Assignment 1 - Part C

In Part B of this assignment, I found an incredible number of websites, articles, books, blogs, etc. on the topic of Makerspaces and similar STEM and STEAM spaces in schools.  This literature ranged from academic studies of how Makerspaces can impact science learning in classrooms, to maps and how-to’s on building a makerspace, to product pages selling STEM technologies and kits.  Given that there is no shortage of information out there, the trick is to narrow down my search to the sites and information relevant to creating a Makerspace in our school community. 

I am on a three member committee with our teacher-librarian and another interested teacher and we are in the beginning stages of putting together a Makerspace in our school. We are currently at the stage of planning, gathering and presenting a budget for supplies.  We have a room that we can use, but we feel the key right now is to find products that will be popular with middle school students, that will offer a range of interests, final products and skills.  We are currently writing a proposal to the district for funding, and in doing so are seeking the most current terminology and learning opportunities as well as connections to the BC curriculum.  

One of the more interesting sites that I have found, though I am aware that there are many more of this type on the internet, is Makerspace for Education, a teacher-made site.  Originating as a project for the UBC Master of Education Technology in 2015, Trish Roffey and two other teachers (Catherine Sverko and Janelle Therien) created a website for teachers, by teachers about Makerspaces.  Trish seems to have taken over the site since then.  She is now an Emerging Technology Consultant and teacher for Learning Services Innovation in Edmonton”.  Her website “is a collaborative digital space for educators to explore how to create and use makerspaces in their own environments and will help to transform pedagogies of individual educators through immersion in the context and the support of a community of practice”.  This is particularly interesting to me, as not only does this description fit my committee, but it also leads me to be interested in creating a website for our school community that teaches teachers and students how to use the Makerspace that we are in the process of creating.  Though teachers and students alike can find infinite resources on the subject, I feel as though one dedicated to our own Makerspace and the kits and items we have curated for it, would help our own teachers feel at ease about using it and knowing they have those resources at their disposal.  As this project goes along, I will continue to seek similar types of websites as examples for our space.  

Bibliography:

Brejcha, L. (2018). Makerspaces in School: A Month-by-Month Schoolwide Model for Building Meaningful Makerspaces (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003236351

“Makerspace Manual for K-12 Schools.” The Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM, 18 Oct. 2021, https://artsintegration.com/makerspace-manual-for-k-12-schools/. 

“Making and Makerspaces: Home.” Research Guides, UBC Library, 14 Apr. 2020, https://guides.library.ubc.ca/c.php?g=489091&p=3374969

“Programming: Steam and Makerspaces.” LibGuides, North Dakota State Library, 27 Dec. 2021, https://library-nd.libguides.com/programming/STEAM

Roffey, Trish. “Makerspace.” Makerspace for Education, http://www.makerspaceforeducation.com/makerspace.html

Tucker-Raymond, E., & Gravel, B.E. (2019). STEM Literacies in Makerspaces: Implications for Learning, Teaching, and Research (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351256728