# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.

# data[].attributes.headline
Methods of Human Centered Design by IDEO

# data[].attributes.subject
Methods of Human Centered Design by IDEO

# data[].attributes.headline
Invention Literacy Article by Jay Silver - Co-inventor of the Makey Makey.

# data[].attributes.subject
Invention Literacy Article by Jay Silver - Co-inventor of the Makey Makey.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Invention literacy is the ability to read and write human made stuff, from toasters to apps. People think inventors perform magic, but invention is no more magical than reading and writing a sentence. There is a grammar to inventing from mechanical tools, to design thinking, coding, and beyond. There is a literature of inventions, from bicycles to televisions, all around us to draw inspiration from. Just as Thoreau read Emerson's writings, so too did Edison read Tesla's inventions. The functional pieces of inventions: transistors, bent sheets of aluminum, a "for loop" in software, these are like a large alphabet. As one learns to "sound out the words" of inventing, one begins to see a product not as a "black box" but as a collection of comprehensible pieces which come together to make up a blender, a pair of Nikes, or a ferris wheel. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn would be incomprehensible to someone who doesn't know the rules of reading English.

Beyond understanding, emotion plays a role too. Words are actually scary to illiterate people. We have to stop thinking of inventions as some unknown future phantoms to be conjured by alchemy. Inventions, from a clay pot to an iPhone, are simply the human-made part of the world that we live in.

Not everyone will be a professional writer, but everyone needs to learn to read a menu and write a text message. Likewise people should graduate understanding how things are made and how to build their own ideas, at least at the proficiency equivalent to writing a 5 paragraph essay. Right now we have single digit invention literacy percentage, and we have an accompanying fear of "how things work." Invention literacy is a hidden literacy, and I'd like to uncover it. It's the true 21st century literacy as human innovation speeds up approaching a crescendo of nearly instantaneous innovation (at least through the lens of last century).

Humans have brought more than just tech gear into this world. Humans have created drugs, wars, religions, economies, and governments. We don't have to accept agriculture industries, schools, or banking systems the way they were offered to us. If it can be created by a human, then it can be recreated by you, me, and all of us. But only if we all believe in ourselves as inventors (and re-inventors).

So let's offer everyone the opportunity to learn the basic alphabet, vocabulary, and grammar of inventing. As people learn to read and write the world they live in, they gain a special empowerment that I call creative confidence. When we reach 95% invention literacy, we won't be able to believe that in 2016 only special people - similar to the scribes of ancient Egypt - were engaged in reading and writing inventions. The result is that we will live closer to a world made by us all, and what a beautifully diverse mosaic that will be!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Invention Literacy - Startup Grind - Medium

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Invention literacy is the ability to read and write human made stuff, from toasters to apps. People think inventors perform magic, but invention is no more magical than reading and writing a sentence. There is a grammar to inventing from mechanical tools, to design thinking, coding, and beyond.

# data[].attributes.body
Discover the quote on Invention Literacy from Jay Silver

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"Invention literacy is the ability to read and write human made stuff, from toasters to apps. People think inventors perform magic, but invention is no more magical than reading and writing a sentence. There is a grammar to inventing from mechanical tools, to design thinking, coding, and beyond. There is a literature of inventions, from bicycles to televisions, all around us to draw inspiration from. Just as Thoreau read Emerson's writings, so too did Edison read Tesla's inventions. The functional pieces of inventions: transistors, bent sheets of aluminum, a "for loop" in software, these are like a large alphabet. As one learns to "sound out the words" of inventing, one begins to see a product not as a "black box" but as a collection of comprehensible pieces which come together to make up a blender, a pair of Nikes, or a ferris wheel. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn would be incomprehensible to someone who doesn't know the rules of reading English. "

Read more of Jay Silver's Invention Literacy article on Medium.

Watch our Webinar with Strawbees

In our latest webinar, we teamed up with Strawbees to explore the idea of invention literacy. Being invention literate means being able to look at the world around you, think about how things work, and imagine how they might work differently.

Watch the webinar above and check out new resources below to help hone one's ability to read and write human-made stuff, from toasters to apps!

New Resources for Invention Literacy

Make sure to check out the newly launched Strawbees Classroom - for lessons, activities, and ideas (with love toward Invention Literacy and Joylabz!)

Check out our free Invention Literacy Journal based on Colleen's Maker Research projects with students.

Download Invention Literacy Journal

More Resources on Invention Literacy
From Jay Silver: In the Public:
Teacher Created Materials by Colleen Graves:

Other Articles:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Invention Literacy Resources from Makey Makey and Strawbees

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"Invention literacy is the ability to read and write human made stuff, from toasters to apps. People think inventors perform magic, but invention is no more magical than reading and writing a sentence. There is a grammar to inventing from mechanical tools, to design thinking, coding, and beyond.

# data[].attributes.headline
Jay Silver Explaining Invention Literacy

# data[].attributes.subject
Jay Silver Explaining Invention Literacy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Jay Silver on Invention Literacy from El Pais

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Jay: "The new revolution that's right on the tip here is invention literacy. So what that means is not a literacy of communicating ideas with words or abstractions like mathematics. But a new kind of literacy. We're going to create the future in our hands not by talking about ideas.

# data[].attributes.headline
Explore the Human Centered Design Kit from IDEO.

# data[].attributes.subject
Explore the Human Centered Design Kit from IDEO.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Design Kit is IDEO.org’s platform to learn human-centered design, a creative approach to solving the world’s most difficult problems.

# data[].attributes.headline
Makey Makey Website and Educational Materials

# data[].attributes.subject
Makey Makey Website and Educational Materials

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Orders from educational institutions or organizations shipping outside of the United States are placed online through our Makey Shop and paid for upon checkout. With this method you will be able to choose the shipping and handling that best suits your needs, and you will receive a confirmation email when your order is shipped. If you have questions or special requests, please email us at education@joylabz.com.

If your organization is exempt from sales tax in the US, please send us your documentation to education@joylabz.com along with your initial purchase order or your request for a tax-exempt Makey Shop customer account.

JoyLabz LLC
PO Box 1444
Santa Cruz, CA 95061
Phone: (831) 460-6242
Fax: (831) 604-8914
Email: education@joylabz.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
School Materials for Educators, Learning Activities - Makey Makey

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Your students can reinvent the world! We love seeing the things educators and their classes invent - they bring us closer to a world built by everyone exploring their ideas and reinventing the things around us.

# data[].attributes.body
Link to this Padlet

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Overview | Drawdio | Adafruit Learning System

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Drawdio: A pencil that lets you draw with music!