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Blog 8: Makerspaces

 

Hi, Readers!

This week I have been learning about makerspaces.  According to a definition provided by the Oxford Languages, makerspaces are “a place in which people with shared interests, especially in computing or technology, can gather to work on projects while sharing ideas, equipment, and knowledge” (Oxford University Press, n.d.). As I read many different articles and definitions on makerspaces, I developed my own definition pertaining to an elementary library. I believe that makerspaces are places where children can come to express their new found learning through creating physical objects to represent their new found knowledge.

(Provenzano, n.d.)

As I think about makerspaces, I would like to create one myself for my future library. In order to come up with ideas, I researched makerspaces and came across a blog called Renovated Learning, which is actually a blog that we were introduced to in this module. I found a particular blog post called “Science + Makerspace: Safety Device Challenge.”  This blog post talks about children that are in the 6th grade that were in science lab classes that year (Rendina, 2022).  The class’s curriculum focuses on lab safety (Rendina, 2022). The children in this class were able to take what they had learned from their safety unit to work together to make safety tools (Rendina, 2022). These tools were made using the supplies in the makerspace of the school (Rendina, 2022). After they made their safety tools, they had to tell about their tools to a panel of teachers as if they were on the show “Shark Tank” (Rendina, 2022).  The link to this specific blog post is below:

Blog post link: https://www.renovatedlearning.com/2022/11/12/makerspace-safety-device-challenge/

 I feel that is makerspace idea is so awesome.  With the help of the librarian, I think that makerspaces could be an effective way to end many units of study for teachers grades K-12.  I think that this blog post really shows that “maker space—or, more specifically, the act of making—encourages and gives people permission to tinker, hack, remake, and perhaps even change society” (LibraryJournal, n.d., para. 15). Reading this blog post, you could tell that the learners were empowered to make tools that they felt could really help with safety. I think that when students are empowered with materials to build something awesome with their own knowledge that is when real learning takes place.

Makerspaces also allow students to be not only be makers, but also be a team of makers that “build off the ideas of others and choose the best tools for the job” (Maker Media, n.d., 2013, p. 3).  In this makerspace activity, students were grouped and given a job to come up with ideas of safety tools. Being able to work with others is an essential skill to learn in order to be able to function in society. Therefore, makerspaces give students the opportunity to do just that--work with others to accomplish a task.

This week has made me so excited to create my own makerspace in my future library. I hope you will take the time to check out the blog post I have highlighted this week.

As always, thank you for stopping by.

                                                                                                             Sincerely,

                                                                                                             Courtland Smith

References

LibraryJournal. (n.d.). The makings of maker spaces, part 1: Space for creation,
     not just consumption. The Digital Shift. http://www.thedigitalshift.com/
     2012/10/public-services/
     the-makings-of-maker-spaces-part-1-space-for-creation-not-just-consumption/

Maker Media. (2013). Maker playbook. http://makered.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/
     09/Makerspace-Playbook-Feb-2013.pdf

Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Makerspaces. Oxford Languages.
     https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/

Provenzano, N. (n.d.). 5 makerspace must-haves [Photograph]. Demco Ideas &
     Inspiration. https://ideas.demco.com/blog/5-makerspace-must-haves/

Rendina, D. (2022, November 12). Science + makerspace: safety device challenge.
     Renovated Learning. https://www.renovatedlearning.com/2022/11/12/
     makerspace-safety-device-challenge/

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