Making for Educators: McDonogh School

Jonathan Prozzi February 2016

Agenda

• Talking: Why, How, What?

• Making: LED Nametags, Straw Rockets, ArtBots

• Q&A, Discussion, Resources

Let’s Make Something!LED Name Tag

LEDsLight Emitting Diode

Coin Cell Batteries

LED Connection Diagram

LED Name Tag

• Design a name tag with an LED that represents something about yourself.

• Use the following supplies: LED, Coin Cell Battery, Colored Foam, Adhesive Foam, Markers, Scissors, Tape

• Time: ~15 minutes

• Your Name

• Grade/Class

• What you make?

Digital Harbor Foundation

• Youth

• Families

• Community

• Center of Excellence

Rec Center

Tech Center

Why?

• Develop drive and motivation

• Develop productive habits of mind:

• Adapt, solve problems, create, produce, collaborate, be curious

Looking Forward

• Future of tech is unknown

• Requires youth adapting to new situations and changes

• Develop lifelong learners

Darius McCoy

#NationofMakers

What is a maker?

What is a makerspace?

Maker Vocabulary• Making - learning by doing / creating,

tinkering

• Maker - someone who creates and shares

• Makerspace - places to design & create

• Maker Movement - growing community of makers, often centered around new technologies

Who Are Makers?

• Problem Solver vs Problem Finder

• Producer vs Consumer

• Make Games vs Play Games

What Do They Make?• Weaving

• Sewing

• Knitting

• Paper Crafting

• Photography

• Digital Media

• Hardware

• Software

• 3D Printing

• Cooking

• Woodworking

• Jewelry

Traits of a Maker• Comfortable with the Unknown

• Take Initiative

• Understand How to Learn

• Cross-Discipline

• Make, Fail, Learn, Repeat

• Share & Teach

“Playing with technology”

Process of Making

What is a Makerspace?

• Not about the the technology or equipment

• Makes people:

• Feel free to experiment

• Feel free to fail

• Have the opportunity to progress/iterate

Makerspaces

• Offer inspiration

• Provide supplies

• Cooperative / collaborative

Why Create a Makerspace

for Your Program?

Value of Making

• Buying = Thing

• Making = Thing + Learning + Story

• Buying (Fail) = Crappy Thing

• Making (Fail) = Crappy Thing + Learning + Story

Valuing the Process Equation

#3DforED

Peek into a Makerspace

Collaboration

Creativity

Engaged youth

Open-Ended

Reflection

Youth driven, Teacher supported

Curiosity & Interest

Ownership

Exploration

Collaboration

How to Make

a Makerspace

Start Small• Start where you are &

Use what you have

• Cardboard Challenge

• LED Name Tags

• Art Bots

• Paper Flashlights

• Straw Rockets

Types of MakerspacesMakerspace in a Box

Types of MakerspacesPop-Up Space

Where to Start

• Global Cardboard Challenge

• Caine’s Arcade

Getting Started• Start Small:

• LED Name Tags

• Art Bots

• Increment:

• MaKey MaKey

• Scratch

Building a Maker Kit

Makerspace in a Box:

~$200

What to include?

• Playdoh • Cardboard & Paper • Tape, Rubber bands, Clips • LEDs, Copper Tape, Batteries • Motors and Gears • Toys that move • Pool Noodles

Leveling Up…

• Makey Makey ($50) • Little Bits ($99) • Cricut Paper Cutter ($250)

Advanced

• Arduino Adventures Book ($31) • Arduino Adventures Parts Kit ($85) • Printrbot Metal Simple 3D Printer ($600)

Designing Your Makerspace• Not about the the technology or equipment

• Build your own tables

• Feel free to experiment

• Reconfigurable

• Opportunity to progress/continue

• Project Storage

• Offer inspiration

• Magazines, videos

• Provide supplies

• Organize parts

• Cooperative/collaborative

• Facing each other, multiple seats

Designing Your Makerspace

• If you want creative, be creative

• Music

• Artwork

• Design

Designing Your Makerspace

Make Time for Making• After School

• Open Lunch

• Before School

• Centers or Stations

• Innovation Day

• Family Night

Let’s Make Something!Straw Rockets

Straw Rockets

Straw Rocket Supplies

• Bubble Tea Straw

• Flexi Straw

• Tape

• Rocket Template

• Scissors

Value of Making

• Buying = Thing

• Making = Thing + Learning + Story

• Buying (Fail) = Crappy Thing

• Making (Fail) = Crappy Thing + Learning + Story

Valuing the Process Equation

#3DforED

How To Teach Making

Productivity CreativityMaking

Creativity + Productivity• Creativity

• individuality and personalization

• increases ownership

• Productivity

• Solves a problem

• Addresses a need

Iterative Design Process

Prompts

• Brief

• “A good prompt fits on a Post-It.” - Gary Stager

• Open-Ended

• Immune to assessment

from Invent to Learn by Gary Stager & Sylvia Martinez

A Guide to Prompts• Present a challenge or problem

• Consider constraints

• Provide appropriate materials

• Allow sufficient time

• Create a supportive culture

• Leave room to be surprised

Project Prompts

• Open ended, include constraints

• Integrate Design Process: Plan, Make, Share (receive feedback and iterate throughout)

• Move away from step-by-step directions

• Allow for scaffolding: Options for scaling up

Constraints

• Materials

• Time

• Structural

• One at a time: size, shape, height, weight, etc.

Sharing

Sharing Skills• Individual

• Portfolio/Resume

• Reference for future projects

• Establishes you as an “expert”

• Community

• Pay it forward

• We owe it to the people who shared their knowledge with us to pass our knowledge on to the next

What to Share

• Plans

• Progress

• New Learning

• Instructions

• Reflections

Where to Share

• Instructables

• DIY.org

• Blog / Website

• YouTube

Comfort

Improvisation Risk-Taking

Make Changes

Try Again

Learn Together

Embrace Failure

Let’s Make Something!Art Bot

Your mission…

• Using your supplies, create a robot that draws

• Constraints:

• Must use 1 electric toothbrush

• No more than 4 markers.

Prompt

Constraints

Scaffold #1

Art Bot

• Pool noodle

• 4 markers

• rubber band

• electric toothbrush

Scaffold #2

Scaffold #3

Art Bots v1

Art Bots v2

Scaffolding

• Start with the prompt

• Give time for brain storming and getting started

• Provide a sample or prototype to be reverse engineered

• Finally, provide step-by-step directions

Frustration

• TAKE A BREAK!

• Change gears: Physical vs Mental

• Decorate

• Document

• Sometimes…put it away

Iteration

• What would I do differently?

• What improvements can I make?

• What do I know now that I didn’t know then?

Jukebox Piano

Failure

Failure >< Trust

Assessment

• Process not Product

• Approach similar to Science Fair Project

• Rubrics, but with caution

from Science Leadership Academy, Phila. PA

Project Ideas

Wind Tube

$40 in materials + craft suppliesExplore aerodynamics

Scratch Art

• Painted CD

• Wooden Skewer

Paper Circuits

MaKey MaKey

$50 - Turns anything conductive into a keyboard- Playdoh Game Controller - Veggie Piano -

Resources• Book: Invent to Learn by Gary Stager & Sylvia

Martinez

• Book: Howtoons: Tools of Mass Construction by Dr. Griffith Saul, and others

• Book: Tinkering: Kids Learn by Making by Curt Gabrielson

Resources

• Book: How to Build a Hovercraft: Air Cannons, Magnetic Motors, and 25 Other Amazing DIY Science Projects by Stephen Voltz & Fritz Grobe

• Make: Magazine & Website

• www.familymakenight.org

More Resources

• Room2Make: dhf.io/room2make

• DHF Blueprint: http://blueprint.digitalharbor.org

Q&A

Contact

• Jonathan Prozzi

• jonathan@digitalharbor.org

• @jonathanprozzi

• www.digitalharbor.org

• @DHFBaltimore