I have been observing and stydying about “FabLab” idea by tracing back to its original ideas, practices and theories behind this new leanring interactions. I observed the FabLabs, Maker’s Labs and some independent labs in the past few years and had done some interviews with teachers, lab manager, lab director who run the labs.  I… Read more »

The 2014/2015 FabLearn Fellows cohort is a diverse group of 18 educators and makers. They represent eight states and five countries, and work with a wide range of ages at schools, museums, universities and non-profits. Throughout the course of the year, they will develop curriculum and resources, as well as contribute to current research projects. Their… Read more »

Earth Day 2015 is coming so celebrate it by having your students upcycle!  And to help you out, I’m giving you a free upcycling curriculum. Here are the 4 easy steps: Download the free Design Case Curriculum PDFs using this link. (I’m making this opensource under the creative commons now so feel free to pass… Read more »

The 2014/2015 FabLearn Fellows cohort is a diverse group of 18 educators and makers. They represent eight states and five countries, and work with a wide range of ages at schools, museums, universities and non-profits. Throughout the course of the year, they will develop curriculum and resources, as well as contribute to current research projects. Their blogs represent… Read more »

Unfortunately this is behind a paywall… it would be great to know what these frameworks are! Update – March 30 Here are the frameworks: http://tinkering.exploratorium.edu/dimensions-of-learning Request permission to access the video library of exemplars: http://tinkering.exploratorium.edu/learning-and-facilitation-framework Research to Practice: Observing Learning in Tinkering Activities (Museum) Authors: Joshua Gutwill is Director of Visitor Research and Evaluation at the Exploratorium,San… Read more »

Introduction Much hype has been made about incorporating Design or Design Thinking into education, but what is design and why is it “suddenly” a valued 21st century concept in education? Anyone who has taken a Design Thinking workshop knows that little is gained from a one hour design cycle, especially those based on product development… Read more »

Interesting paper – seems like a lot to dive into! I haven’t had time yet, but I wanted to share with you all. Evidence & Impact: Museum-Managed STEM Programs in Out-of- School Settings (PDF) By Bernadette Chi, Rena Dorph & Leah Reisman, Lawrence Hall of Science, UC Berkeley “The National Research Council’s Committee on Successful Out-of-School… Read more »

Here’s an idea that can be larger in scope or can be used to manage your maker space. I was inspired last fall while visiting the Lighthouse Creativity Lab in Oakland, where Aaron Vanderwerff teaches, by their excellent punchcard system for designating users and granting teaching rights for tools and machines in their space. Another… Read more »

This article has colaboration of Pietro Domingues. There are many ways to make electronics fast and safely (using conductive inks, kits with magnetic contacts, breadboards, etc). However, the soldering method is still indispensable to definitive PCB assembles and to low cost solutions. But handling the soldering iron may offer some risks to the user, mainly… Read more »

What do these words mean? How are they interpreted by teachers, by administrators, by students, by politicians?   In the past few months I have been a part of a number of discussions surrounding this question. The conversations are genuine and in most cases have the best interests of students and learning in mind. There… Read more »