Reflections of a First-Time Maker

On our first day in the Educational Technology program at MSU, my class was told we’d be planning and running a Maker Faire in nine days.

My colleagues asked questions like, “Can we advertise?” or “What materials can we use?”

I asked, “Um, what’s a Maker Faire?”

The Maker Movement

A Maker Faire is an interactive, community-driven event where people come together and learn through play. There’s an entire maker movement hosting Maker Faires as “a way to to express creative and communal drive” (Halverson & Sheridan, 2014, p. 495). A booth at a Maker Faire can range from programming a robot to building a boat out of toothpicks. It’s exploratory and experiential.

Our Maker Faire was small compared to most, but in nine short days, we created four booths. We designed fliers, advertised, recruited volunteers, and somehow still finished our homework. Of course, the process wasn’t perfect (more on that below), but I’m proud of what we accomplished.

The Three Little Pigs Challenge

I teamed up with Jillian Hattie, my partner in crime, to create a booth called “The Three Little Pigs Challenge.” The story of the three little pigs was a fun starting point when planning. We knew the objective would be to make a house the wolf can’t blow down, but we had to make the story real. We originally wanted to design three “construction sites” with different building materials to mimic the story, but we had to face reality:

2 people + 9 days + $0 = Not a lot to work with, folks

For us, the best plan was the simplest one. We challenged participants to build a house using only paper and tape. They could use as much paper as needed, but they only had one piece of tape. For the huffing and puffing, we decorated a fan to look like a wolf. When participants were ready to test their house, they placed it on the starting line. If the house didn’t cross the “Oh no!” line, they beat the challenge.

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Honestly, I loved our booth. I had fun making pig ears, throwing paper on the floor, and celebrating the winners. If you want to see more about our booth, our lesson plan has details, scripts, advice, and photos.

My Learning Experience

What I loved most about the Maker Faire was what I learned about planning, playing, and having fun.

Planning our booth taught me to keep it simple. Nothing needs to be flashy to have a good time. We originally wanted to use pipe cleaners, bendy straws, and zip ties, but time and money were limited. I’ll admit, these limitations frustrated me to the point that I was losing interest. But then we asked ourselves, “What’s the easiest solution?”

“Keep it simple.”

With those words, I breathed again and got back to work.

Oddly enough, the more we trimmed our ideas, the freer our booth felt. It was creativity with a challenge. The limitless paper gave room for creativity, but limited tape posed a challenge. We didn’t write a long list of rules; we didn’t hover over people. The design of “The Three Little Pigs Challenge” let the booth run itself, so we were free to come alongside participants while they played, failed, and learned.

This experience showed me more about learning through play. I witnessed the power of constructivist instruction, a practice centered on “problem solving and digital and physical fabrication” (Halverson & Sheridan, 2014, p. 497). With only paper, tape, and a fan, I talked with kids about aerodynamics, surface area, and weight. Participants were immersed in a true learning experience, yet none of it felt like school.

This leads me to the last lesson: have fun. Halverson & Sheridan (2014) suggest we think about “learning as informal schooling” (p. 503). Often, school is a formal environment based on rules and structure, but our booth felt more successful with less rules and more leniency. If I loosen up and have fun with my students, maybe we too can learn with excitement instead of boredom. Maybe my kids would feel empowered knowing I want them to enjoy their learning, not just get a grade.

My Advice to You

I highly recommend exploring the Maker Faire movement for yourself, because sometimes we forget what it’s like to have fun. I also suggest Adam Savage’s speech “Why We Make,” which helped me better understand the importance of learning by having fun. Enjoyment and education are not exclusive.

Imagine your school is a Maker Faire and your classroom is your booth. What’s your challenge going to be?

This year, I want to challenge my students to discover something that truly excites them. I wonder how long it’s been since they received a challenge this free, but watching them trudge from class to class every day, I believe it’s a challenge they truly need.

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References

Halverson, E. R., & Sheridan, K. M. (2014). The Maker Movement in Education. Harvard Educational Review, 495-503. Retrieved July 21, 2017.

What’s Mine is Ours

“I think the first step is that educators have to reexamine their own learning practice and move toward becoming more networked and connected themselves” (Richardson 2013).

In Ferguson’s video series, Everything is a Remix, he discusses the history of copyright and patents, explaining how their original purpose was to create a rich pool of public knowledge for furthering learning and innovation. Over time, however, copyrighting and patenting became ways to claim ownership over one’s ideas. Essentially, when you think of a great idea, it’s considered your intellectual property that you can protect from others by applying for copyrights and patents.

To help illustrate intellectual property, here’s an image from Ferguson’s video Everything is a Remix Part 4:

(Ferguson, 2012, 1:26)

This image is an accurate representation of how intellectual property works, but more importantly, it represents how our current society perceives ideas. Society treats every idea as a separate entity, not dependent upon past ideas and not used as a springboard for future ones. According to intellectual property, my idea is mine — only mine.

Ferguson (2012) argues this right to own ideas can make people territorial: because we can own intellectual property, we don’t want anyone else taking it away from us. To prove this point, Ferguson refers to inventors like Steve Jobs, the creator of Apple, who admitted to using others’ ideas as foundations for his products. Yet when others used his ideas as the basis for their products, he attacked them. Still, Jobs arguably has the right to attack them because our society treats intellectual property as a commodity.

To me, the heart of the problem is that the rules of intellectual property — what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours — don’t accurately reflect the way ideas are formed. To patent an idea suggests that the idea is completely isolated, independent of any minds besides your own. But is that how it really works?

Here’s where remixing comes in. Remixing is the act of combining others’ ideas in a new way. In reality, remixing is how most great ideas are formed. Great ideas are rarely isolated. They are founded upon previous ideas, remixing those ideas to create something truly brilliant.

Ferguson gives the examples of Johann Gutenberg’s printing press and Henry Ford’s Model-T in his video Everything is a Remix Part 3:

(Ferguson, 2011, 2:33)

(Ferguson, 2011, 2:40)

Both of these men created inventions that revolutionized society, but their brilliance was not a standalone entity. Their brilliance was rooted in the minds of others who came before them. Yet we don’t vilify Gutenberg or Ford for remixing others’ ideas; we celebrate these men for changing the world.

Again, the problem with intellectual property is that it falsely represents how ideas are formed. That’s why I prefer this second image of the lightbulbs from Ferguson’s video Everything is a Remix Part 4:

(Ferguson, 2012, 1:28)

Sure, this image isn’t as clean and orderly as the first one. The lines around these lightbulbs overlap, connect, and break apart. It’s messy, but so is thinking, learning, making, teaching, and essentially anything else worthwhile.

The process of discovering new ideas isn’t like living in a suburb with fenced-in yards; it’s more like living in the dorms with common areas, a cafeteria, and a shared bathroom.

Messy? Yes. Fun? Yes. Frustrating? You bet.

But those messy areas where we bump into each other and engage with each other — those are the spaces where ideas go further.

To create and innovate, we need each other. Just like the innovators before us, we need people to challenge our ways of thinking. Ideas become better not by keeping them hidden behind a 6-foot privacy fence, but by bumping into each other in the cafeteria and eating some late night pizza. That’s where the magic happens.

So why does all of this matter? Let me show you my Personal Learning Network (PLN). My PLN is my group of people and resources that support, challenge, and guide me. Here’s a map of my PLN (my PLN is constantly growing, so this map will always be incomplete — that’s the beauty of it):

My interconnected, messy, brilliant PLN

So now I ask this question: what would happen to my PLN if we viewed our ideas as intellectual property to protect and defend? Think about the lightbulbs. My current PLN map looks like the overlapping lights that work together, but if we started to feel territorial over our ideas, my PLN map might look more like this:

My lonely, useless not-a-PLN

Does anyone benefit here? Can we change education if we never talk? Richardson (2013), when discussing ways to improve education, says, “I think the first step is that educators have to reexamine their own learning practice and move toward becoming more networked and connected themselves.” We won’t become better teachers by isolating ourselves; we need to connect.

I’ve needed my PLN more times than I can count. I’ve relied on the kindness of a coworker when the copier jammed for the 12th time before first hour. I’ve rushed to my mentor teacher’s room after school when I felt like my crazy 6th hour might be the end of me. I’ve grieved with my team teachers when we lost a student to suicide.

In moments like these, I believe we’re better off together because we can learn from each other. Collectively, we have far more knowledge and experience than any of us have on our own. In fact, one of us might have the idea that sparks someone else’s idea to change the world as we know it.

Today, I can’t say when I’ll come up with a great idea, or when I might come up with an idea that helps you with your great idea. I can’t say what my contribution to the world will be or when it will happen.

Today, I can say this: what’s mine is ours.

Personally, I liked living in the dorms.

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References

Ferguson, K. (2011, June 20). Everything is a Remix Part 3 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/25380454

Ferguson, K. (2012, February 16). Everything is a Remix Part 4 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/36881035

Richardson, W. (2013, February 17). Why School? TED ebook author rethinks education when information is everywhere. Retrieved July 20, 2017, from http://blog.ted.com/why-school-ted-ebook-author-rethinks-education-when-information-is-everywhere/

If not stated otherwise, all images taken by Laura Allen.

Extreme Chair Makeover: Part I

Let me introduce you to my new learning project:

Is it obvious that I found it on the side of the road?

I’ve wanted a good reading chair for a couple years, but brand new ones are too expensive. When I saw this chair, I thought, “Great, I’ll just reupholster it!” Then I laughed and told myself I’ve been watching too much HGTV. I’ve never reupholstered a chair, so I drove away.

But alas, three days later, the chair was still waiting for someone to take it home.

I brought my husband and my jeep, meaning I had someone to carry the chair and something to store it in. We live in a small apartment, so I planned to keep the chair in my car. Unfortunately, after a few days in the summer heat, my chair revealed its particularly unpleasant scent, so I took it to our storage unit.

To be honest, I forgot about my chair until now.

Now, I’m in the Education Technology graduate program at MSU, and one of my projects is to learn something new using solely online resources. If you’re like my mom, you might be thinking, “Why are you doing this for grad school?”

Well, Berger (2016) argues, “the comfortable expert must go back to being a restless learner” (p. 23). Too often teachers, who are experts in their fields, forget what it’s like to be students. We lose touch with the student experience, thereby overlooking our students’ interests and needs.

It’s time for me to be a ‘restless’ novice instead of an expert. In the end, I can use this learning experience to inform my teaching practice to make learning more accessible and engaging for my students, the novices I’m trying to reach.

I always say the best teachers are students at heart. Even though I’m used to being the teacher in the room, I’m excited to pull up a chair and be a student again.

My goal:

• Reupholster the chair in the photo above, which includes cleaning the chair, buying the right amount of fabric, measuring and cutting the pieces, etc.
• Document the journey with photos and videos.
• Create my own how-to blog post to help novice HGTV-lovers like myself take on a project they never thought they could do.

My current resources:

• I created a Pinterest board for inspiration and collecting useful links. Personally, I work best when I have a vision (or better yet, multiple visions) for what the finished product might look like.
• The Little Green Notebook provides upholstery charts that estimate how much fabric you need to buy to reupholster different types of chairs.
• I found two blog posts that outline the process of reupholstering a wingback chair like mine. Jessica from Four Generations One Roof interweaves videos and written instructions. Jennifer from Six Seeds offers ample photos and tidbits of wisdom (i.e. lining up patterned fabric is hard).

Now I begin my HGTV novice adventure! If you have any advice or resources you’d like to share, please comment. Otherwise, stay tuned for Part II.

Update: Part II and Part III are ready for viewing!

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References

Berger, W. (2016). A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas. New York: Bloomsbury.

All images on this page taken by Laura Allen.

What is learning?

What is learning?

This question looks simple, but why does it feel so complex to answer?

Notes on Learning and Transfer by Bransford, Brown & Cocking (2000) as illustrated by our MAET Cohort

Consider a study in which a group of high school seniors and a group of historians took a test on facts about the American Revolution (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2000). The group of seniors outscored the historians on the test. However, when presented with historical documents and asked to draw conclusions about them, the historians found far greater success than the students. The historians explored and theorized, using evidence to substantiate their claims, but the students — arguably knowing more facts about the war itself — struggled to make meaning with the historical documents.

Is this learning? Yes, the students performed well on a factual test, but when faced with a real application of history, they were unable to further their learning based on facts alone.

Too often I teach mere facts instead of promoting critical thinking and creative questioning. For example, I could teach students that a metaphor compares two unlike things. They might pass a quiz on defining and identifying metaphors, but what learning really took place?

For instance, have they thought about the ways metaphors provide a platform for social critics to discuss oppressive regimes? Did they discover how metaphors enabled abolitionists to ignite cultural revolutions? Have they explored how metaphorical language reflects cultural values? Unfortunately, I cannot say they have.

So, what is learning?

Learning, in its simplest form, is the transfer of knowledge. However, research suggests that “[t]ransfer is best viewed as an active, dynamic process rather than a passive end-product of a particular set of learning experiences” (Bransford et al., 2000, p. 53). Though the recitation of facts masquerades as learning, learning is best understood as the exploration of new ideas through asking questions and applying knowledge — a process resulting in a deep understanding of the content.

My conceptualization of learning while also learning how to create a circuit

So how do we help foster this ‘active, dynamic process’ of learning in the classroom? Bransford et al. (2000) pose some useful learning principles that we could use to inform our teaching practice. For instance, create initial learning experiences that activate students’ prior knowledge, giving them a point of reference and chance to show you what they know. Also, provide repeated opportunities to apply new knowledge, so that students get more experience with the content they’re trying to master. Lastly, promote the use of metacognitive strategies to enable students to evaluate their own learning. The common thread among these learning principles is that they destabilize the power dynamics of student over teacher, instead placing students front and center in their own learning.

With these principles in mind, I turn to my own toolbox of teaching methods, remembering the times I witnessed students taking ownership. I picture a 13-year-old girl shaking in front of the class, giving a passionate speech about insecurity and body shaming. What led her to this moment?

First, we spent days of experimenting with literary devices in reading and writing through ungraded formative assessments, giving students time to explore and apply their new knowledge. When it came time for a summative assessment, students chose their own speech topics, creating autonomy and increasing ownership over their writing. Then, throughout the writing process, students engaged in dialogic tools like walk and talks and think pair share, so they engaged with their authentic audience: each other.

In fact, I can still see the faces of students, mouths gaping and eyes watering, listening to this girl’s speech, as she proclaimed to them, “You are already perfect.” I wonder how many people out there need to hear her message, which is why I am compelled to learn more about educational technologies. I want to see students take their learning beyond the four walls of our classroom, reaching out to the world outside.

Imagine using technologies to incorporate learning into students’ own life experiences. If students connected with others who share their passions, they might learn to ask more meaningful questions. If they digitally published their work, they might learn its applications in the real world. They would have more opportunities to think, make, and grow without us dictating their every move.

Bransford et al. (2000) claims “the goal of education is…develop[ing] the intellectual tools and learning strategies…to think productively about history, science and technology, social phenomena, mathematics, and the arts” (p. 5).

When my student gave her speech, she did not only think productively about Language Arts, but she created something in Language Arts. She produced a speech that her classmates could study as a model text for the genre, and she moved her audience in a way we’ll never forget.

Our students are the future of the subjects we teach. Our practice should enable and empower them to embrace that future with open arms, open minds, and open hearts.

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References

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/9853.

All images on this page taken by Laura Allen