iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

Learning is really just a growth in awareness.

From not knowing to knowing is part of it, but that’s really too simple because it misses all the degrees of knowing and not knowing. One can’t ever really truly understand something any more than a shrub can stay trimmed. There’s always growth or decay, changing contexts or conditions.

Understanding is the same way: it’s fluid.

Yes, this sounds silly and esoteric, but think about it. While morsels of information–math theorems, for example–may not change, the context students use them in do. Which in turn changes how we consider and use that morsel.

In fact, so little of the learning process is unchanging. Even facts–significant historical dates, labels for ethnic groups, causes and effects of cultural movements–all change endlessly, if not in form (how they’re discussed) than in meaning and connotation (what we think of them).

Design. Engineering. Religion. Media. Literacy. Human Rights. Geography. Technology. Science. All of these have changed both in form and connotation in the last decade, with changes in one (e.g., technology) changing how we think of another (e.g., design).

And so how students use this skill or understanding.

And further how we, as teachers, “teach it.”

An increasing number of K-12 schools are transforming classrooms, libraries or other spaces into Informal workshop environments where students can tinker or invent, and with good reason. According to The NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2016 K-12 Edition, "Makerspaces are also increasing student exposure to STEM subjects and technical disciplines. Learners are applying maker skills to address some of the world's pressing challenges with innovative solutions."

But how do makerspaces get started? THE Journal spoke with several experts, who shared their insights into the makerspace planning phase — not just designing or equipping the space itself but preparing the students and staff so that they're able to make the best possible use of it.