School makerspaces have emerged as centers of creativity, problem solving, collaboration, and more. These skills–often referred to as soft skills, but also known as durable skills for their importance in the workplace–are a focus of 21st-century classrooms.

These days, school libraries often include makerspaces and librarians are becoming well-versed in the coding, robotics, engineering, and tinkering skills necessary to help students bring their ideas to fruition.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, students set up personal makerspaces at home, logging onto school-provided resources and gathering materials from their homes to keep their creativity going when learning moved online.

As schools prepare to welcome back students full-time this fall, many students are likely eager to return to their school makerspaces.

Here are 5 resources (digital and non-digital) for school makerspaces that might be worth a look before the new school year begins–and check out this list for more supplies:

1. Tinkercad is a free, easy-to-use app for 3D design, electronics, and coding. It’s used by teachers, kids, hobbyists, and designers to imagine, design, and make anything. Free lessons plans are ready for use online or in the classroom. Curriculum is developed in partnership with teachers to align with standards including ISTE, Common Core, and NGSS.

2. Hello Ruby is the world’s most whimsical way to learn about computers, technology, and programming. The story started with a book, and now Ruby continues her adventures in exercises, activities and videos. It’s suited for kids age 5 years and older (but even adults might learn something new).

3. Autodesk Design Academy helps students unlock their creativity through free access to project-based learning modules and courses in 3D design. Each course teaches students to use design thinking and software skills to make innovative designs that have an impact on people’s lives. Authored by leading architects, engineers, artists, and animators, courses deliver measurable results aligned with academic and industry standards.

4. Non-digital supplies such as modeling clay, cardboard boxes, LEGO bricks, scissors, card stock, glue guns, sandpaper, and more are all essential parts of successful makerspaces.

5. Snap Circuits teaches basic engineering, electronics and circuitry concepts by using building components with snaps to assemble electronic circuits on a simple “rows-and-columns” base grid. The resulting projects function like the printed circuit board found in most electronic products. Each Snap Circuits part is easily identifiable by a different color and purpose, and each kit includes an easy-to-follow project manual. The product line offers a wide range of kits, in differing size and complexity, for future engineers and makers ages 8+, with a beginner set designed for kids ages 5+.

Makerspaces and maker culture have quickly become a favorite of STEAM advocates, and new research shows that makerspaces can be highly effective at helping elementary students develop skills such as critical thinking, design thinking, and problem solving.

Research from Macquarie University in Australia demonstrates how, with proper training and professional development, teachers can harness makerspaces and improve teaching and learning outcomes.

From August 2017 to July 2018, Macquarie University’s Department of Educational Studies partnered with the NSW Department of Education, Carlingford West Public School, Parramatta East Public School, Oatlands Public School and Makers Empire, which produces a 3D platform for K-8 educators, for a research study on maker pedagogy and makerspaces in primary schools.

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The study examines how maker activities using 3D design and 3D printing technology could enhance learning and teaching outcomes. Teachers from three schools used Makers Empire’s Learning by Design professional development course and participating students used Makers Empire’s 3D modelling software.

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Using the makerspaces led to higher student engagement, confidence, and determination to try new approaches to tough challenges, according to the report. Struggling students in particular seemed to to benefit from maker activities.

Many students (94 percent) said they want to pursue 3D design once they left school, either as a career or a hobby.

Ninety-seven percent of the students said they want to work with 3D design in the makerspaces again during future lessons.

Teachers participating in the study became more comfortable using technology and they increased their collaboration and flexibility with fellow teachers, likely as a result of proper professional development and training. In fact, the report found face-to-face workshops and online support significantly increased teacher confidence.

All 24 of the participating classroom teachers said they want to use 3D design-based makerspaces in future classes.

The researchers offered a number of recommendations to help schools create and support makerspaces and the teachers who use them:

1. Provide support for schools to ensure makerspaces are effective and integrated as they help students develop STEM skills, digital competencies, and 21st-century skills
2. Encourage teachers using makerspaces to strike a balance between explicit instruction and open-ended inquity, set authentic tasks, consider the design of teaching spaces, and actively guide group work processes
3. Offer coordinated professional development and learning opportunities to help teachers improve their knowledge of design-based learning
4. Ensure those professional development opportunities are well-structured, pedagogically grounded, hands-on and collaborative, and that they incorporate opportunities to explore new technologies
5. Identify strategies to address accessibility and distraction issues young children may encounter as they use makerspaces and 3D design software
6. Schools should be deliberate in the steps they take to provide the resources, spaces, and culture that supports makerspaces and maker-based learning
7. Schools should ensure teachers have enough time to properly design and implement maker-based lessons
8. Schools should engage not only staff, but parents and community stakeholders as they create makerspaces
9. Examine best practices around makerspace leadership

In a recent edWebinar, hosted by edWeb.net, Michelle Luhtala, library department chair, and Donna Burns, technology integrator, both from New Canaan High School (NCHS) in Connecticut, showcased the transformation of the NCHS library from a collection of used reference and biography books into a living, breathing makerspace. Using mostly recyclable materials, equipment, and furniture, these educators are providing learning opportunities for students and teachers that have changed the school climate and culture. “Making learning more real for students allows them to learn better in a much more energized school,” said Luhtala.

A multi-year redesign

Through a five-year radical book-weeding process from 2011- 2016, the NCHS library had eliminated all of the library’s free-standing bookshelves. This process created both an opportunity and a challenge for Luhtala and Burns to convert this newly created space into a makerspace. With minimal funding in the early stages of the makerspace, the duo salvaged discarded lab tables and art stools and recycled material from all areas of the school.

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Although this space was optimal for student making, organization and storage issues became the prime concern in the second year of the makerspace. Luhtala and Burns rescued much-needed shelving from the elementary school and clamped the refurbished shelves together to create an 80-bin storage system that provided teachers and students easy access to the makerspace materials.

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The third year was the most significant when the makerspace moved into a new area in the library. Windows and doors were removed to open up the entire space, teacher offices converted into soundproof video booths/virtual reality rooms, and the lower library furnished with flexible caster seating for double classrooms.

Collaboration is key to a better makerspace design

However, the most significant changes happened when the school district began to allocate funding previously earmarked for library books to the NCHS makerspace. Luhtala and Burns collaborated with the NCHS CTE interior design class on a design challenge project that focused on the makerspace overall area, materials, signage, and work stations while keeping spatial planning and traffic flow in mind. The students’ simple design became the inspiration for profound changes in the makerspace including rolling carts, foldable tables, whiteboard walls, and the reorganization of materials and supplies.

During the first year, the makerspace was stocked with basic craft and recycled materials such as butcher-block paper, markers, and LEGOs. By the second year, when the types of makerspace materials increased to 80, Luhtala and Burns painstakingly organized, labeled, and categorized these materials into alphabetized bins. However, they began to think about not only the organizational part of these materials but how to get students to plan their projects before they come to the makerspace. By creating a worksheet template, students spend less time deciding on materials and more time on making. They also wanted to encourage students to take ownership of the space and put elements back in an organized manner. Larger labels were put on material bins, supply carts got wheels, and installed pegboards were hung with frequently used materials such as pencils, erasers, scissors, and paper. By organizing the materials by workflow, such as coding, circuitry, and electronics; needlecraft; and 2D and 3D elements, Luhtala and Burns discovered that the materials used the least amount of time were the most expensive materials.

Impact of transformation

The NCHS library is used every period as classroom space, and students with free periods stop by to create in the makerspace. In the first year, the makerspace became a popular location for students to build dioramas, monster trucks, and child development sensory boards. However, it did not get much attention from teachers until that summer when NPR posted the NCHS makerspace edWebinar about a year in the life of a makerspace on its Facebook page. NCHS teachers began to explore the makerspace and the start of the second year brought more teachers and classes to the makerspace for whole-class making.

At end of year three, when Luhtala and Burns saw that coding, robotics, and circuitry workshops were a little bit elusive, they started experimenting with augmented and virtual reality and robotics. With a new “techxperts” one-credit course, students are empowered with leadership through independent projects and are running well-attended lunchtime workshops. One techxpert created a website that demonstrates coding and robotics resources for the classroom. This student-designed website communicates to the school community how the makerspace resources can be integrated into their curriculum.

Luhtala said that teachers are now bringing their classes to the makerspace with very intentional goals and revamping and redesigning classroom projects with high- and low-tech options. She emphasized that if a student or teacher is attracted to a makerspace idea, it is critical to feed that interest because it is usually a minimum investment and may spark the attention of other makerspace enthusiasts.

About the Presenters

Michelle Luhtala is the library department chair at New Canaan High School in Connecticut and was one of five school librarians named as a “Mover and Shaker” by Library Journal in 2015. She is the winner of the 2011 “I Love My Librarian” Award and the Library Association’s 2010 Outstanding Librarian Award. The New Canaan High School Library won AASL’s National School Library Program of the year in 2010. Follow her on Twitter @mluhtala.

Donna Burns began her career in the East Haven (CT) Public Schools as an integrated language arts teacher. Next, she served several roles in the Bethel (CT) Public Schools including library media specialist, administrative intern, K-12 coordinator of computer science and library media, and social studies curriculum coordinator. Currently, Burns is a technology integrator and web content manager at New Canaan High School in Connecticut. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Southern Connecticut State University and a Master of Science degree in instructional technology from Western Connecticut State University. In addition, she attended Sacred Heart University where she completed the Educational Leadership program and earned an Intermediate Administrator Certification and Certificate of Advanced Study in Administration.

Join the Community

Emerging Tech for Schools and Libraries is a free professional learning community on edWeb.net where school librarians, teachers, and administrators can explore all the ways to integrate technology and 21st century learning into school library programs.

This edWeb broadcast was sponsored by Mackin Educational Resources. The recording of the edWebinar can be viewed by anyone here.

[Editor’s note: This piece is original content produced by edWeb.net. View more edWeb.net events here.]

You wouldn’t just randomly choose a tool from your toolbox and feel confident it was the right one to cut a board or attach a hinge. Same goes for a school makerspace.

Like everything in ed tech, it’s not enough to have a bunch of shiny gadgets in your makerspace. You need to have the right materials to meet your goals.

Vinnie Vrotny, director of technology at The Kinkaid School in Houston, Texas, understands how tempting it is to fill a space with the latest devices. But before you do, here are eight questions you should ask to determine if you’re choosing wisely.

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Important questions for your makerspace creation

1. What is the experience you’re trying to create?
In other words, what is the purpose of the makerspace? If you’re unclear about what you want students to be able to do when they leave the space, you’re starting off on the wrong foot. Maker magic lies in the disposition rather than a specific task or skill. Do you want students to be creative and take risks? The options are many, but they need to be part of the planning.

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2. What are the learning goals and outcomes you want to achieve in this space?
The learning goals must be tied to the makerspace experience, and you want students to apply knowledge and demonstrate understanding of a concept, whether the subject is science, literature, history or something else.

For example, Vrotny’s school designed transformed the traditional diorama assignment into an interactive museum display with engaging hooks. Students dreamed up everything from a formative quiz that lights up an area when you push a button to historical signs that show topographically where an event occurred.

3. Who will lead the student experience?
Someone needs to lead the student experience. Vrotny suggests a STEM teacher, makerspace teacher, classroom teacher or librarian. Regardless of the title, the space needs a leader.

4. Will you provide students a set curriculum or more open-ended projects?
Will you take a genius hour approach where students are free to pursue passion projects or will you introduce a particular curriculum?
The Kinkaid School does both. In a curriculum-based maker project, for example, their first graders did a reading study on leprechauns. In the makerspace, they prototyped leprechaun traps and set them before spring break, then returned excited to see if they had caught one of the magical beings. Middle schoolers, on the other hand, created models of the two atomic bombs and the Enola Gay to reinforce a social studies unit. In other sessions, the students pursued their passion projects.

5. What grade levels will your space target?
The tools you purchase for an elementary makerspace are different than a space for older students. For elementary, low-cost, low-tech solutions are often sufficient. Add more complexity with laser cutters and 3D printers at the middle school levels. A high school makerspace might evolve to band saws and jigsaws, machines not suited for an elementary room.

6. How will students access the space?
Will your makerspace be part of a regularly scheduled class, will students attend to work on a particular project or is this an impromptu drop-in space they use during free time? Decide these questions first to make good use of the space.

7. How will educators learn how to get the most from the makerspace?
How will you provide professional development? Will it be a one-time session to show teachers the space? Or do you plan to hold regular meetings with grade-level faculty to discuss curriculum and brainstorm ideas for maker activities? There is no right or wrong answer; you just need to have an answer.

8. How will you assess the students on their projects?
Assessment ties back to learning goals and outcomes. If your focus is on students feeling comfortable with risk and even failure, you might choose not to grade entirely on the quality of the artifact they built. If you want to teach creativity, grit or persistence, reward it instead of penalizing failure. Students need a lot of encouragement to take risks.

Once you answer these eight question, creating a makerspace becomes purposeful, affordable and fun.

As an elementary educator for most of my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with a variety of learners—from inner-city students in North Carolina to university-level students in Chicago—but I found my true calling as the librarian at Hubbard Woods Elementary in Winnetka, Illinois. I’ve been called the “Willy Wonka of school librarians” because I transformed our traditional library into what I call an IDEA (Innovation, Design, Engineering, and Art) Lab complete with flexible furniture, robotics, engineering tools, iPads, laptops, and sewing machines.

To get started, I used my experience as a classroom educator to create a cross-curricular library curriculum that supports classroom teachers’ lessons, marrying the idea of books and bytes. Daily activities include robot bowling, using robots to paint pictures, and filming and producing music videos staring (you guessed it) robots!

Related content: How to transform a library into a makerspace

For other districts that want to turn their libraries into IDEA labs, here are some insights into how we made it all happen.

4 steps to turning your space into a 21st-century library

1. Create a dream binder. In 2015, I received a lump sum of funding to help transform our traditional library into a flexible, collaborative makerspace. One of the conditions of the funding was that we needed to spend it in a certain amount of time, so we had four to five months to make some big decisions.

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Luckily, when the PTO asked what I needed to create the space, I pulled out a three-ring binder of photos, drawings, and ideas I collected during my first few years as a librarian. I had been searching the Internet and library magazines for inspiration.

The binder was ready before we started, and that helped my PTO realize that my dream was a good dream and they wanted to support it. Using pictures of furniture and spaces was a great way for me to communicate my ideas and make them come to life.

2. Ask a lot of questions—and really listen to the answers. During the process of building our makerspace, a group of parents and teachers visited schools all over Illinois, Wisconsin, and Colorado to see their spaces. We asked librarians and teachers thoughtful questions about which tools they liked the most and which ones they could live without.

At every school we visited, someone said, “If we could do something different, when we were first starting out we would not have gotten a 3D printer and instead put that $3,000 into XYZ.”

Because of that feedback, we didn’t put a lot of money into 3D printers until later on.

3. Do all that you can to help educators see the cross-curricular value. I love to incorporate coding and robotics into my library, and the kids love it too. One of my favorite tools to introduce our youngest students to the world of coding is KIBO by KinderLab Robotics. Students link wooden blocks to create code, then use the robot to scan the blocks and make it go. It’s a good, device-free way for students to learn about coding and robotics.

Part of my role is to help classroom educators see the cross-curricular value of coding and robotics. A big part of the first-grade curriculum is learning about our community. To support the classroom during library time, the students and I created a Lego city and used KIBO to navigate around to the major landmarks. Students thoroughly enjoyed the activity, and the classroom teacher saw the connection that robotics has to the curriculum.

4. Incorporate digital and physical tools. We have a wide variety of engineering tools and materials that I use alongside traditional robots to encourage students to prototype solutions to problems. One of my favorites is Rigamajig, a collection of wooden planks, wheels, and pulleys that connect easily with heavy-duty plastic wing nuts and bolts. The kids can prototype and build large things like cars, chairs, and benches quickly and easily. With the simple machine add-ons, we’ve been able to introduce complex concepts like cams, cogs, and pulleys in ways that kids can physically understand.

Although some people think cardboard boxes and sewing machines are non-traditional makerspace tools, I strongly disagree. We believe in having students learn valuable skills and appreciate the process as much as the final product. To that end, we have emphasized both hand- and machine-sewing in our K–4 progression. It’s exciting to see them gain confidence and skill.

We have a massive Lego wall and tons of cardboard, cardboard tools, and hand tools. We know that saws and drills can hurt children, but why keep a good tool away from them when you can teach them how to use it safely and it makes the work easier?

One of my idols, Gever Tulley, said, “Children can build anything, and by building anything, learn anything.”

Our IDEA Lab is a balance of high- and low-tech tools that encourages students to explore leaning in a whole new light. Hanging in our IDEA Lab is a giant light bulb that I found online from a thrift shop in Paris. It glows the words “IDEA Lab” in our space, which is symbolic of the passion kids have for learning about the world. I’m lucky that I get to have a space to help kids explore the things that will “light up” their own metaphorical light bulbs!

It’s easy enough to decide to focus more on a specific topic or skill, such as STEM, in the classroom, but it’s sometimes more difficult to find tools and resources to support that skill.

Teachers have limited time, and it’s often a challenge to search for and evaluate the tools and resources found in search results or blog posts.

Here, we’ve gathered some resources and tools focusing on STEM, STEAM, and makerspaces. Some may be familiar to you, while others may be new to you–but we hope they all inspire you to explore STEM or STEAM in your classroom.

1. STEM Like a Girl knows that girls can’t become excited about something if they aren’t exposed to it. This resouce-rich site emphasizes the critical role parents and other caregivers, as well as positive female mentors, play in helping girls grow their interest in STEM. Resources include workshops, at-home activities, and links to other top STEM education tools.

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2. Makey Makey works through opening and closing circuits, just like any other button. Instead of the circuit being closed underneath your keyboard, the circuit is closed through the conductive objects you connect with alligator clips, like your hand or your lunch or some tinfoil. When the circuit is closed, the Makey Makey sends a command to your computer, just like a button pressed on a keyboard. Educators will find a teacher’s guide and sample lesson plans online as well.

3. RobotLAB‘s offerings include the NAO Robot and tools that focus on coding, engineering, virtual reality, and makerspaces. RobotLAB’s Online Learning Platform is an interactive and hands-on learning experience organized by eye-catching themes (such as soccer-playing robots or autonomous cars). Students and teachers can access the browser-based learning ecosystem from any device. RobotLAB’s STEM Lab features resources such as courses and lessons, apps, for different products, including an autonomous car, Ozobot, Sphero, 3D printers, and more. Educators also can search for lessons for any subject, age group, or robot–or they can create their own lessons.

4. MakerBot‘s 3D printers help educators advance STEM education and help students bring ideas and projects to life. The Replicator+ 3D printer comes with an educator’s guidebook and a MakerBot certification program for teachers. MakerBot’s Thingiverse Education provides over a hundred free lessons that make teaching with a 3D printer easier and more effective for a variety of grade levels and subjects. It also provides a community where educators can exchange best practices or remix projects.

5. Teach Engineering offers NGSS-aligned STEM curriculum for elementary through high schools. Some of the most popular curricular units, lessons, activities, and challenges include “Potato Power,” creating an electromagnet, building roller coasters, and designing bridges.

6. Project Noah is a global citizen science platform used to help people connect with the natural world and identify and learn about wildlife. Project Noah enables amateurs and professionals alike to create and share multimedia nature journals. On the site, educators will find project missions to complete with students.

7. Kid Weather App is a true weather app for kids designed by a 6 year old boy (and his meteorologist dad). The interactive app is power-packed with real-time weather conditions, forecasts, science, and fun facts about the weather. It’s designed with STEM in mind to make parents and teachers happy as well.

8. Maker Ed provides insight, resources, and professional learning in order to ensure maker education is transformational for students and teachers, meeting the real-world learning needs of students and focusing on student agency.

9. Dr. Universe is here to answer questions. Dr. Wendy Sue Universe is a very smart cat who investigates tough questions from curious elementary and middle school students. Based out of Washington State University, Dr. Universe teams up with professors, researchers, and experts in the field, to tackle big questions like: What is fire? Why does soda fizz? Why is the ocean salty? Why is liquid nitrogen so cold?

10. Girl Powered is supported by Google, and was launched by The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation and VEX Robotics. It is committed to showing how exciting it is to be involved with STEM, showcasing examples of how women are changing the world, providing tools for success, and enabling comfortable environments where all students confidence and abilities can flourish. These real-life examples and hands-on opportunities can help motivate more girls in STEM education.

11. Kid Spark Education‘s hands-on, easy-to-teach STEM program for kids will prepare your elementary and middle school students for a lifetime of interest in science and technology. The program is so much more than a STEM kit that teaches just one or two concepts—we provide you with a comprehensive preK-8 STEM curriculum, teacher training, and robust and reusable Mobile STEM Labs that encourage collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving.

By now, we’ve all heard about STEM, the acronym for science, technology, engineering, and math education. Most people have heard of STEAM, which includes arts education along with STEM and allows students to be more creative in their exploration of more technical subjects.

And it’s not a far leap to assume a lot of educators are familiar with makerspaces, which offer open-ended creative spaces for students to explore these concepts as they engage in project-based learning or attempt to solve real-world challenges.

But how are these three things impacting classrooms and the students in them?

STEM and STEAM

When students engage in STEM and STEAM learning, they’re building skills that will make them more marketable as employees in an economy that increasingly demands STEM proficiency.

Many of the jobs today’s students will have don’t presently exist, but most industry leaders agree that these future jobs will require STEM skills and the ability to work collaboratively in a STEM-focused workforce.

Research says the earlier students engage in STEM, the better–a 2019 Brainly study notes that 84 percent of people in a survey say they believe an educational background in STEM makes someone more hireable, and 76 percent say people with STEM backgrounds earn higher salaries than those with traditional educational backgrounds.

Sixty-three percent of people in the same survey say they prefer STEAM learning methods over STEM learning methods.

The group 100Kin10, which works to address the nation’s STEM teacher shortage by training and supporting new STEM teachers, emphasizes supporting students–especially students of color–by recruiting and supporting STEM teachers of color.

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The nation still struggles to meet the need for teacher diversity, according to a new report from 100Kin10 that looks at 2019 STEM trends and 2020 STEM predictions. People of color represent 50 percent of students in the U.S., but less than 20 percent of teachers–and abundant research shows that students are more likely to pursue STEM education and career paths when they see themselves in their teachers and industry experts.

And STEM doesn’t just mean science and math, though many tend to focus on those two components. The “T” for technology is equally important.

“Technology used to mean getting hardware into schools, but as digital tools have proliferated in classrooms, there is increased understanding that students (and teachers!) need to move beyond being consumers of technology,” according to the 100Kin10 report. “As daily activities at work and in personal life are increasingly driven by tech, students need not only hard and soft skills in technology, but also digital literacy and technological competency.”

Spotlight on a STEAM learning center

Last fall, the Groton Central School District (GCSD) in rural New York opened its new STEAM learning center.

The $4.8 million center is a renovated 8,000-square-foot STEAM lab and shared-learning space. Ashley McGraw Architects merged the district’s curriculum with the overarching concept using form, light, and materials to create a modern learning environment where both teachers and students feel valued, focused, and inquisitive.

According to 2017-2018 New York State Education Department school report card data, less than 30 percent of Groton students in 7th and 8th grade were proficient in English, math, or science.

The multi-purpose STEAM space includes a photo, video, and music editing studio and  will be used for a variety of educational programs that are industry-aligned, including: Building Trades, Computer Science, Engineering & Electronics, Agriculture Technology, and Communications & Media Arts.

GCSD Superintendent Margo Martin has gathered data, including Google surveys and social and emotional learning evaluations, which measured how students feel about themselves as learners. And teachers who are part of the STEAM program have reported seeing “completely different students,” as compared to the same students in the general education courses.

“This STEAM lab is poised to become a regenerative project for us,” said Catherine Wolfe, a senior interior designer at Ashley McGraw. “And by that, we mean that we expect the center will work toward helping students develop new skills and also help restore the fabric of the surrounding community on environmental, social, and economic levels.” Community organizations in the small town of 5,950 residents have rallied around the redesigned space as they recognize it has the possibility to become an economic engine.

Maker education

Maker education and makerspaces help students become more aware of challenges around them, and maker education also helps students become more equipped to tackle those challenges and change the world for the better.

Makerspaces give students open-ended, interactive experiences that give students freedom to explore creation and solutions to various problems. It is often cross-curricular, bringing in various core subjects and helping students build strong soft skills, or employability skills, such as creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration.

An important thing to remember about a makerspace is that it does not necessarily need technology to exist and to help students learn. Many makerspaces offer tools such as robotics, while others feature popsicle sticks, LEGOs, fabric, and tape or glue. The important thing is student-guided exploration.

Vermont’s St. Albans City School has a dedicated makerspace open to all students from preK-8. In addition to class assignments in the space, open lab time is also available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Students use this time for school and personal projects where tech might not be required but could add value. Although they miss class for open lab, the teachers recognize the benefits of letting students explore technology to help them achieve their personal and educational goals.

“One of the biggest learning curves for students coming into the makerspace has been realizing the amount of time it takes to make anything, especially when you’re doing it from conception to the prototyping and then trying to actually get a finished product after that,” said Grace Borst, one of two innovation specialists at the school. “But this has also been what has hooked many of our students. They come in to start one project and they have one idea, but they stick around because they figure out all of the other possibilities that they can use the makerspace for—and they keep coming back.”

Actionable strategies to help school leaders and teachers start STEAM programs in their own schools include:

1. Policy makers and school administrators should align budgets with the demands of the future of work, students’ interest, and the potential for higher achievement.

2. Librarians and media specialists should have access to professional development resources so they can successfully lead innovation.

3. Staff meetings and school calendars should be designed in a way that lets librarians to interact more frequently with teachers. This will let them better integrate maker activities with curriculum and scale those activities beyond the library space.

4. Rethinking the design of school libraries will allow STEM and maker integration, collaboration between students, and opportunities for knowledge sharing.

5. Aligning maker activities with community causes gives students the opportunity to become more active citizens and make more meaningful connections between what they do and the needs of the community.

When we dreamed of starting construction on a space where teachers and students alike could cultivate a maker mindset, our goals went beyond creating a dedicated makerspace. We wanted to empower our community, assure students that they were valued as individuals, and offer them opportunities to develop empathy and agency as problem-finders and creative problem-solvers.

We knew we could accomplish this with a designated space that celebrated creativity, emphasized process over product, and highlighted the importance of reflection. We set out to design a space where students could not only develop a design thinking philosophy, but integrate this maker mindset into their core studies.

Related content: 9 ways schools can create better makerspaces

What was formerly a conference room turned into a makerspace with plenty of windows and glass doors so anyone driving through our campus can see our space and, more importantly, our students’ creations. Here’s how we’re helping our entire school community develop a maker mindset.

1) Build the maker mindset before the space.

Makerspaces evolve in many ways. We started spreading the maker philosophy before we had an official space by having design thinking, engineering, coding, and robotics areas in many corners of the school. We had robotics in science classrooms, a low-tech makerspace in our library, and maker carts available in classroom hallways. Before construction of our new makerspace, we used the basement below the theater as a space for making. Before we had shiny new 3D printers and a laser cutter, the primary material used in the makerspace was cardboard. Kim collected toilet paper rolls and other recyclables throughout the school and brought in tools from home.

Because we already had making happening on our campus, our space was designed with a maker mindset. We married maker skills and curricular content so students could master core topics from different angles.

2) Make the space as flexible as possible.

Before we purchased the equipment, chose a color palette, and selected furniture, we formed a committee, wrote our makerspace statement of purpose, and drafted a list of non-negotiables that aligned with our philosophy. We required storage space for not only tools and equipment, robots, and consumable supplies, but also space to store students’ works in progress as well as space to display completed work. We also strongly recommended to the design team that we have a place to document student learning, because reflection is key to our design process. Lastly, it was very important that the furniture be modular to increase the flexibility of the space.

Related content: How to transform a library into a makerspace

When we got this space, we were funded to buy a laser cutter. So now we have an Epilogue Laser Helix laser cutter, 3D printers, a CNC milling machine, and a vinyl cutter, as well as several soldering irons, a bench power unit, Arduinos, Raspberry Pi, and lots and lots of robotics equipment. The versatility and creativity that students are able to demonstrate is mind-blowing.

3) Combine high- and low-tech tools to fuel creativity.

For one activity, we placed the KIBO robots in the hands of our 1st-graders who were learning about Chinese New Year. After we read stories about the dragon dance and watched a video of the dance, we had students customize their robots and program them to dance, trying to make the KIBO imitate the dragon’s movements. Each student designed their own robot as well as their own programmed dance.

We didn’t have one robot per student, so we had to be collaborative and creative. Groups of students worked together on their New Year Dragon project, yet each was able to design their own robot and code a dance. Kim used the laser cutter to make a pre-cut cardboard platform for each student. The students were then given supplies including a paper cup, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, scissors, glue, and tape to customize their dragons and Velcro their platforms to the robot to make them dance. (It’s worth noting that even though we have a room full of high-tech equipment, the number one prototyping material being used in our makerspace is still good, old-fashioned cardboard.) An added bonus to this approach was that each student was then able to keep their creation after they finished the dragon dance unit.

Another recent assignment for our 3rd-graders and 8th-graders was the Toy Redesign Project. The students researched gendered stereotypes, observed toys that were marketed and targeted toward a specific gender, and redesigned them to be marketed to all students, regardless of race, gender, or physical ability. The amazing thing was that they weren’t required or even suggested to use the makerspace, but a bunch of students lined up and asked us if they could use the vinyl cutter to make a logo for their product or use the laser cutter to make a prototype of a skateboard. Our third-graders can even choose time in the makerspace over recess. Unfortunately, our older students are more strapped for time, so we launched a program where they can volunteer to participate in a passion-based program that will allow them access to the space after school.

Creative projects like these inspire creative fundraising, so Kimberly made jewelry using makerspace equipment and sold them to colleagues. The donations went toward the school’s Annual Fund. It really showed other educators that the makerspace is a space for anyone to learn something new about the world and themselves. We want to foster a maker mindset among our students as well as our teachers, and we want to lead by example.

You wouldn’t just randomly choose a tool from your toolbox and feel confident it was the right one to cut a board or attach a hinge. Same goes for a school makerspace.

Like everything in ed tech, it’s not enough to have a bunch of shiny gadgets in your makerspace. You need to have the right materials to meet your goals.

Vinnie Vrotny, director of technology at The Kinkaid School in Houston, Texas, understands how tempting it is to fill a space with the latest devices. But before you do, here are eight questions you should ask to determine if you’re choosing wisely.

Important questions for your makerspace creation

1. What is the experience you’re trying to create?
In other words, what is the purpose of the makerspace? If you’re unclear about what you want students to be able to do when they leave the space, you’re starting off on the wrong foot. Maker magic lies in the disposition rather than a specific task or skill. Do you want students to be creative and take risks? The options are many, but they need to be part of the planning.

2. What are the learning goals and outcomes you want to achieve in this space?
The learning goals must be tied to the makerspace experience, and you want students to apply knowledge and demonstrate understanding of a concept, whether the subject is science, literature, history or something else.

For example, Vrotny’s school designed transformed the traditional diorama assignment into an interactive museum display with engaging hooks. Students dreamed up everything from a formative quiz that lights up an area when you push a button to historical signs that show topographically where an event occurred.

3. Who will lead the student experience?
Someone needs to lead the student experience. Vrotny suggests a STEM teacher, makerspace teacher, classroom teacher or librarian. Regardless of the title, the space needs a leader.

4. Will you provide students a set curriculum or more open-ended projects?
Will you take a genius hour approach where students are free to pursue passion projects or will you introduce a particular curriculum?
The Kinkaid School does both. In a curriculum-based maker project, for example, their first graders did a reading study on leprechauns. In the makerspace, they prototyped leprechaun traps and set them before spring break, then returned excited to see if they had caught one of the magical beings. Middle schoolers, on the other hand, created models of the two atomic bombs and the Enola Gay to reinforce a social studies unit. In other sessions, the students pursued their passion projects.

5. What grade levels will your space target?
The tools you purchase for an elementary makerspace are different than a space for older students. For elementary, low-cost, low-tech solutions are often sufficient. Add more complexity with laser cutters and 3D printers at the middle school levels. A high school makerspace might evolve to band saws and jigsaws, machines not suited for an elementary room.

6. How will students access the space?
Will your makerspace be part of a regularly scheduled class, will students attend to work on a particular project or is this an impromptu drop-in space they use during free time? Decide these questions first to make good use of the space.

7. How will educators learn how to get the most from the makerspace?
How will you provide professional development? Will it be a one-time session to show teachers the space? Or do you plan to hold regular meetings with grade-level faculty to discuss curriculum and brainstorm ideas for maker activities? There is no right or wrong answer; you just need to have an answer.

8. How will you assess the students on their projects?
Assessment ties back to learning goals and outcomes. If your focus is on students feeling comfortable with risk and even failure, you might choose not to grade entirely on the quality of the artifact they built. If you want to teach creativity, grit or persistence, reward it instead of penalizing failure. Students need a lot of encouragement to take risks.

Once you answer these eight question, creating a makerspace becomes purposeful, affordable and fun.

In a recent edWebinar, hosted by edWeb.net, Michelle Luhtala, library department chair, and Donna Burns, technology integrator, both from New Canaan High School (NCHS) in Connecticut, showcased the transformation of the NCHS library from a collection of used reference and biography books into a living, breathing makerspace. Using mostly recyclable materials, equipment, and furniture, these educators are providing learning opportunities for students and teachers that have changed the school climate and culture. “Making learning more real for students allows them to learn better in a much more energized school,” said Luhtala.

A multi-year redesign

Through a five-year radical book-weeding process from 2011- 2016, the NCHS library had eliminated all of the library’s free-standing bookshelves. This process created both an opportunity and a challenge for Luhtala and Burns to convert this newly created space into a makerspace. With minimal funding in the early stages of the makerspace, the duo salvaged discarded lab tables and art stools and recycled material from all areas of the school.

Although this space was optimal for student making, organization and storage issues became the prime concern in the second year of the makerspace. Luhtala and Burns rescued much-needed shelving from the elementary school and clamped the refurbished shelves together to create an 80-bin storage system that provided teachers and students easy access to the makerspace materials.

The third year was the most significant when the makerspace moved into a new area in the library. Windows and doors were removed to open up the entire space, teacher offices converted into soundproof video booths/virtual reality rooms, and the lower library furnished with flexible caster seating for double classrooms.

Collaboration is key to a better makerspace design

However, the most significant changes happened when the school district began to allocate funding previously earmarked for library books to the NCHS makerspace. Luhtala and Burns collaborated with the NCHS CTE interior design class on a design challenge project that focused on the makerspace overall area, materials, signage, and work stations while keeping spatial planning and traffic flow in mind. The students’ simple design became the inspiration for profound changes in the makerspace including rolling carts, foldable tables, whiteboard walls, and the reorganization of materials and supplies.

During the first year, the makerspace was stocked with basic craft and recycled materials such as butcher-block paper, markers, and Legos. By the second year, when the types of makerspace materials increased to 80, Luhtala and Burns painstakingly organized, labeled, and categorized these materials into alphabetized bins. However, they began to think about not only the organizational part of these materials but how to get students to plan their projects before they come to the makerspace. By creating a worksheet template, students spend less time deciding on materials and more time on making. They also wanted to encourage students to take ownership of the space and put elements back in an organized manner. Larger labels were put on material bins, supply carts got wheels, and installed pegboards were hung with frequently used materials such as pencils, erasers, scissors, and paper. By organizing the materials by workflow, such as coding, circuitry, and electronics; needlecraft; and 2D and 3D elements, Luhtala and Burns discovered that the materials used the least amount of time were the most expensive materials.

Impact of transformation

The NCHS library is used every period as classroom space, and students with free periods stop by to create in the makerspace. In the first year, the makerspace became a popular location for students to build dioramas, monster trucks, and child development sensory boards. However, it did not get much attention from teachers until that summer when NPR posted the NCHS makerspace edWebinar about a year in the life of a makerspace on its Facebook page. NCHS teachers began to explore the makerspace and the start of the second year brought more teachers and classes to the makerspace for whole-class making.

At end of year three, when Luhtala and Burns saw that coding, robotics, and circuitry workshops were a little bit elusive, they started experimenting with augmented and virtual reality and robotics. With a new “techxperts” one-credit course, students are empowered with leadership through independent projects and are running well-attended lunchtime workshops. One techxpert created a website that demonstrates coding and robotics resources for the classroom. This student-designed website communicates to the school community how the makerspace resources can be integrated into their curriculum.

Luhtala said that teachers are now bringing their classes to the makerspace with very intentional goals and revamping and redesigning classroom projects with high- and low-tech options. She emphasized that if a student or teacher is attracted to a makerspace idea, it is critical to feed that interest because it is usually a minimum investment and may spark the attention of other makerspace enthusiasts.

About the Presenters

Michelle Luhtala is the library department chair at New Canaan High School in Connecticut and was one of five school librarians named as a “Mover and Shaker” by Library Journal in 2015. She is the winner of the 2011 “I Love My Librarian” Award and the Library Association’s 2010 Outstanding Librarian Award. The New Canaan High School Library won AASL’s National School Library Program of the year in 2010. Follow her on Twitter @mluhtala.

Donna Burns began her career in the East Haven (CT) Public Schools as an integrated language arts teacher. Next, she served several roles in the Bethel (CT) Public Schools including library media specialist, administrative intern, K-12 coordinator of computer science and library media, and social studies curriculum coordinator. Currently, Burns is a technology integrator and web content manager at New Canaan High School in Connecticut. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Southern Connecticut State University and a Master of Science degree in instructional technology from Western Connecticut State University. In addition, she attended Sacred Heart University where she completed the Educational Leadership program and earned an Intermediate Administrator Certification and Certificate of Advanced Study in Administration.

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Emerging Tech for Schools and Libraries is a free professional learning community on edWeb.net where school librarians, teachers, and administrators can explore all the ways to integrate technology and 21st century learning into school library programs.

This edWeb broadcast was sponsored by Mackin Educational Resources. The recording of the edWebinar can be viewed by anyone here.

[Editor’s note: This piece is original content produced by edWeb.net. View more edWeb.net events here.]