Unit 2: Up and Running
This unit introduces future maker leaders to strategies for designing, outfitting, and sustaining a makerspace.
Designing Your Space
Many experts agree that a makerspace is less about the "space" and more about the philosophy of interest-driven learning and community-based sharing, which explains the widely divergent "spaces" that have been designed for making from full blown permanent facilities to simple shelves and mobile carts. These resources will help future maker leaders understand where makerspaces have been successfully implemented (e.g., classrooms, school libraries, museums, community workshops and technology incubators), what they look like, and best practices for laying out and managing said spaces (e.g., storage solutions). |
Related Readings:
- Online Article: The environment and tools of great educational makerspaces: Part 2 of making an educational makerspace, Teacher Librarian. This article recommends designing the "space" in makerspace by looking at the interests of the persons served. It also notes some desirable characteristics of makerspaces such as open concept, flexible, multiple utilities, and display space to inspire and interest. The article concludes with a discussion of beginning, intermediate, and advanced tools commonly found in makerspaces.
- Online Article: Practical implementation of an educational makerspace: Part 3 of making an educational makerspace, Teacher Librarian. This article presents a case study of the development of a makerspace in a high school library where thematic activities were designed according to student interests and school curricula. Hands-off student ownership of the space was recommended with fixed stations of self-serve, short activities combined with flexible stations of rotating activities requiring more facilitation.
- Online Article, Designing a school makerspace, Edutopia. This article provides a great set of questions to ask when designing a makerspace, such as who is using the space, what content will be taught, what equipment is required, etc. The article suggests a number of centers that might be a part of makerspaces such as: woodworking, electronics, robotics, fabrication, textiles/sewing, etc.
- Online Article, Embracing student creativity with a wonder shelf, Edutopia. This article highlights how one high school math teacher utilized existing tools such as a Lego Mindstorms kit and technology such as iPads to elicit "making" in her classroom without the need to outfit an entirely separate and formal makerspace.
- Online Article, Three makerspace models that work, American Libraries. This article discusses three physical makerspaces in libraries, including a mobile trailer, a centralized city technology facility, and a budget-strapped university makerspace. Equipment and materials found in each space are also highlighted and a brief "history" or timeline of making is included.
- Online Article, Making room for maker's space, American School and University. This article cautions schools not to relegate "making" to just one room like a computer lab mindset, but rather to think of making as something that can be applied across classrooms as Piaget pushed for. Ideal space characteristics are noted such as adequate ventilation, natural lighting, ample outlets, soundproofing, storage with lids, and displays to showcase projects.
- Online Article, A peek at our future maker corner, Renovated Learning. This blog entry from a middle school librarian discusses strategies for maker "space" planning (e.g., student committees, using the visualization tool Skitch), and highlights some features of their space--collaborative whiteboards and chalkboard walls, a lego wall, wall-mounted storage, and dedicated tables for work with knex and legos.
- Online Article: A maker space that helps kids create during long hospital stays, KQED MindShift. This article describes a mobile cart with 3D printer created for the children's hospital at Vanderbilt, enabling hospital-bound kids to propose and implement solutions to real problems.
- Online Article, Reflections on community, makerspaces, and the future of museums, New Media Consortium. This article describes the value in bringing makerspaces into museums, including promoting workplace and thinking skills and promoting intergenerational learning. The author offers the analogies of museum makerspaces as agoras and bazaars (markets) or ateliers (studios) in promoting more open connections to communities.
- Online Article, Creating a mini maker space, Scholastic Parents. This article offers suggestions for designing and outfitting a maker workbench suitable for a home or small classroom. Arrangement tips are provided such as mounting computer equipment on swinging arms to keep the workspace open for project work, as well as storage tips such as pegboards for tools and storage boxes for craft supplies.
- Online Article, Library offering 'STEM Kits' for children, ARL Now. This article describes a partnership between a local engineer and a public library to design seven STEM kits with activities for children on varied topics (earth science, engineering, electronics, weather, etc.). The kits rotate to different library branches.
- Online Podcast, The three most important things you need to start a makerspace, EdTechChat. This podcast points out that no two makerspaces are the same and there is no one definition, and recommends looking at the interests and needs of learners who will use a space, rather than blindly buying a bunch of equipment and hoping to make a match. Creating themes for your makerspace can help to guide what one buys, and while themes are commonly STEM-based, they can be something else (e.g., literacy and mashing up digital stories).
- PDF Chapter, Chapter 2: Places, Makerspace Playbook. This chapter highlights the many "places" that can serve as maker "spaces" in school and non-school settings, and lists some ideal characteristics such as having an open hangout space to promote collaboration/presentation/critique, well-stocked and stored materials, display space, Internet access, adequate ventilation/power sources, and more.
- PDF Article: Maker movement spreads innovation one project at a time, Phi Delta Kappan. This article summarizes general makerspace principles and describes example makerspaces found in churches, museums, public libraries, and increasingly in schools, along with the projects engaged in at these varied locations.
- PDF Article, Bigger than our buildings: The exciting potential of online makerspaces, Feliciter. This article discusses the role of online "space" in allowing students to share their making, noting existing networks like Instagram and Facebook tend to be more popular than new makerspace networks. The article notes the value in libraries archiving images of student work to promote the work of the space and to drive further funding/donations. Some libraries are experimenting with online tools for digital "makes" such as stereographic images, and these support "making" activity beyond the physical confines of the library building.
- PDF Article, Here's how we did it: The story of the EPL makerspace, Feliciter. This article describes how one library designed its makerspace, first by visioning and deciding to focus on three activity types (digitization, creative making, gaming). An excellent set of questions to aid planning in included (i.e., infrastructure/equipment required, possible partnerships/volunteers, staffing required, marketing/evaluation required).
- PDF Article, Libraries as makerspace? Information Technology and Libraries. This editorial promotes the idea of makerspaces in public libraries and cites some common characteristics: open, with whiteboards for collaboration and lendable technology. The article differentiates between fab labs as places for fabrication and hackerspaces as more programming-centric, while noting there can be significant overlap. Value-add for libraries is noted when patrons can both read about and go hands-on with robotics and models in the same space.
- PDF Article, Australia's campfires, caves, and watering holes, Learning & Leading with Technology. This article is not about makerspaces, but cites David Thornburg's ideas for innovative learning spaces that might be represented in a makerspace, including a "campfire" space to gather and learn from experts or one another, a "watering hole" space to collaborate, and a "cave" for individual activity/reflection.
- PDF Article, A place to make, hack, and learn: Makerspaces in Australian public libraries, The Australian Library Journal. This research article drawn from interviews with library professionals identified benefits of makerspaces in libraries (e.g., community engagement) as well as challenges to address (e.g., preparing staff and patrons for the translation of traditional consumption-based library services to production or make-based library services).
- Web Site, The PlayMaker School. This Web site for the PlayMaker School in California introduces an entire school founded on make- and game-based principles, including a dedicated dreamlab for educator collaboration and ideation with whiteboards for brainstorming, an adventure room for mobile and game-based learning with different projection capabilities, and a do-it-yourself makerspace.
- Web Site, DH MakerBus. This Web site for Canada's DH MakerBus provides a glimpse into a mobile or pop-up makerspace solution that doesn't involve a physical building.
- QuickMOOC, Makerspaces in school and public libraries, LMC Source. This fee-based course ($10) introduces participants to "makerspaces that work well in a library setting, [and] tips and ideas for getting started...."
Professional Development Activities for this Section on Space:
- Do: Survey your students to determine their "interests" and brainstorm project centers that could tap into some of the more common interests.
- Do: Outline the learner interests you wish to serve in your space and create a physical design sketch to illustrate what your ideal space would look like. What are the centers of activity and what will take place there? Sample tools for this activity include Gliffy or Skitch (as shown here).
- Do: Makerspaces have been compared to markets, studios, campfires, caves, and watering holes. Elicit analogies from your professional development attendees to illustrate how they envision their space functioning. Follow analogical reasoning procedures to identify relevant features of target (makerspace) and analogue concepts, map similarities, and derive conclusions about the common space(s).
Outfitting Your Space
These resources will help future maker leaders identify project materials from parts and pre-packaged kits purchased online to repurposed materials picked up from community donors or thrift stores to cheap supplies from local dollar or craft stores. While makerspaces can include high-dollar equipment such as 3d printers and laser cutters, making can be supported on a thrifty budget as well. The key is to have activities or projects in mind, rather than buying equipment and materials without direction. |
Related Readings:
- PDF Article, High school makerspace tools and materials, Maker Education Initiative. This excellent resource suggests furniture and accessories to outfit a working space, as well as general tools necessary in a makerspace, and finally parts and materials needed for different make centers or activities, including: wood and metal working, electronics, textiles, computers, 3D printing, and laser and CNC cutting.
- Online Article: The environment and tools of great educational makerspaces: Part 2 of making an educational makerspace, Teacher Librarian. This article recommends designing the "space" in makerspace by looking at the interests of the persons served. It also notes some desirable characteristics of makerspaces such as open concept, flexible, multiple utilities, and display space to inspire and interest. The article concludes with a discussion of beginning, intermediate, and advanced tools commonly found in makerspaces.
- Online Article, Dissecting the un-makerspace: Recycled learning, Edutopia. This article describes a makerspace where students take apart or de-construct rather than construct with a goal of finding out how things work. Students take apart old electronics such as cassette players, computers, and monitors, with a stash of tools (e.g., screwdrivers, pliers, hammers). A guide specifying team roles during deconstruction activity is linked.
- Online Article, Low tech, high gains: Starting a maker program is easier than you think, Digital Shift. This article notes that makerspaces can be outfitted with low-cost and low-tech materials in support of varied activities (jewelry, wood work, paper airplane construction, gardening). 3d printers and robotics get the most press, but are not required. Interest surveys are recommended to capture areas of expertise among library staff and community members, as many persons can help to support making with what they already know and do as hobbies.
- Online Article, How to make a $100 makerspace for your library, The DHMakerbus. The author of this article recommends not wasting money on materials without a project or activity in mind, and as an example describes what they would purchase with $100, including: LEDs, 3v batteries, cheap camera, dollar store items, and more.
- Online Article, Meri's mobile makerspace and edcamp NJ, Tech for Teachers. This article describes how one educator set up makerspace activities in a school gym using low-cost items purchased at radio shack, lowes, and dollar stores (e.g., LEDs, duct tape, glue guns, spoons, craft sticks, rubber bands, coin cell batteries, toothbrushes, etc.). The author introduces the idea of a "donation list" to solicit donations of consumables from parents.
- Blog Entry, What can these scraps reveal? FabLearnFellows. In this blog entry from one of Stanford's FabLearn Fellows, the re-purposing or up-cycling of existing materials is discussed. The author notes that re-purposed materials can change the design process from one of deciding what you are going to make and finding the right materials, to starting with materials and being creative about what can be made.
- PDF Chapter, Chapter 3: Tools & materials, Makerspace Playbook. This chapter notes that equipment lists are unique and defined by an individual makerspace's needs, but does provide lists of reusable and consumable tools that are commonly employed. The author recommends finding donors, soliciting donations, and focusing on a few project types initially while working to build capacity and project types over time.
Suppliers of Tools and Materials:
- Community Supplier, Materials for the Arts, NYC-based reuse community collecting donations of unneeded supplies that can be put to use in future art projects
- Supplier, Adafruit Industries
- Supplier, All Electronics
- Supplier, BG Micro
- Supplier, Chaney Electronics
- Supplier, DIP Micro
- Supplier, Electronix Express
- Supplier, Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories
- Supplier, Sparkfun
Professional Development Activities for this Section on Materials:
- Do: Shop, Put professional development attendees in pairs or small groups to source materials for a specified project. With a mock budget of $200, each team creates a spreadsheet with materials they would buy and links to those products. Discuss similarities and differences across team lists and identify "best buys" from the group.
- Do: Scavenge, In a perfect world, your makerspace has a budget of $200 for a project. In reality, that may not be the case. Give your PD attendees an opportunity to brainstorm project ideas after sorting through a box of scavenged supplies. What creative ideas can they generate?
- Discuss: Where can you start collecting pre-existing, no-cost, up-cycled supplies for make projects (e.g., freecycle.org, craigslist.org)? Check out the Materials for the Arts Web page listed above. Can your school or community start a similar clearinghouse for materials that can be reused in new designs?
- Do: Solicit, Create a "donation list" tied to specific projects you have in mind for your makerspace. Discuss storage requirements for items on your list and consider soliciting for storage bins as well.
Sustaining Your Space
These resources will help future maker leaders sustain their makerspaces through promotional tactics that attract more participants, donors, and volunteers, including: display boards, advertisements, social media, STEM nights or showcase events, professional development or training events, and evaluative data that illustrates program successes. These resources will also help future maker leaders sustain their makerspaces by tapping into varied funding/donation streams and leveraging community expertise in support of student work. |
Related Readings:
- Online Article, Community is key to successful library maker spaces, The Digital Shift. This article notes the importance of tapping into community expertise including teens who can lead making activities in libraries, and using physical and online display space to promote activities of the makerspace, as well as regular newspaper ads and local community message boards to advertise activities of the makerspace.
- Online Article, Teachers in the makerspace: An exploration experiment, Barrow Media Center. This article describes how one librarian leveraged an afternoon teacher work day to introduce her teachers to making activities, with conversations emerging about curricular connections. A pre-survey showed teachers were very interested in tapping into the space, but had not had time to explore and understand curricular connections.
- Web Site, Strengthening partnerships, You for Youth. This in-depth Web site presents strategies to find and nurture partnerships for 21st century community learning centers (e.g., create an advisory board, conduct a needs assessment, prepare a resource map, clarify expected roles), with a good list of potential partners (museums, faith-based organizations, colleges, arts organizations, public rec centers, etc.).
- PDF Article, Six strategies for funding a makerspace, Edutopia. Discusses makerspace funding strategies such as repurposing existing spaces, selling selected student "makes" to raise funds, identifying business or grant sponsorship, and using crowdfunding (e.g., donorschoose.org, indiegogo.com).
- PDF Article, How is the afterschool field defining program quality? A review of effective program practices and definitions of program quality, Afterschool Matters. Cites numerous empirical studies and presents lists of after school program characteristics (e.g., use of community, flexibility and variety in programming, and supportive emotional climate) that can be used to evaluate makerspace program quality (i.e., are we doing these things).
- PDF Article, Capturing unique dimensions of youth organized activity involvement, Review of Educational Research. This article highlights a number of demographic factors that can influence youth participation in organized extracurricular, community-based, and youth development programs. It promotes a four-element model where intensity, breadth, and duration of participation can influence engagement and involvement, thus maker programs may wish to conduct evaluations with cited elements such as number of different activities a student participates in, hours/week and years of participation, and emotional/cognitive engagement.
Professional Development Activities for this Section on Sustainability/Promotion:
- Do: During professional development, create a storyboard for a promotional video to advertise your makerspace (see, for example, Decatur Makers). Later, work with students to capture some video footage from real making activities and perhaps some interviews with students and facilitators discussing what they are learning from making activities. Create a YouTube channel for your makerspace and post this edited video.
- Discuss: Beyond YouTube, brainstorm other outlets for promoting your space and who will be responsible for posting information to those outlets regularly (e.g., Twitter account for your makerspace).
- Do: Draft a plan for a STEM night or maker showcase to promote your new space. How will this event be structured? What will you display? How can you make it interactive for attendees?
- Do: Draft an evaluation plan for your makerspace? For what purpose and for whom is the evaluation being conducted? What data sources are needed to determine program quality and to make decisions about specific activities across a larger maker program? How will evaluation data be presented back to the community to promote the work of the space?
- Do: Draft a compelling campaign to crowdfund a piece of equipment for your makerspace, and discuss how to best sell this "need' to the community. Will any data help?
- Do: Draft a resource/asset map specifying community resources that might be tapped in support of the makerspace.