Tag Archives: Makerspace Mania

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Need makerspace ideas or gadgets?

Tecnologia - Technology (2)By now, you’ve probably heard about makerspaces. (If not, catch up here). Here at CMLE, we think they are pretty exciting. All the opportunities for hands-on learning and creation! But it’s easy to find the endless possibilities slightly overwhelming. Wondering where to start? CMLE has done that work for you! We’ve published a great deal about makerspaces, and want to share our wealth of knowledge! See below for ideas and inspiration, tools to use, and where to find makerspaces.

 

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/pkdbtf9, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Makerspace Mania: Ideas, ideas, and more ideas

15854128181_5c4ec55106_kMarch is makerspace month here at CMLE! This month we’ll have a series of  blog posts with the makerspace theme. This week we give you ideas!

 

Plenty of posts that talk about Makerspaces, but what if you just want ideas? In our last post of the makerspace series we are giving you just that. Plus, a way to add your ideas to the list too!

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/l92kuy3, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Academic, General, Public

Makerspace Mania: Academic and Public libraries too

15854128181_5c4ec55106_kMarch is makerspace month here at CMLE! This month we’ll have a series of  blog posts with the makerspace theme. This week we learn that makerspaces aren’t just for schools.

A lot of the buzz around makerspaces seems to be about school libraries. But academic and public libraries are getting into the action too! From 3D printers to edible book festivals, many academic libraries have had makerspaces, except by name, for years. And who doesn’t think of their local public library and not think of the children’s area where kids can play and explore.

Academic: 

Many in academia will quickly dismiss makerspaces due to their lack of obvious pedagogy learning goals. However, others see a move beyond Fixed-Choice Tests into Performance Assessment – which can sound a little like makerspaces.  “In the performance assessment paradigm, learning is an active process in which “students construct meaning and knowledge: they do not have meaning or knowledge handed to them in a book or lecture,” says Megan Oakleaf. “Learning, then, is a process of students ‘making sense’ of how things fit together…” (DOI: 10.1353/pla.0.0011 ). Even Megan Lotts’ recent article: Implementing a culture of creativity: Pop-up making spaces and participating events in academic libraries dug deeper in to the Academic Makerspace.

Public:

One local example where public libraries are getting into the makerspace business is with Smart Play Spots and a partnership with the Minnesota Children’s Museum. Smart Play Spots are learning environments that encourage children’s “literacy development through hands-on, multi-sensory activities that include dramatic play, story telling, and playing with letters and sounds.” You can read more about the program here. From play areas to 3D printers, public libraries are joining the makerspace fun!

Let us know how you’re using makerspaces in your academic or public library!

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/l92kuy3, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Makerspace Mania: Pinterest, the Makerspace Resource

Looking to try out a makerspace in your library, but unsure of where to start?  Why not try Pinterest?  Pinterest is a visual site where you can search for boards and users (called ‘pinners’) for pinspiration in all sorts of topics. Need a quick intro?

For example, you could follow this board by pinner Eric Sheninger (Senior Fellow and Thought Leader on Digital Leadership). . .

. . .this board by AnibalPachecoIT (owner and Chief Learning Officer, Instructional Technology Solutions). . .

Or, you may find a pinner like Diana Rendina (Media Specialist and School Librarian, blogger of Renovated Learning), who has many boards on makerspaces.  You can follow one of her boards, all of them, or a number in between:

Did you find some other great resources on Pinterest as you were browsing?  Be sure to let us know!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Makerspace Mania: What is a makerspace?

15854128181_5c4ec55106_kMarch is makerspace month here at CMLE! This month we’ll have a series of  blog posts with the makerspace theme. This week we try to figure out what makes a makerspace?

Can you define something that can really be anything? That seems to be the quandary with makerspaces. Is a table full of LEGOs a makerspace? How about a place where you can take apart air conditioners? Makerspaces seem to be things that are only limited by the creator’s imagination. One definition:

Makerspaces are spaces where people can gather to create, invent, and learn.

But we can go deeper than that! Recently in Information Technology and Libraries, the editorial board wrote about makerspaces. “After all, in a very real sense that is what libraries do—and have done, for thousands of years: buy sometimes expensive technology tailored to the needs and interest of the local community and make it available on a shared basis.”

Makerspaces are spaces where people are creating, inventing, and learning, but they also provide a space where everyone has equal access.

The O’Reilly/DARPA Makerspace Playbook can also help us describe the goals of a makerspace: “By helping schools and communities everywhere establish Makerspaces, we expect to build your Makerspace users’ literacy in design, science, technology, engineering, art, and math. . . . We see making as a gateway to deeper engagement in science and engineering but also art and design. Makerspaces share some aspects of the shop class, home economics class, the art studio and science lab. In effect, a Makerspace is a physical mashup of these different places that allows projects to integrate these different kinds of skills.”

Makerspaces are skill-based learning spaces that are open to all, where people are creating and inventing.

Finally, we include a video from Mita Williams, user experience librarian at the University of Windsor, where she talks about makerspaces.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/l92kuy3, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0