The Maker Movement: Makerspaces for a Hands-on Learning Experience
Makerspace popularity is on the rise. More than half of school libraries in the U.S. and Canada offer maker programs to students, providing an opportunity to learn skills through experiential learning. Makerspaces often offer a variety of different resources for students to choose from and can include everything from robotics, coding/programming, animation, and video making & editing all the way through woodworking, knitting, sewing, and countless other skills.
A place where kids can get hands-on engagement to make, learn, and experiment in a tactile way, what makerspaces provide is different from the learning of a traditional classroom setting. It is a way for children to create something out of nothing and pursue interests, instilling a culture of exploratory lifelong learning. Makerspaces not only help energize a school’s culture, but also provide a space where students can continue to grow outside of class learning.
As learning communities where students learn and grow together, underused real estate, such as libraries, provide an ideal location to host Makerspaces. While makerspaces are all unique, one commonality is that they all serve as a gathering point for tools, projects, learners, mentors, and discovery.
Before embarking on transforming a space into a makerspace, first consider the pedagogical implications of teaching and learning that you would like students to be exposed to. Then, depending on budget, location, and accessibility for students, can a space be determined and appropriately designed with your goals in mind.
Many makerspaces offer community resources like 3D printers, software, electronics, craft and hardware supplies, and more. However, your makerspace does not require expensive investments into high tech offerings, nor does it need them to be still considered a makerspace.
Some questions to ask before you embark on creating a Makerspace:
What are the goals for it?
What resources does my school already have that can be used?
How is it intended to be used?
Where will I get supplies?
The maker movement is about teaching and learning that is focused on student centered inquiry. Flexible thinking, problem solving, collaboration are all part of 21st century learning. Makerspaces are a great way to provide an extended learning environment beyond class time. In order to further develop creative and critical thinking skills, students need to be able to be immersed in an environment that engages their learning in different ways. This is the gap that providing makerspaces in your schools can fill.