Current Development And Potential Of Maker Education
Rationale
The rationale for this paper is to provide an overview about what is currently going on in maker education, how making and learning are connected, as well to provide information about learning outcomes, potential and common issues, challenges, and resources. Future research regarding the direction of maker education is also provided.
Research Questions
Five different areas were included within this paper. Primary research included examining the connection between making and learning as well as its ties to the maker movement within schools, reviewing informal learning initiatives (e. g. , after school program, summer camps) and the different ways to educate maker educators so that they are able to operate and provide a successful, safe, and inspirational space were also examined. Empirical studies on learning through making to determine the level of learning that occurs within a makerspace environment so that improvements can be made, where needed, in order to foster learning and create sustainable maker educational offerings for the future.
Findings
Making encourages engagement in problem-solving, self-directed, and collaborative work among participants where completed projects are then shared with others. The result of these efforts is to make learning more tangible and encourage participation in STEM subject areas. Many makerspace educational settings (e. g. , schools) seem to provide more guided projects and incorporate more formal learning than a makerspace within a library or museum setting and focus more on the completed project and the process behind it rather than the tools used in production. Making is multidisciplinary and draws a heterogeneous mix of participants and by adding more points of entry (e. g. , schools, libraries, public places) helps to encourage the maker movement – diversity is good!
Areas that need further examination include a better understanding of how learning can occur outside a traditional education setting, the need for more educators that have knowledge and the skills about making so that it can be integrated into a formal educational setting, and how to bridge the divide of access to well-stocked makerspaces, classrooms, mentors, libraries, etc. In terms of creating a sustainable makerspace and fostering learning, empirical studies show that combining participants' interests and identities with technology assists participants in creating and developing skills that are needed for the digital age we currently live in, they are learning practical, useable skills. By offering more guided and formalized projects within an educational setting, participants can better focus on learning specific skills and balance their time accordingly. In regard to older participants, making provides an opportunity to test professional skills and learn new skill sets.
Response
I am very interested in looking further into the different ways that were suggested in this paper for educating maker educators. There are various online courses suggested that can help in this area that can be taken separately outside a graduate program. Starting a makerspace is a daunting task, but the benefits of creating a space where participants of all backgrounds, cultures, and expertise levels can come together to create, learn, and collaborate in a safe environment where failure is seen in a positive light, are enormous and beneficial to all involved. Once a makerspace is established, the goal is to make is sustainable.
The empirical studies within the paper are very informative and provide additional information on the connection between making and learning which is another area of interest as I want to find more ways to incorporate the maker culture into a traditional educational setting as well as promoting it in different ways within the makerspace that my colleague and I are working on creating.
The paper mentioned guided and formalized projects as a way to maintain focus on learning particular skills and to limit the scope of an activity. This is a great starting point, but it has to be done in a way that is engaging to the participant and not limit their creativity. This is actually one of the research questions I want to examine further within my research topic.
