3.8.2 Makerspace Blog
3.8.2 Makerspace Blog When I first started hearing about Makerspaces, I wasn’t much impressed. It reminded me of the times in the lower grades where students could play with block to build stuff on their own in the corner of the classroom. Often I saw the makerspace being used for a group to build the highest tower using spaghetti and marshmallows, or it was the high tech version of programming some type of robot to go through a maze. It seemed like things you can do in a classroom at times, but why the need to make a permanent “space” for such activities? According to Edutopia, “Makerspaces provide hands-on, creative ways to encourage students to design, experiment, build and invent as they deeply engage in science, engineering and tinkering. These are deeply collaborative activities unlike my blocks playing in kindergarten. They also very much need to accommodate a wide variety of tools, materials and activities. There are elements in the makerspace of the traditional In