Making for Making Sake? or STEAM for 21st Century Job Skills?    – Kropotkin Thank You Sylvia Martinez of Invent to Learn for this Conversation According to Educational Philosopher Gert Biesta, professor of educational theory and policy at the University of Luxembourg, “Education debate tends to be based on a truth about the nature and… Read more »

Sometimes a technology skill building activity takes on a life of its own, and this time a simple inkscape tracing project turned into a collaboration with math and a spring board for several related activities. Last year students reported on surveys that one of the most challenging parts of their end of they year project… Read more »

A new literature review was just released by the Board of Science Education (an NSF funded program associated with the National Academies) called: Making and Tinkering: A Review of the Literature, by Shirin Vossoughi and Bronwyn Bevan http://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/docs/publications/1389898569543ea0951a19d.pdf The Board of Sciences has commisioned this and several other papers focused on informal and afterschool STEM learning. More information and… Read more »

Leah Buechley rocks and I have been impressed and moved by her since we met.   When she was working and researching at the MIT Media Lab High Low Technology Group, Leah also had a tremendous impact on Learn 2 Teach, Teach 2 Learn. She and her graduate students had a deep understanding for the… Read more »

Is Student-Centered Code for Lord of the Flies?   Ask any average kid what his or her favorite part of the school day is and you will probably get the answer lunch or recess. Kids love unstructured time because they have the privacy to fail while taking risks or learning how to be a social… Read more »

At the Fab Learn Conference last weekend, I was struck that Paulo Blickstein set the tone by making a strong argument for maker education to focus on inclusion and equity even suggesting the importance of giving  “an unfair advantage to low income youth.” Here in Boston I am part of the work of the Race,… Read more »

On Saturday afternoon, Yvette and I headed to Mpigi in Uganda which is about an hour from the capital, Kampala. Watoto Church Vocation Training Institutein Mpigi is based at the heart of a village and is home to hundreds of students, most of whom are orphans and some of whom come from the nearby villages. Many… Read more »

A “What I am reading and thinking about” post! Having a positive and playful relationship to failure is an important ingredient in making!  I have some very amusing video footage of our youth discussing the process of creating a perfect pressfit cube, advising each other that it takes at least 20 failures to really understand… Read more »

This evening I was reading this article by MIT Media Lab’s Joi Ito & feeling a “kindred spirit” tingle. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20140930004656-1391-antidisciplinary I feel as though the goal he sets forth for education activities to have “uniqueness, impact and magic” is a great one for all the special making spaces we are creating.  Our makerspaces should be such… Read more »

I have an iPhone I bought the summer of 2011 for its better camera and larger memory size. I was moving my airstream, my dog and my scant belongings from NYC, back home to California, so I wanted to take a lot of pictures of this epic roadtrip. I didnt want to buy a separate… Read more »