I recently had a chance to visit a couple of schools in a nearby school board to check out their new MakerSpace learning areas.  Is was definitely a worthwhile day of conversation, questions and observations.

One school was brand new (Sept. 2015) and had a built in MakerSpace space room roughly 20′ x 24′ with two green rooms available off one side.  The room was well equipped via the start up funds with a variety options for students to make and explore.  The students using the room were very engaged and functioned well within the space. Staff were extremely positive about the availability of this type of learning space within their school.

The second site had a similar sized MakerSpace room created as part of a school renovation.  Equipping of this room was up to the school. Staff noted that acquiring items for the room would be done over time as funds were available.

In both schools the MakerSpace rooms were connected to the library which is considered more as a learning commons.

In reflecting on the day, I am left pondering a few a few aspects of the MakerSpace movement.

• Is MakerSpace a place? or a strategy to embed in the learning journey?
• If MakerSpace is a place, how do students respond to “scheduled access” vs as available or as needed?
• Is it possible the MakerSpace room might become outdated or disrupted by a future change?  To give some context, I am thinking about how computer labs were disrupted by mobile technology – the place vs embedded as part of learning space.
• How would differing school cultures handle making ‘only in the space’ vs taking the ‘goods’ and  making elsewhere?
• MakerSpace vs MakerCulture
• Make, Mix, Remix

I would be interested in learning your opinions about MakerSpace and invite you to contribute a comment here or perhaps connect with me on Twitter to exchange ideas.

Gallery of the Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Resources:  Follow #makerspace  on Twitter.

~Mark