The maker approach to education is our future. We already see makerspaces and STEAM labs in schools and libraries, pushing students to engage in creative thinking and designing. As an elementary school teacher, my subject areas vary from math to science to the arts. In a way, that proves to be advantageous, as I am able to incorporate making into everything the students do.  It is important not to confuse making with critical making, which involves meaningful making that involves an emphasis on brining about change and improvement. I think making can be easily incorporated into subjects like Math and Science through the inquiry process. Providing students with a problem, such as calculate how much material is needed to build an object or build a simple pulley machine, directly relates to the design process. I think this idea of making can become more difficult to incorporate in subjects like social studies or religion, where there tends to be less room for creativity. For this reason, I think incorporating the design process and maker approach can be much more impactful. Having students go outdoors on trips to explore a community related to the subject area, produce a question and problem and design an object or strategy to solve this can be extremely useful for students to remember relevant information and take control of their learning.  

 

 

There were several important points raised in this brief video. One idea that really stuck out to me was the point Adam made about risk. Our future is moving into a technological field filled with smart phones, virtual reality and self-operating machines. These devices have to be created through creativity, but also through risk.  David notes that making is risky but it’s a critical part of innovation. A lot of our students believe in the idea of ‘one right answer’ and ‘making mistakes is wrong’. We need to debunk that myth by having student make and participate in the design process regularly. We need to allow them to fail, but also learn from their failures to perfect their results. That’s what making is all about. 

The maker approach can be used in so many different ways but what makes a maker space is the teacher and the environment. In other words, the maker culture. As Dr. Jannette Hughes discusses, teachers need to establish several considerations to create an appropriate maker culture (2017). These considerations include: purpose, physical space available, budget, and tools and materials (Hughes, 2017). 

The purpose of the maker space can be easily adapted to fit into all areas of the Ontario Curriculum no matter the grade. It is purely up to the teacher’s imagination and ability to access the appropriate materials to provide students. I would even suggest that students have a hand in this process so that they are active contributors to their learning journey and so that they can voice topics that they would be interested in exploring.  

Maker spaces often require a significant amount of space. This again is where teachers and students can be creative in their use of the classroom, maybe push desks aside for a few periods (or days!) The physical space required is important for safety purposes and so that students have a spot where they can successfully work independently or in a group. 

Budget is always a factor as a teacher. However, depending on the project, materials can be sourced from a variety of creatively thought out places. For example, asking parents, hosting a fund raiser as a class, teaming up with another classroom to share the expense, asking for local funding from a small business, asking for donated materials, etc. 

It seems as if creating a maker space is also another opportunity in which critical thinking and creative expression allow a variety of people to share their ideas! 

Dougherty, D. (2011). We are makers. Retrieved from TED: https://www.ted.com/talks/dale_dougherty_we_are_makers?language=en

Hughes, D. (2017). Meaningful Making. Retrieved from What Works? Research into Practice : https://uoit.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1062539-dt-content-rid-6687061_1/courses/11320.201805.XLIST/Week%206_Required%20Reading%281%29.pdf

 

What is one observation you had about the video in terms of how a maker/constructionist approach to education can make the learning process more meaningful or better prepare students for the real world (think 21st Century skills & competencies)?
This video hit a few notes for me. The first was when Adam mentioned that Americas low math scores are a result of the budget cuts that aim to take away from anything thats a maker space such as the Arts. I think this point is crucial to policy makers because they need to understand what education now looks like because of this and make positive changes. It’s the only way we can support maker spaces in education to produce successful citizens that will use these skills in our societies. 

Additionally, Adam spoke about risk taking. This is another huge issue with children. Lately in the field of early childhood studies, there has been a lot of research about risk taking and the positive effects it has on children. This is when the baby boomer generation laugh about all the risks they took in their ‘crazy childhoods’! However, due to the legal system and the statement we so often hear ‘it takes one to ruin it for all’ policies are put in place to protect students but also to protect businesses. For example, wood burning kits  (does anyone remember those? It was a metal rod heated up in order to create a wood project). Now this can no longer be sold as a child’s toy because the manufacture could be sued if someone gets hurt. It seems as if we have become a society who looks for someone to blame rather than taking on the responsibility and owning/ learning from our own mistakes. 

To sum up, I believe risks are essential for learning similarly to growth mindset where we learn from our mistakes. Rather than avoiding topics, materials, etc to prevent legal issues, maybe we should teach students how to be safe so that our maker spaces can better explore materials that students will be using when they become adults. 

To give a personal example, a lot of the work that I did in my BA and MA in Sociology was write theoretical papers.  I love social theory!!  This was always done in a similar process.  The first step would be to come up with a research question that I would explore.  Then I would do my own research through reviewing a ton of literature and taking notes.  I would then use this research to figure out how I would construct my paper in terms of the research question that I was exploring and how to incorporate relevant concepts.  Some of the time, this would involve discussing my ideas with my peers or Professors and using their feedback to explore other resources and fill in some of the gaps in my research.  Finally, I would write a paper, which was never really complete because there would always be a way to make it better by continuing the research process and adding new ideas.  In this sense, I could apply the design process to my research papers.  Having said that, this process was much more independent than experimental and STEAM design processes that have a great emphasis on collaboration.  

I remember when I was asked the question in a survey leading up to the Foundations Friday Maker Day, are you a maker?  My first thought was no because I’m bad with electronics, I don’t build things, etc. (all of the things that I thought that makers do), but then I asked myself, what do I make?  The immediate answer that came to mind was food.  I love cooking and I love experimenting with different foods and flavours to come up with new things.  In this sense my mind changed and I though, I am a maker.  

So in terms of my definition of making, I think that this can be anything that someone makes because they are passionate about it, they are good at it or want to get better at it, they want to express their creativity in some form and produce something that gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment, and they find meaning and purpose in doing it, whether because it is personally therapeutic, because they want to share it with others, or because they want to use what they make to improve the world in which they live.

After reviewing the 21^st Century Schools website, my definition of making didn’t change a lot but the website allowed me to envision applying the idea of making within the context of the classroom in many different ways.  There were many different examples and resources that explain creating makerspaces in the classroom.  One of the examples that I really liked was the living garden outside of the school.  I think that this is such a great idea because it teaches students many different things, such as sustainability and the importance of eating local, healthy eating, how to produce food, how to collaborate and a sense of community, eco-friendly practices, etc.  I also really liked a resource that I find with the top 50 digital apps to use in the classroom.  This website was very useful and had many different resources.

In terms of my definition above, I really enjoyed watching two maker TED Talks on the resource done by AnnMarie Thomas and Katie Rast and I really connected my definition above to their discussions.  Both speakers provided inspiring stories about makers that they have come across in their lives.  They both described making as being done because the maker is passionate about it and loves the act of designing and doing it, because it allows for creative expression, it may involve collaborative thinking, it can be done for a purpose, to solve a problem, and there is a great sense of gratitude in sharing inventions with others.  Katie Rast further explained making as something that is inherent, which I found really interesting because I do believe that we were uniquely designed with the ability to think, plan and use our hands and our labour power to create.  This reminded me of Karl Marx’s view on human labour power and creativity and how problematic it was that this inherent quality was exploited in the process of industrial capitalism, when one’s labour power was separated from the product of their labour.   

There was one thing that really stood out to me in Adam Savage’s video and that was when he was talking about risk aversion.  He shared the analogy of over-sanitization and immune system function, suggesting that with too many antiseptic practices and fear of germs results in an immune system that had not developed because it has not been challenges.  He further explained that he believes that this is also affects us mentally, arguing that when students are not put in situations in which they can take risks and creatively design and solve problems, due to the risk aversion mentality, their minds will not develop and they themselves will become afraid of taking risks and having a growth mindset.  This really resonated with me in terms of how 21^st century learning, the maker culture, growth mindset and all of the other themes that we have discussed.  They all require being free to take risks and not being afraid to fail, because failure is a necessary part of learning.  I think that it is important that schools shake themselves of the risk aversion mentality and start believing in students.  

 

 

I believe that the maker approach to education is by far the most beneficial and real world transferable. Developing a maker culture in your classroom should be one of the most important areas to focus on as a beginning teacher. A maker culture promotes risk-taking, learning from mistakes, problem solving, and developing an ability to persevere when tasks are difficult. If that does not signify the real world then I don’t know what does. On top of those amazing characteristics, kids love making things! They love when they are in control and get to figure out how things work. I believe the design process in an incredibly well laid out framework that can be used for everything, not just in the maker space environment. As a future primary/junior elementary teacher, I will be responsible for teaching more then just one or two subjects. When considering the maker approach in education, many feel that it might be hard to incorporate it in areas outside of STEAM. It might seem difficult at first, especially to us teacher candidates who do not have much experience with it in general, however, it can be successfully used in every subject. In subjects such as language and social studies students can create documentaries with a green screen, podcasts based on different themes, and building different world through mind craft. Social studies and the arts can be integrated with theatre productions based on different times in history. In Math and Science, many activities can be done similar to what we did in our STEM class in the first two semesters. Being given a bunch of materials and asked to build something based on a specific event or situation is a great way to get creative juices flowing through the design process. There are so many different wants to bring this type of learning into the classroom and I am really excited to give students the opportunity to become makers. This approach does a great job of getting students to use higher order thinking skills and gives them an opportunity to share what they have learned at a local and potential global level. 

 

 

 

 

The main connection for me after watching this video was Adams point about kids becoming risk adverse. The thought of this even happening is extremely scary and can be crippling to students learning and the future of society. Kids need to have the opportunity to be makers and fail; it is a critical part of evolving as a person. Due to the domination of technology in our world, the future of society is based on making. The problem lies within the new generations either not being given the opportunity to make, or as Adam stated, kids don’t want to take risks. This is why as future teachers we have to make it our duty to not only incorporate making into every subject but also giving students an opportunity to fail and understand that it is natural, healthy, necessary and all part of the process.    

As students learn about circuits in Grade 9 science (physics strand) and conductivity of objects in Grade 9 and 10 science (chemistry strands), the Makey Makey kit can combine the inquiry based learning with collaboration, communication, creativity and connect to the curriculum expectations.  

First, the design process lends itself to having students work in group and hence work collaboratively with one another to understand how circuits work by designing one through a Makey Makey kit to create a piano for an example. 

It would be my role as the teacher to define the problem for them which is to apply the principles of simple circuits to making a piano out of a Makey Makey kit.  The students would proceed to collect information about circuit design such as what are conductive materials and why you need them in the design, what are some examples that one can use for this project.  What is the power source?  How do electrons flow?  Once the students collect the information, they can start to brainstorm the idea on how to build the circuit and test their idea by building a prototype of a model.  Then, they can present their ideas to other groups or classmates and receive feedback on how to improve their design.  The students would then improve their design by perhaps finding a more conductive material than the one they originally chose and go through the process again until their model and design is optimized.  

Working in this manner lends itself to creativity, communication as students have to listen and respect other students’ ideas, collaboration and critical thinking to solve the problem at hand.  In this way, we have combined a culture of innovation and digital literacy with curriculum expectations.

As a mom of three and a crafty person, I have considered myself a maker because I love to cook, bake, and create multi layered cakes.  I also love to create event spaces and I often make display boards.  But, I never thought that this constitutes the definition of making.  It takes collaboration, problem solving, creativity and critical thinking to achieve these things.  

As a teacher candidate, my current definition of making is combining technology with hand on construction in a creative way to make things that work.  This definition stems from the some exposure to the STEAM lab at UOIT and the Foundations Friday sessions I participated in the Fall of 2017. 

My new definition of making has expanded because I now see making as construction of things combined with a digital tool all with a purpose for solve problems that are relatable to the person.  I also think the definition of making is linked to the 21^st Century Competencies which include collaboration, critical thinking, digital literacy, creativity and communication.  It is also a culture of innovation where students are not just consumers of ideas but they are creators of ideas and tangible products that incorporate technology.  

In addition, my new definition of making cannot be complete without adding Carol Dweck’s concept of a Growth Mindset.  Making involves problem solving and the ability to persevere with difficult tasks and those that are not easily solved.  Therefore, developing “grit” as Angela Lee Duckworth explains means having perseverance to keep trying even when you fail which lends itself to the concept of making which is to create and solve problems with dedication and recognizing that making mistakes is essential to the learning process.  

The observation that I made about Adam Savage’s video in terms of how maker/constructionist approach to education can enhance the learning progress and make students more prepared to the real world is that the maker approach lends itself to students making mistakes and learning from them.  

Our current education system isolates students and measures their performance by numbers and values standardized testing.  These approaches place a stigma on students when making mistakes and inherently they encourage a fixed mindset as Carol Dweck explains.  I really liked Adam Savage’s analogy of making mistakes to developing allergies as a result of being in an antiseptic environment.  If we don’t allow kids to fail, they won’t grow.  Maker culture and the constructionist approach are inherently designed to allow and encourage making mistakes because of the learning process that happens when such mistakes are made.

In turn, this perseverance or “grit” as coined by Angela Lee Duckworth fosters 21^st Century skills such as creativity, critical thinking and collaboration which is the essence of maker culture that encourages working with others, being creative, making mistakes and thinking critically how to solve them.  

As a P/J Candidate I am in the very unique position of being able to take the maker approach and the design process and incorporate it into all of the subject areas through an integrated curriculum. For example I have become fascinated with the idea of wearable technologies and I even had the opportunity to create a light-up bookmark during last semester’s STEM class. If I have the opportunity to teach the grade 6 electricity unit I would love to give my students the opportunity to create a wearable technologies. The students would have to fist come up with a design, measure out the materials and explain why the circuits work and will light up, turn on a motor or any number of possibilities. A maker project like this can be very easily integrated into the math and art curriculum. Also I think a project like this is unlikely to end up in the landfill as it is something the students can wear and show off to their family and friends.

How your definition of maker may have changed or expanded….

Before going through the resources my definition of a maker was anyone who is able to create something whether it be high-tech like building a robot or low tech like knitting or cooking. After going through the resources I still think that is true, but I now think that being a maker is about exploring and just trying something new. I also think it is about discovering something that you are passionate and coming up with solutions to real world problems and about and sharing your knowledge or new technology with the world.  For example like modifying or building a new sled to go faster and beat your neighbors in a race, creating a robot hand for a friend who lost some of his fingers or building an interactive robotic giraffe. Being a maker also means being able to take things apart and being given access to real tools and authentic learning opportunities.

What is one observation you had about the video in terms of how a maker/constructionist approach to education can make the learning process more meaningful or better prepare students for the real world?

One thing that really resonated with me is how Adam Savage talks about how kids who do not have the chance to fail, to try things and not get them right the first time but keep trying till they do become too afraid to fail and will not want to try new things. This is a crucial to students as it teaches them to have a growth mind set as well as helps them develop grit. In order to teach students 21^st century learning competencies like critical thinking and problem solving they have to have a willingness to make mistakes and be okay with not getting it right the first time. 

 

Taking the maker approach in my subject area will be somewhat easier in sciences than in phys. ed.  The scientific method is all about having a growth mindset and seeing if your predictions follow your actions.  As a student I found being rushed and forced to get the experiment “right” if we were short or rushed for time.  As a science teacher, leaving room to allow students to either pick various hypothesis within one class and explore the experiment in that manner, or have 2 classes for a detailed experiment.  Allowing students to make mistakes in the first class and pick what they wanted to explore in the second class.  Performing specific experiments or activities to create authentic learning experiences is great, but wouldn’t it be amazing if students had time to explore a topic on their own instead of being given a set of rules or steps to follow?  Eg. Grade 10 optics – students will discover a rainbow on their own, do they really need us to tell them where to place the prism?

 

Maker spaces can exist in the physical form as in a classroom, or someone’s garage, it can also exist in the cognitive space or as a way of looking a project.  Having a maker’s mind mean you are constantly exploring what makes something work, how can I build this and more importantly how can it be innovated to make something new.  But these questions don’t have to be answered or carried out to have a maker space.  An individual can be walking down the street observing various things and be creating something in their head.  Of course, the trial and error component of maker spaces are the missing key to the equation of success described above.  Children are natural makers but may be discouraged from exploring that creative hands on component which under develops those skills critical to having a growth mind set.  I believe that experimenting in maker spaces is an amazing way to develop both left and right hemispheres of the bran and should be introduced and supported within schools or as in clubs for students to explore and do what they do best, create!

 

Adam’s statement about how making the Blade Runner gun made him better at fixing things around his house links so many ideas of what my idea of cross curricular learning should be in the future.  Give student one BIG question to SOLVE over the course of the semester, and in it they will learn how to research, prioritize, collaborate, design, re-design, re-design re-design lol, construct, learn and discover why things work the way to do and answer their big question.  This could be used in science, history, economics, English etc.  The design and re-design could be a business model, or an experiment but there are areas in each subject that CROSS OVER and instead of teaching these subjects independently we should combine them, with different focuses to enhance different skills.  In the future, students will need to learn SO MUCH MORE than the generations before them.  How can they do this by sitting in a desk?  They need opportunities to discover and become excited about learning, and they will learn on their own.

Maker spaces create the opportunity for individuals to explore, create, invent and discover new learnings. Science is a subject area that I find most opportune for makerspaces as it’s open-ended nature fosters an environment for inquiry and discovery to take place. Within my science class an example of how I may incorporate the design process and the maker approach would be through exploration of an issue that is particularly meaningful or intriguing to the students. The design process would be used to help guide students towards remaining on track but also ensuring that they keep in mind the purpose of their making. Often times, students can get lost in discovery so having them first define their problem, for example reducing pollution, they can take moments during their inquiry to assess whether or not their making is moving towards the right solution. As students are following the various elements on the design process, I would encourage them that this process is not circular and often we skip steps, or revisit things such as ‘collecting more information’ at various stages during our inquiry as well. 

After watching the video, I learned that incorporating maker spaces can enhance the learning process and better prepare students for the real world. Specifically, the act of learning to be a maker and explore something but make the mistakes without fear of any ridicule or repercussions, supports students well-being and also influences their perspective when working in the real world. It is okay for students not to be an A+ student all the time, it is an expectation that students and parents hold, however what I think is often forgotten is that one of the purposes of school is to learn these skills, and it is a place to make these mistakes and figure things out before becoming a responsible adult. School is about the learning process, and as I watched in this video, making and maker spaces create that environment in which students can really delve into this process of learning and discovering. 

 

As a P/J teacher candidate I will be responsible for more than one subject area. When we think of maker spaces we often think about it in terms of STEM. However, I think that the maker approach could be incorporated into other subject areas. Last semester in our digital literacies class there were many examples of how we can use tech tools within a social studies classroom. Green screens can be used to create commercials, PSA, news reports etc. Stop motion animation can be used to tell a story. These would also incorporate language and the arts. The possibilities are endless and with a little creativity and thinking outside the box the maker approach can be integrated through many subjects. 

 

Before this program I hadn’t heard of a maker space before. My definition stemmed from our foundations Friday when we were shown all of the makerspace tools.  I thought that it had to involve some kind of technology, but in our digital literacies class I learned that it could be something as simple as Lego or sewing as well. In the Ted talk, Dale stated that we are all makers in our own worlds. This really broadened the definition for me and I began to think of other areas in which we make such as making food, shelter or even building a sand castle. 

 

 

In the video Adam talked about how students are afraid to take risks. He related it to how children develop allergies if they’re in an overly antiseptic environment. Children that do not get a chance to fail then they become risk adverse. In a maker approach students have the opportunity to take risk, fail, and learn from their mistakes. 

 
What is one connection you made with what was in this video by Adam Savage, especially in light of last week’s theme “Focus on the Future” (ie. how education has, is and will need to change)? 

In the video he talks about how far America is lagging behind the rest of the world in math and science. He says how they are cutting budgets for any of the things that help with making and they are getting rid of the shop program and art programs. These are important programs for life skills. There are many students that need these courses in order to help with life skills and to help with student-centered learning and makerspaces so students have a class to explore what they are interested in and take initiative and designing something. If you don’t give students a change to fail and learn from their mistakes than they will never want to try anything they are interested in because they are worried to fail and not use to failing. They won’t want to try new things because they will be scared of failing. The future of education should be based on giving students room to take the initiative to try different things and succeed and fail. This is how education needs to change in the future so that students will be more interested in school and will learn qualities that will help them in their lives after school.

As an I/S History and English teacher candidate, I’ve always had trouble envisioning a Maker Space in my future classroom, simply because I tend to associate these spaces with science and math-based learning. As I’ve learned however, there are plenty of ways to integrate a maker approach to education within my specific fields. For this post I’d like to talk about how the design process and maker approach to education could be incorporated within a history classroom. Often times teachers (including myself) get caught up in delivering content as apposed to letting students grapple with the larger questions and themes such as cause and consequence, ethical dimensions and continuity and change. I believe having spaces set up around the classroom which offer students the flexibility to use technology, craft and collaborate with others would help move the traditional history classroom to something that incorporates a growth mindset and which likewise allows students to experiment with the past and see how it may potentially affect the future. As an example, in my last placement I had students write a letter from the trenches during WW1. I could have, instead, allowed them a number of different options in terms of how they’d like to submit this assignment. Whether that be a recreation of a trench using online software, a green screen video of life in the trenches, or a role playing scenario, for example, would allow students to think outside of the box and experiment with different facets of history and how we can bring history to life within the 21st century classroom. Catering the classroom to the different learning styles would ultimately provide students with a better quality of education and experimentation.

As I mentioned above, I struggled with envisioning “making” outside of the science and math field because I associate these spaces and definitions with someone who is tech savvy or diversely creative. What i’ve learned and as the video alluded to, is that the world around us was made by us and that our industries came from playing and collaboration rather than structured and often times confined learning spaces. I now associate the term ‘Making’ with having a growth mindset, sharing ideas and our ability to shape and reshape the world we live in - through various means. 

I think people sometimes believe making meaning and creativity within the classroom is not intrinsically tied to education. In the past, as I’d mentioned above, history classrooms were typically focused around regurgitation and memorization of facts as opposed to the big historical thinking concepts. One thing that Adam Savage mentioned in his video (which I loved, by the way) was that allowing students to make what they want as opposed to giving them everything all at once, will ultimately lead them down the path to critical thinking and inquiry based learning. 

As I am  P/J teacher candidate, there is not just one subject area that I will be teaching, as I will be teaching all subjects to my students. Before this program, I did not have a sufficient grasp on the maker approaches into education. However, through the time with this program, i have come to learn that it goes much further than simply STEM. We are able to incorporate the maker approach in all subjects but in various ways to provide our students with various forms of it, such as green screens, stop-motion, etc., for various subjects. With the maker approach, students are allowed to explore creative methods of learning in order to promote inquiry, play, imagination, critical thinking, collaboration, etc. With this, students are then able to see how they can be innovators and creators within their own learning. As teachers, we need to first become familiar with the various maker space tools that are available to us. I know that this may be relevantly new to many of the teacher candidates in our program, however, I feel that with this program, we have been well prepared in terms of implementing technology and maker space tools into our placements for various subjects that can then be transferred into our future classrooms. As teachers, we need to take into consideration about the space needed for our make space. Is there enough room in the school or your classroom? Before deciding on a maker space, I think that it is important to first figure out what your students want to exactly do. This may promote motivation and enthusiasm into what they will be completing, as they feel a sense of belonging and excitement into the fact that they helped decide the makerspace. Once a maker space is chosen, teachers may then figure out the space needed.

One aspect of this video that I made a connection with was the part where Adam Savage discussed how when “making”, it can be risky, as you may make mistakes during the process and you may even fail. When reading this, people may see that as being a negative aspect of education, however, it is actually critical. If students have the mindset that they do not/can not fail the very first time of trying something new, then it prevents them from wanting to try new things later on. As years go on, making is becoming a very important aspects of, specifically in this case, student’s lies. However, as stated above, students within this generation are being sheltered and are straying away from taking risks. If students take these risks, it promotes for critical/independent thinking and creativity in the future. As teachers, it is important that we provide students with opportunities to take risks and fail. If this happens, students need to know that it is alright - they can just try again!

 

As a P/J teacher candidate, there will be many opportunities to incorporate makerspaces into my classroom practice. Up until my course in Social Studies in the Winter Term, I only thought makerspaces could have a STEM angle to them. However, we explored many examples of how makerspaces can be weaved into social studies, and that allowed me to see that makerspaces can be anywhere. For example, Makey Makey can be used in both Science and in Music. Circuits can be used in Art and Science. Green screens can be used for tasks or assignments in Social Studies, Drama, Language Arts, and much more. Given that the focus of makerspaces is to allow student to inquire and explore, there really should be no limit to where they can be incorporated into our classroom practice. 

 

 

 

One connection that I made with the video is the importance of allowing our students to make and to fail, because that is what will prepare them for the world we live in. Education used to focus on getting the right answer in the right way, but our world has evolved from that and experimentation and inquiry are needed now more than ever. It is much more challenging to learn to take risks and be resilient later in life than for a young child so it is up to us to provide the opportunities for those skills to develop. 

As a P/J teacher, I am fortunate enough to teach many subject areas and have the opportunity to use the maker approach and design process within each. I think the obvious answer for how the design process can be implemented into subject areas is Science and Technology. We did this very often in our science classes here in the Faculty of Education. We were presented with a problem related to STEM, we worked in groups to gather all the necessary information about the problem, we worked together to think of and create the solution, present it to the class, and welcome any feedback. Even when describing that I can see that that is something we often do in many classes – and what I had students do in my placements. Assigning a project or task that is inquiry driven and student-centred will automatically provide the teacher with an opportunity for the design process; the teacher must take this opportunity to mould the project to fit the process. In terms of the maker approach, I think Social Studies is an excellent subject area to make use of a variety of maker tools related to maps, social advocacy, graphing, etc. Makey Makey can be used for music, as you can use it to play instruments on the laptop with it, green screen can be used for drama, circuits can be used for art to create light-up work, and so on and so forth. You can really take any maker space tool and incorporate it where you believe it will enhance your students learning and blend well with the course content; be creative!

 

 

What is one connection you made with what was in this video by Adam Savage, especially in light of last week’s theme “Focus on the Future” (ie. how education has, is and will need to change)? 

 

After viewing the video by Adam Savage, the main takeaway for me was in regards to giving your students the opportunity to task risks and make mistakes. I think education has grown so much in terms of inquiry and student-centred learning, and part of this is having the students make decisions and try things out. With this, of course, may come with mistakes. It is so important for the students to make these mistakes when learning, as the problem solving is learning in and of itself. This goes beyond academic learning, but for life. You want your students to be independent and resilient. Part of doing this as an educator is to encourage these risks mistakes – and make some of your own for them to see. Students may not want to be risk-takers, and we should model the importance of it for them. Showing both how taking a risk could end up in something great or it could turn out to be a mess but we can fix it!

 
I believe that the design process is a great strategy that should be implemented within the primary/junior grades. Unlike I/S candidates, we don’t have a major, as we will be teaching a little bit of ever subject. However, when I think of the design process, I tend to really think back to a lot of the things that we where taught last semester in our STEM class. When teaching STEM, we learned that there is always room for improvement and there are many ways to get there. Since a huge part of STEM is inquiry based learning (or at least it should be), the design process is something that should be being implemented on a constant basis. As a teacher teaching STEM you want to find a problem, or a question that your students are interested in and follow the students lead.

 

I believe that maker spaces are a must-have inside the classroom. These maker spaces help students come out of their comfort zone and help them learn and understand not only new things, but things they thought they would never be interested in. Maker spaces allow students to feel comfortable in a space they know they are allowed to ask questions without being judged, and a place where failing is okay. Maker spaces are the most beneficial way to introduce to people how important failing is. As students grow older and enter adulthood, they will not understand everything right away. They will need to learn, and unlearn a lot of thins, usually failing a couple times at first. If adults are allowed to fail and learn from their mistakes in ‘real life’, why shouldn’t students be able to do the same?

--> Being a P/J teacher candidate and working within an elementary school, hands-on learning can be incorporated throughout all subjects. Within my previous practicums, I noticed that whenever I planned lessons that involved the students guiding their own learning students were so much more engaged. They always seemed to remember what was learned throughout that time because they were learning in a way that was interesting to them. Before becoming a teacher candidate at UOIT I was never really familiar with the “makerspace” approach. However, I do have to say that I have learned for the better and cannot even picture a classroom that does not follow this approach. 

 

--> When thinking back to the first semester of this program when we were preparing for the Maker Space foundation Friday, we were asked to take a survey in preparation for the day. I remember throughout the survey we were asked questions that I had no idea how to answer. I was really confused and thrown off regarding my response to the questions because I did not know what “making” or being a “maker” was. However, I am now able to tell you that my definition of making is learning that is open-ended and is focused on one’s own curiosities and wonders about how things work. Through making there is also no end goal within the exploration process, it is learning that is continuous and ongoing. 

 

--> The one connection that I was able to make from Adam Savage and the “Focus on the Future” topic is critical thinking and open-ended learning. Two specific lines that Adam Savage stated that really helped me make the connection were, “making is inheritably risky; you’re going to cut yourself, you are going to get bruised, you are going to mess things up, you are going to fail and that is absolutely critical.” I believe that making provides students with ample amounts of opportunities to explore and learn in a hands-on learning environment. Which leads to the next point that Adam Savage stated in the video, “if you don’t get a chance to fail, you don’t get a chance to try things and not get them right the first time” Open-ended learning and hands-on learning provides students with opportunities to fail and then learn from those mistakes, through this students will develop a sense of what is beneficial to their own learning and what helps them become successful. 

As a P/J teacher, I would be provided many opportunities to incorporate the maker approach within my lessons, within various subjects. Beyond just the STEM program, we would be able to use a maker approach within other courses as well. For example, during my placement, I made the use of iPads and laptops to teach my grade 3 students how we would be able to create a Claymation movie using clay, while teaching art. If I was to modify my lesson plan to further incorporate a maker approach, I could have also included green screen within the movie-making process. 

Making is incorporating technology, arts and crafts within the inquiry process. It is taking on a challenge and creating something to meet it, be it independently or within a group. It is based on your personal interests and how you can build on those preferences to branch into new territories

Looking at the site, it does vindicate my definition of Making, though the site focuses more so on implementing Making within a group rather than as an independent effort. Likewise, I see how I would be able to further apply Making within my curriculum.

One observation I had during the video was when Adam said “If you get what a kid is interested in, he will learn all around that much faster, than if you give him everything all at once.” This was very much the case with some of my students in my previous placement. While they were working on their Claymation movies, one step in the process was writing the plot of their story, a concept we were going over in language arts. However, many of my students took much more to being able to incorporate the components of a narrative while working on the movie than they did when we were working on the components one at a time.

After reviewing insightful views on Maker culture, I’ve developed a greater understanding of the benefits Maker culture has on students learning, creativity & innovation, critical thinking skills, collaboration skills and much more.  The goal of Maker space Culture is not only to instil these skills and attitudes in our students but to prepare them for the future job market.  The Horizon report presented statistics from countries such as the United States and Wales which indicated there are thousands of unfilled computing occupations (Freeman, Adams Becker, Cummins, Davis, & Hall Giesinger, 2017).    The report also indicated the need to ensure the younger generation is prepared for the emergence of new technology to benefit from the fourth industrial revolution (Freeman et al., 2017), therefore it is necessary today's teachers integrate maker pedagogies.  It’s important to be open-minded to see how maker spaces can be integrated into other subject areas and it can open up doors for your students as the maker movement embodies the UDL model, allowing students to choose how they will represent, express and engage in new learning (Hughes, 2017).  Mindset is key when we implement maker opportunities and STEM learning.  It’s moving away from students being consumers of information and having them become manipulators of the information (The Learning Exchange, 2018).  Inquiry-based learning is essential to integrate in order to instil an entrepreneurial mindset.  I would incorporate the maker approach into my classroom by creating an environment that is inviting and inspiring for students to create, tinker, and explore.  I personally like the centre approach as I’ve experienced implementing centres during my kindergarten placement.  I find using centres allows students to explore multiple areas of learning and students are more than welcome to bring objects or tools from other centres to create, invent and problem solve.  Ensuring students have access to technologies and loose parts invite students to think outside of the box.  To continue to foster students critical thinking and creative expression it’s key to give students opportunities to create change and make improvements.  A maker space is more than a fun activity; its purpose is to empower students.

My current definition of Making is exploring and creating by combing technologies and loose part materials.  I also think of inquiry-based learning, as students have questions or come across a problem, then they can make solutions and be innovated.  Students solve problems that matter to them, and it involves the design process which involves risk-taking and develops grit.  Students learn from their process to solve problems and create even better solutions.  Having the experience of “failing” and overcoming a difficult problem can increase resiliency skills and self-confidence.  Making is the perfect opportunity for students to explore real-world problems and learn about themselves as learners and makers.

Adam Savage shares why making is important to integrate into schools.  I like that he mentions the importance of risk-taking and that it is okay to make mistakes.  Making mistakes is the process of being an innovator, creating changes that lead to improvements.  The Maker culture develops the entrepreneurial skills we are trying to instil in our students to make them successful in the future.  Tinkering can lead students to take the path to critical thinking, a skill that is considered a 21st-century learning competency.  Making may seem like playing around to some people, but there is so much learning happening when students take something apart and re-build it, or discover circuits.  Whatever kind of making it is, it is building skills that are necessary for students to be open minded and innovative thinkers.

Hughes, J. (2017). Meaningful making: Establishing a makerspace in your school or classroom. What Works? Research into Practice. Literacy Numeracy Secretariat. Ontario Ministry of Education, Toronto: Queen’s Printer.

Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2017). NMC Horizon Report: 2017 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

The Learning Exchange. (2018). Maker Space Mindset [Video file]. Retrieved from http://thelearningexchange.ca/videos/maker-space-mindset/

 

Personally, I feel that the maker approach to education is the most applicable and relevant current pedagogical focus. This is because of the focus on 21^st century skills and 21^st century learners. As we have all witnessed, we have an influx of students that are highly skilled with technology, however, they do not have the platform or resources to put those skills to effective use. By adopting a maker pedagogy, we can encourage and foster our learners 21^st century skills, encourage them to use these skills to benefit those around them. Furthermore, students love being given control, so much of their lives is planned for them that they get a sense of complacency and boredom, because they have no say. However, adopting a maker pedagogy encourages student input and will enhance student engagement and overall satisfaction. As a future P/J teacher, I am given the opportunity to implement maker pedagogies throughout almost all of my subjects (religion, we shall see), and I can implement STEAM pedagogies to improve my student engagement and takeaway. The amount of resources we have received about maker pedagogies and STEAM implementation will be of major assistance in the very near future for us as TCs. 

 

 

The main take away from this for me is the concept of children becoming complacent and afraid to make mistakes. Perhaps it is because of my upbringing, I was always encouraged to make mistakes so that I may learn from them. This is why I encourage all those in my life to make mistakes and learn from them moving forward. The future will be technology-based, there is no denying that, however, as with any societal advancements, we have to be willing to make mistakes in order to grow. The same can be said for our future students that will help shape the world of tomorrow.