User Generated Education

I have done-am doing full day workshops on The Maker Educator both at ISTE 2016 and EduTECH in Australia. What follows is both the description-goals and an overview of the workshop’s learning activities.

Workshop Description, Goals, and Outline

Description

Being a maker educator requires developing a new mindset; a new set of skills and roles. Discover, through this workshop, first, a process for reflecting on making through creating circuits and hacked toys, and second, through a self-assessment, the mindset characteristics of an educator who is embracing making education. This workshop is designed for educators who are and want to integrate maker education into their instructional settings.

Goals

By the end of this workshop, participants will learn and be able to apply:

• new maker activities that can be brought to their own educational environments
• a process for reflecting on making for the purposes of increasing learning following each make
• the characteristics and qualities of an educator as a maker educator: (lead learner, safe environment manager, relationship builder and enabler, process facilitator, resource suggester and provider, normalizer of ambiguous problem finding and solving,  technology tutor, feedback facilitator, tour guide of learning possibilities)
• an assessment tool for evaluating the maker mindset of educators,
• a process for identifying goals to increase one’s potential to be a maker educator.

Outline

• Short Introduction to Maker Education – Video
• Frontloading and Framing the Maker Activity
• 1st Make – Paper Circuits and LED projects
• Reflect on the Making Process
• Develop Personal Goals for Next Make
• Introduction to 2nd Make: Maker Education and Social Emotional Learning
• 2nd Make – Toy Hack or Soldering Project
• 2nd Reflection on the Making Process
• Personal Assessment of Mindset of a Maker Educator
• Review Characteristics of the Mindset of a Maker Educator
• Group Drawing with LEDs – The Maker Educator
• Develop Goals for Making in One’s Own Instructional Setting

Workshop Activities

Introducing Maker Education 

• Watch Adam Savage Maker Fair Talk for 10 minutes starting at 6:05 and ending at 16:55 https://youtu.be/kdLky-YkOVw?t=6m5s
• Visit The Perfect Storm for Maker Education Thinglink
• Visit Make STEAM Thinglink

Frontloading the Maker Activity

• https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/framing-and-frontloading-maker-activities/

Making Paper Circuits and LED Projects

• http://www.instructables.com/id/Light-Up-Place-Card/

• http://www.makereducation.com/circuits–led-projects.html
• http://chibitronics.com/teach/

Reflecting on the Making Process Through Playing “A Maker Reflection Board Game” & Developing Personal Goals for Next Make

Documenting Learning and Developing Personal Goals – Participants will document, reflect on their learning, and develop goals for their next make either through a shared Google Presentation or a Shared Wikispace.

Introducing the Second Make: Maker Education and Social Emotional Learning

• https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2016/03/04/the-maker-educator-workshop/

Doing a Second Make: Toy Hacking and/or Soldering and/or Sew Electrics

• http://www.makereducation.com/toy-take-apart.html

• http://www.makereducation.com/soldering-projects.html

• http://www.makereducation.com/wearables.html

 Reflecting and Documenting a Second Time

Exploring the Characteristics of the Maker Educator

• https://www.thinglink.com/scene/529031635128025090

Creating a LED Enhanced Educator a a Maker Educator Poster

Developing Goals and Strategies for Bringing It Back to One’s Work Setting

Resources

• Maker Education Website – http://www.makereducation.com/
• The Educators as a Maker Educator ebook – http://www.amazon.com/The-Educator-as-Maker-ebook/dp/B016Z5NZ6O

Workshop Slide Deck