FabLearn Fellows Cohort 1 FabLearn Fellows Blogs

The initial FabLearn Fellows cohort is a diverse group of 18 talented professionals representing a range of K-12 schools, non-profits, and universities in six countries. They are serving as Senior FabLearn Fellows, mentoring the growing community of FabLearn Fellows, and continuing to be leaders and evangelists for authentic education around the world.

Latest Posts from the 2014 Fellows

FabLearn Fellows – Winter 2020/2021

Sylvia MartinezMarch 11, 2021So there’s a lot happening behind the scenes with the FabLearn Fellows! The new cohort is starting to meet, virtually, of course. New blog posts and videos will be coming soon. We are in the very early stages of planning Volume 3 of the Meaningful Making book series. And the previous cohorts of FabLearn Fellows… Read more » [...] Read more...

Making Remotely: Sending Embroidery Kits Home and Teaching on Zoom

Heather PangMarch 2, 2021 In the fall my school was fully remote, but we had the opportunity to send supplies home before class started. I was ambitious, and I put together two different sets of making supplies as well as some printed materials for my 8th grade US history class. The two making kits were embroidery and… Read more » [...] Read more...

Papert’s Eight Big Ideas translated to Arabic

Sylvia MartinezApril 21, 2020In 1999, Seymour Papert, the father of educational technology, embarked on his last ambitious institutional research project when he created the constructionist, technology-rich, project-based, multi-aged Constructionist Learning Laboratory inside of Maine’s troubled prison for teens, The Maine Youth Center. As Gary Stager shares in the book, Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, Papert outlined these… Read more » [...] Read more...

FabLearn Conversation with Nalin Tutiyaphuengprasert – Making in the time of COVID-19

Sylvia MartinezApril 4, 2020In this video conversation, Nalin Tutiyaphuengprasert speaks with Sylvia Martinez about how the DSIL Fab Lab in Bangkok Thailand is working with local hospitals and medical professionals to design, prototype, and build aerosol boxes for COVID-19 patients. These acrylic boxes are placed over a patient during procedures requiring close contact, reducing the chance of disease… Read more » [...] Read more...

CS, Diversity and Education

David MalpicaJuly 14, 2018I was a middle school teacher for three years before I confronted the reality that teaching public school and financial safety in the Bay Area don’t square up. Especially with a baby on the way. I therefore quit my brief teaching career and enrolled in the most competitive coding bootcamp available. This essay is a… Read more » [...] Read more...

FabLearn Webinar – Assessment strategies for maker courses

Sylvia MartinezMay 5, 2018We are pleased to share a recent webinar led by Daniel Schermele with several FabLearn Fellows in a conversation about assessment strategies for maker courses. The conversation included: Intent of assessment / why do we teach specific content Types of assessments Backwards planning vs. self-determined education Why do we assess? Accountability or just part of an… Read more » [...] Read more...

Maker Teacher in the Classroom: What should I do for students (and what should I not do)?

Heather PangJanuary 29, 2018As a maker, one of the things I like is spending a great deal of time on something, going deep, and feeling that the result is really due to my hard work. I have taken up quilting recently, because it is that kind of project. I need to learn new things, and then do them…. Read more » [...] Read more...

Middle School Sewing Elective Version 2

Heather PangJanuary 29, 2018I co-teach a sewing elective for middle school students. This is the second version, the first ended in some frustration, so we stopped offering it for a while, and I went on to be part of other electives. This year we resurrected the idea, and I am co teaching with a colleague (great fun, and… Read more » [...] Read more...

FabLearn webinar with guest Tony Perry of the Lehmlson-MIT Invention Education program

Sylvia MartinezNovember 30, 2017We are pleased to share a recent webinar with guest Tony Perry, Invention Education Coordinator at the Lemelson-MIT Program that celebrates outstanding inventors and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention. Tony shared the goals of the program and current opportunities for young people in their Invention contests and programs. Justin Brown,… Read more » [...] Read more...

“Push Me!” Teaching Paper Electronics to a Crowd with a Switch Sampler

Susan KlimczakNovember 19, 2017Boston’s Learn 2 Teach, Teach 2 Learn is a 16-year-old maker program where annually 36 teens of color to learn, build and then teach 6 different technology, coding, and engineering modules. Each year our youth teachers engage 700+ children at 30+ community organizations with constructionism-based activities at free 4-week summer STEAM camps. This blog post offers… Read more » [...] Read more...

See all recent blog posts from the Cohort 1 FabLearn Fellows. For blog posts prior to Fall 2016, please visit the archived Cohort 1 FabLearn Fellows website.

Meaningful Making

The Cohort 1 FabLearn Fellows created this beautiful full-color book with projects and articles about making, digital fabrication, constructionism, and more. Click to download for free.