I've been noticing that more and more schools are establishing makerspaces, especially in the library area. A makerspace can be a great place for building robots or designing jewelry or programming an app or coloring a picture. There are no blueprints or rules for a makerspace. A makerspace is simply a DIY area where students can explore, invent, learn, and do something creative with their hands at their own pace in a relaxed, non-threatening environment.
I recently taught a hands-on workshop for teachers on Makerspaces. My goal was to give participants a multitude of simple, inexpensive tips and tricks - ideas for starting their own makerspaces. The activities ranged from high-tech to low-tech, pricey to budget-friendly, and skilled to novice. Contrary to popular opinion, makerspaces are not just about tools (especially 3D printers), but about the possibilities for imagination and creativity - where students are encouraged to improve their tinkering skills and think out-of-the-box.
Here is the agenda I used for the workshop. The times are approximations and would vary depending on the experience and skill-level of your audience.
Monday
8:00am Curiosity Corner: Raspberry Pi
8:05am TOOT-Box Warmup: Marshmallow Towers
8:35am Topic: What is a Makerspace?
9:00am Activity: Knex Towers
10:00am Topic: The Design Process
10:30am Activity: Skill Assessment - Using Tools
11:45am Lunch
12:30pm STEAM Stimulus: Zentangles
1:00pm Topic: Directed vs Discovery Activities
1:30pm Activity: Kite Design
Tuesday
8:00am Curiosity Corner: Minecraft
8:05am TOOT-Box Warmup: Newspaper Boats
8:35am Topic: Sensitivity Considerations - Manual Dexterity
9:00am Activity: Finger Knitting
10:00am Field Trip: 3D Printing at a local library
11:45am Lunch
12:30pm STEAM Stimulus: Geometry in Art
1:00pm Topic: Consumable Materials vs Capital Equipment
1:30pm Activity: Dollar Store Designs
Wednesday
8:00am Curiosity Corner: LEGO Simple Machines
8:05am TOOT-Box Warmup: Crash Cushions
8:35am Topic: Qualitative vs Quantitative Measurements
9:00am Activity: Redesign Crash Cushions
10:00am Topic: Evaluation - Sensors or a Bucket of Sand?
10:30am Activity: Suspension Bridges
11:45am Lunch
12:30pm STEAM Stimulus: One Word Designs
1:00pm Topic: Taking It Outdoors
1:30pm Activity: Solar Cars
Thursday
8:00am Curiosity Corner: Motion Maps
8:05am TOOT-Box Warmup: House of Cards
8:35am Topic: Architectural Design
9:00am Activity: AutoCAD Templates
10:00am Topic: Architectural Rendering
10:30am Activity: Laser Cutting Architectural Models
11:45am Lunch
12:30pm STEAM Stimulus: Cropped Collages
1:00pm Topic: Famous Tinkerers
1:30pm Activity: Rube Goldberg Marble Roller Coasters
Friday
8:00am Curiosity Corner: Makey Makey
8:05am TOOT-Box Warmup: PVC Paper Rocket Launchers
8:35am Topic: Methods of Assessment
9:00am Activity: Squishy Circuits
10:00am Topic: Non-traditional Materials
10:30am Activity: Conductive Paint Pens
11:45am Lunch
12:30pm STEAM Stimulus: Comics
1:00pm Topic: Competitive Tech Coaching
1:30pm Activity: Robotic Devices
Each day, I started off the workshop introducing the Curiosity Corner. The materials in this space tended to be higher-priced, technology-oriented electronics - activities that wouldn't appeal to all, but might have been heard of by some. Interested participants could play with the materials whenever they had free time.
The TOOT-Box Warmup (Think-Out-Of-The-Box) was intended partly as an icebreaker (teachers were assigned new partners each day) and partly as a way to accomplish a task with non-traditional materials (such as supporting a marshmallow with spaghetti and a length of string). It was supposed to be a quickie 30-minute activity, but tended to run long, especially when the Type A's started Googling design ideas on their smart phones. It was rewarding, however, when teachers asked questions such as, "Can the marshmallow be in the middle of the tower rather than the top?" or "Can the marshmallow be torn up and used as a joint compound?" In my opinion, that's thinking-out-of-the-box.
The one thing about this workshop (for those who might be considering running their own version), it was incredibly labor and material-intensive. Many of the materials were consumable, meaning you need a fairly hefty budget to purchase enough for everyone or a fairly long lead time to collect them from your kitchen trash. The other issue was the expertise of the participants. It's hard to find a mix of activities that is pertinent and appealing to such a diverse group of individuals. Some teachers could have drawn zentangles all day long; others were bored with it after 10 minutes. If I were running this workshop again, I would probably implement more of the activities as stations, allowing the participants a greater choice in the structure of their day. That would probably go a lot farther in creating that "relaxed, non-threatening environment."
