Makerspaces, libraries and education

We live in an age where many children have access to smartphones, tablets and laptops. They’re powerful and intuitive, offering the Web and an ever-growing library of apps to explore. Learning and accessing information has never been easier.

But these children, and a ton of adults too, have little exposure to a computer’s inner workings. Nor do they truly understand how their favorite apps and software work. The sleek, packaged products we have today are creating a generation of passive users, rather than builders and makers.

A new multi-institutional graduate program will help students learn how to create human tissue with 3D "bioprinting." Once they've completed their studies, the students will hold a master's degree from two institutions, one European and one Australian.

The new master's in biofabrication is the first in the world in which students will study the technology involved in creating tissue. It encompasses multiple disciplines: chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, robotics and computer science.

It’s twelve months since Kristen Fontichiaro presented Sharpening our toolkit: defining great work, exploring Makerspace culture and badging accomplishments at the SLAV Conference Transliteracy: whom do you ask and how can you participate? At that time Kristen spoke of the value of Makerspaces as positive learning opportunities based on her experience and research with the Michigan Makers group and the University of Michigan, USA.

The company will present their new Arduino Materia 101 at Maker Faire Rome next weekend.

New Maker Space Labs provide students with access to high-tech manufacturing tools.

Long before companies like MakerBot made 3D printing as simple as a box that sits on your desk, dedicated pioneers were perfecting the technologies that made it possible in their garages.

"Normally the first time the surgeon sees the heart is when the chest is open, now they have the ability to plan out the surgery ahead of time while looking at a 3D Heart of the baby or child’s heart." But with the help of an MRI scan, Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in New York City 3D printed a copy of the child’s heart, which was both riddled with holes and structured unusually.

The Maker movement's pedagogical roots reach back to 18th-century Europe even as its branches reach globally to transform 21st-century education.

A highlight of the makerspace this school year was the visit from Ron Grosinger – an expert maker who came into school to run a bicycle repair workshop for our students. Our library was completely packed out with students and their bikes for the event. The kids themselves were engaged and inspired, and were quite clearly actively and eagerly participating in the event.

Alternative curricula are expanding the collective know-how of the maker community and providing valuable insights for inventors at any stage of their project

Learners and teachers have so many free options at their fingertips, we find that fewer are buying the higher-priced software. Just like with all kinds of making, with software these days you can do a lot with a little. Years ago, the costs of new software, especially those used by creative professionals, were prohibitive to schools. Administrators favored programs that kids would encounter in office settings, but we all know that the workplace of the future is a makerspace! The field of what’s available can be intimidating to navigate, however. Who doesn’t download with trepidation? We thought we should share our Maker teachers’ go-to apps.