MakerSpace Reflections #makered #ctedu | Wanderings in the Labyrinth On Tuesday, I’m participating as a moderator and discussion-group leader with the Connecticut Education group on Twitter, talking about MakerSpaces in schools. That’s on Twitter from 8:00pm to 8:30pm (eastern time), on Tuesday 28 July 2015, on the #ctedu hashtag. My co-moderators are David Saunders, who wrote about this makerspaces conversation here, and Nicholas Provenzano, otherwise known as the Nerdy Teacher. Origins But it occurred to me that I should write about this a bit beforehand, so that people know where I’m coming from. 1. The temptation for most new teachers in any design program is to teach content, I think, because that’s what schools do. 2. At the moment, the Design Lab has a couple of massive cardboard boxes, a pile of scrap lumber, and some awkwardly-sized pieces of styrofoam laying around. 3. You are now a First Aid Provider. Yikes. 4. The temptation is to end every program right at the bell. 5. Unless you are already a Maker, you are going to have to become one. 6.
CASES Online: Creating Active Student Engagement in the Sciences What is CASES Online? CASES Online is a collection of inquiry-based lessons to engage K-12 and undergraduate students in exploring the science behind real-world problems. Through CASES, you can transform your students into motivated investigators, self-directed and life-long learners, critical thinkers and keen problem solvers. Our cases are grounded in Problem-Based Learning (PBL), Investigative Case-Based Learning (ICBL), and related student-centered pedagogies. [more] What's new in CASES Online? Materials for over 350 cases are now posted and we are continually working to publish more. CASES Online is a proud member of the Science Case Network, which supports science educators, learners, researchers, developers and professional organizations, furthering access and development of the use of cases and PBL in science education. Search CASES Online Search tips: Searching by Keyword alone is best (and is not case-sensitive) since many cases can work across disciplines and grade levels.
Maker Education - About Maker Education The PBL Academy Reflecting on Becoming a Maker Educator | Margaret A. Powers As I wrap up my work for CEP811, a course focused on the Maker Movement and adapting innovative technologies to education, I took time to reflect on all of the different projects I have worked on over the past seven weeks. I realized that each project was a piece of a larger #MakerEd puzzle. The thread of making runs through them all and by engaging in each one of them (e.g., remixing, playful exploration, creating lesson plans and assessments, etc), educators can begin to own and embody the mindsets associated with the Maker Movement. Stepping back to look at each project, I reorganized them in a cycle that I think could help educators begin to dip their toes into making and become more comfortable with it before integrating it into their teaching and later their classroom (design) and everyday practice. Although I organized the cycle to be completed as an ongoing, step-by-step process, educators could jump in at any point. The Maker Educator Cycle (click to see links) Like this: Related
High Tech High - Project Based Learning Seven Successful PBL Projects In March 2005 High Tech High received a $250,000 grant from the California Department of Education to disseminate project-based learning methods to teachers in non-charter public schools. As part of the project, High Tech High teachers have documented successful projects to share with collaborating teachers from local districts and across the HTH network. This New House How does human habitation affect the environment? learn more » Millionaire How can an idea be transformed into a product that could make us millions? learn more » San Diego Field Guide How can we be better environmental stewards of the San Diego Bay? learn more » Urban Art How do math and science influence artistic expression? learn more » Vietnam Project Was the conflict in Vietnam a selfish, colonial move on the part of the United States or was it a general effort to make the world safe from Communism or something in between? learn more » Drug Project learn more » Machines learn more »
Making MAKEing More Inclusive Update/Addendum: Last evening I traveled to Albuquerque with a friend to see the makerspace there and attend their monthly meeting. It is a very well-appointed makerspace and there was good attendance for the meeting. I discussed with my friend on the drive back home my concern with the homogeneous demographic make-up of those in attendance. They were mostly white men and women who seemed to have a comfortable income. I stated that given that this makerspace is fairly well established with a five year history, the folks running the space should now be more proactive in increasing the diversity of their membership and becoming more inclusive. The maker movement and maker education, in my perspective, are such great initiatives – really in line with what student-centric education should be in this era of formal and informal learning. Social media has helped me see more of the big picture and become aware of some of the problems associated with the maker movement. Like this: Like Loading...
Making Games: The Ultimate Project-Based Learning Gamestar Mechanic Part 6 of MindShift’s Guide to Games and Learning. As game-based learning increases in popularity, it’s easy to get pigeon-holed into one particular way of thinking about it or one way of employing it. This is true regardless of how teachers feel about gaming in the classroom, whether they’re for or against it. One common objection to game-based learning is that students will sit in front of screens being taught at. In previous posts in this series, I’ve argued that because games involve systems thinking, they contextualize learning. “Games are just simulators with an internal incentive structure (often dopamine based). However, virtual simulations of hands-on experience are not the same as tangibly engaging with the world. Fortunately, few people are calling for games to replace school as we know it. Just as there are many apps and platforms designed to teach kids coding, there are also many apps and platforms that make it easy for kids to design their own games.
Reflecting on the Making Process My background is in experiential education. One of the strategies used in experiential education is debriefing or reflecting on the experience. In other words, learning from direct experience is not left to chance. The educator becomes proactive in debriefing or processing the experiences to increase the chances that learning occurs. This is in line with John Dewey’s ideas: ‘We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.’ A recent research study published via Harvard Business Review concluded that: Learning from direct experience can be more effective if coupled with reflection-that is, the intentional attempt to synthesize, abstract, and articulate the key lessons taught by experience.Reflecting on what has been learned makes experience more productive.Reflection builds one’s confidence in the ability to achieve a goal (i.e., self-efficacy), which in turn translates into higher rates of learning. A Maker Reflection: The Game Like this: Like Loading...
Project Based Learning Science – Lesson Plans for PBL Putting together a PBL science plan can be enormously time consuming without excellent models. So here are hundreds of free detailed plans for projects for elementary, middle and high school students. The plans are sorted by discipline - astronomy and space, chemistry, engineering and architecture, physics, technology, and earth, life sciences, physical sciences, and... well, "other" for no clear fit. The first PBL project I planned many years ago was the creation of a butterfly habitat in the school garden by my 3rd graders. I found far more free PBL resources than I ever anticipated, and more than 300 free science-based PBL projects are listed below. To learn more about project based learning, problem based learning, and how to get started, read my article on Project-Based Learning Lesson Plans.