth, invention, connected learning and entrepreneurship.
The Educational Enrichment Fund would allow for partnerships in the community with organizations like Metrix CreateSpace, Microsoft Garage, and the University of Washington Engineering and Information Schools. Many resources exist to help Maker Spaces get off the ground, including Make Magazine, the American Library Association, and Makerspace.org.
The program would include DIY, crafts, instruction, hands on experience, art projects, wearables, bookmaking, and working with Arduino electronic prototyping technology. It will also include: guest teachers, opportunities for student apprenticeships; procedures and demonstrations, collaboration with community members and hobbyists, networking, literacy, entrepreneurship, research and invention.
We are still in the “Beta” stage of developing our plan for “Taking on Making”. However, we would like to start this March with a partnership at the Middle School where we will have several DIY workshops and gain an interest and following among students. The next phase will be an on-going series called “Maker Mondays” (to replace Movie Mondays) and would be a weekly afterschool led program in the Upper School Think Tank. Our ultimate goal is to work cross-departmently and create a permanent Maker Space for our students to work.