For my Final Vision digital artifact (Google slides for a presentation to my staff), see here.
The focus of my Vision assignment for this course has been the expansion of my LLC’s makerspace to offer more digital and technological learning opportunities. A second goal was to increase awareness of, and engagement in, the makerspace for both students and staff. Sadly, the activities we currently have don’t seem to attract many students, and most staff have very little awareness that the makerspace exists at all. It’s my plan to revitalize this space so that it becomes a busy hub of learning activity. The key elements of this makerspace vision are:
- A wide variety of activities, from no-tech to high-tech, with some serious development on the high-tech end of the range, which can use some help at present. I want our LLC to be the locus of multi-literate learning.
- Activities and opportunities that can take students through the entire maker learning process from tinkering and design to creation and reflection. It would be wonderful if the makerspace could help students value the process and experience of learning more than the product (Crichton & Carter; Loertscher et al.).
- An environment that encourages students to follow their own interests and curiosities, and to collaborate with one another. Richardson describes this kind of learning in the example of his son and his friends collaboratively directing their own learning about a video game. I very much agree with Richardson that a student’s genuine passion or curiosity in a subject can lead them to tackle challenges and develop skills that they otherwise may not, and often produces the most impressive learning (Richardson).
- An environment that helps students develop a growth mindset from which they see failure as a part of innovation and an opportunity to learn rather than a reason to quit.
All of these elements are connected to what Chu et al. call “21st Century Skills,” which include digital literacy, creative and critical thinking, and an orientation to life-long learning (Chu et al.).
A second area that I want to tackle is the overall lack of ownership and excitement that the students and staff feel about the makerspace. Fleming makes a strong argument that the first step in any makerspace planning should be to consult students about what they want (Fleming). Since the intent of a makerspace is for students to lead their own learning, it makes sense to me that they should be involved throughout the planning process. I also want teachers to see the value of the makerspace, to see how it connects to cross-curricular competencies and to their own teaching, and to get excited enough to get involved. That is why my presentation to the school staff includes mention of both staff and students in advisory committees for the LLC, and direct consultation about the makerspace through surveys. It’s also why I am seeking input from teachers immediately after the presentation in a live Google doc.
I plan to share the presentation with the staff in a variety of ways. First, I will consult with our Applied Skills and Tech teachers before I give the presentation to see if they have any suggestions, and to make sure I’m not stepping on their toes in any way. The presentation will take place at our staff meeting in October, though it may be at a full-school session on an early Pro-D day. (I’ve consulted our administration and they are still deciding!) If it’s on a Pro-D day, I may change it significantly to make it more interactive. For staff members’ reference, I will e-mail them a link to the slides and post them to our Library folder on our Staff Teams site. Part of the reason I chose Google Slides (a new technology for me) is that it is so accessible and potentially interactive. I also resized the slides to 8.5” x 11” to make it easier for those who would rather print and read a hard copy.
Though I’m happy with how the presentation turned out, especially for the purpose of a staff meeting presentation, I did encounter some challenges. I did much more detailed research on high-tech makerspace equipment than is apparent in the presentation (e.g. should Arduino or Raspberry Pi be a first priority?). After wrestling with a lot of detail, I realized that it wasn’t appropriate for the time and place. Staff are usually tired at monthly meetings, and I know that if I throw too much new, detailed information at them, I will lose them. However, if I end up giving the presentation in a Pro-D session, I plan to get more deeply into it, to borrow some technology from other schools or our District Resource Centre (e.g. Sphero robots, Makey Makey kits) and let the teachers “play.” There are also practical considerations that I am still wrestling with like safety and supervision of the makerspace, especially if there is potentially injury-causing equipment being used, like sewing machines or soldering iron. If I can get volunteers to help with the space, we may be able to manage it between us.
I hope this presentation is the first step in helping create a school-wide makerspace culture in my school. I know, however, that the makerspace is not the only factor in this. I will have to work hard to make the walls of the LLC more transparent, to listen to what staff and students need, and to cultivate relationships with administrators and teachers. I know we can all thrive in an environment of mutual support.
Resources
Chu, S. K. W., Reynolds, R. B., Tavares, N. J., Notari, M., and Lee, C. W. Y. (2017). 21st Century Skills Development Through Inquiry-Based Learning: From Theory to Practice. Springer Singapore. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-981-10-2481-8.pdf
Crichton, Susan, and Carter, Deb. Taking Making into Classrooms: A Toolkit for Fostering Curiosity and Imagination. Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Education. https://mytrainingbc.ca/maker/en/toolkit/Taking_Making_into_Classrooms.pdf
Fleming, L. (2018). The kickstart guide to making great Makerspaces [eBook edition]. Corwin. Thousand Oaks, CA. https://www.amazon.ca/Kickstart-Making-Makerspaces-Teaching-Essentials-ebook/dp/B07CHQM6LB/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kickstart+guide+to+making+great+makerspaces&qid=1626902527&s=digital-text&sr=1
Loertscher, D. V., Preddy, L., & Derry, B. (2013, December). Makerspaces in the school library learning commons and the uTEC Maker Model. Teacher Librarian. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1470785948?accountid=14656&pq-origsite=summon
Richardson, Will. (2012) Why school? How education must change when learning and information are everywhere (Kindle Single) . TED Conferences. Kindle Edition. https://www.amazon.ca/Why-School-Education-Information-Everywhere-ebook/dp/B00998J5YQ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=why+school&qid=1629045520&sr=8-1