Maker Education is such a valuable role. These stories will bring you the latest information and tales of maker educators who area spreading the maker mindset. Help others learn how to make things or how to think like a maker at makerspaces, schools, universities, and local communities. The importance of maker education can not be understated. We appreciate our educators.
Raspberry Pi’s Eben Upton was in the Bay Area to keynote PyCon 2013 on March 15th in Santa Clara. The Python language was part of the plan for Raspberry Pi from the beginning and Upton joked that he had misspelled “Py” in naming “Raspberry Pi.” Upton’s talk serves as a good overview of Raspberry Pi and its development goals.
Procrastinators rejoice! The deadline to submit your application to present at Maker Faire Bay Area was March 15, but the call for makers has now been extended to March 22. While our team is reviewing previously submitted applications now, those who need more time will get another week. So make the most of it and get your applications in now.
I just submitted my application for a Maker Exhibit at the 2013 Maker Faire Bay Area. There’s still time to get yours in! Tanenbaum Fabrications has been at 3 Maker Faires already, and each year we try to do something different in terms of the interactive/hands-on component. This year: Steampunk goggle making!
The Exploratory has been providing making opportunities for young children in Los Angeles for two years through makeshops, public events, in class programs, camps, birthday parties, and educator makeshops. Our mission is to provide tinkering and making learning opportunities for children to practice the mindset skills that they will need to be successful in a future full of unknowns – grit, flexible thinking, creative thinking, frustration tolerance, failing forward, and communication. In making with hundreds of young children, among all the things that we have learned, the biggest lesson for us has been that there is so much we still have to learn! So, Maker Scouts was born as a national program of modern, local communities working together to raise innovation capable young people.
We have another two wonderful Young Maker/Open Make events happening in the San Francisco Bay Area Saturday, March 16. Just like last month, you’ll have to pick just one of these two happenings because they occur simultaneously on opposite ends of the Bay. Each offers a flurry of activity that starts at 10am and ends with an inspiring “meet-the-makers” panel discussion.
The events are at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose and Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science. Each museum is also hosting a plussing session, where registered Young Makers can develop and finesse their projects for Maker Faire Bay Area.
Here’s a fun new take on 3D visualization and design: Make Your Own Gopher! Months ago, my colleagues and I were brainstorming the curricular connections we could make between making and high school coursework. Anatomy could be a rich area of overlap: students could laser cut slices of skulls and print mini skeleton models to have the kids explore skeletal structures, for example.
Dan Sudran, the executive director of Mission Science Workshop, was way ahead of us.
If you find yourself near Louisville, KY tomorrow night, MAKE founder Dale Dougherty will be speaking just across the Ohio River on the campus of Indiana University Southeast in New Albany. The title of Dale’s talk is “The Magic of Making: Engaging Students as Makers.” Dale will be discussing the importance of creating makerspaces in schools, developing a community of practice around engaging kids as makers, and how online tools can enhance and extend the value of making to the broader community.
