artifact. Making asks teachers to create settings where students are, for
example, mathematicians rather than
passive receivers of math instruction.
Papert also introduced the metaphor
of “computer as material,” part of a
continuum of materials used to make
tangible artifacts and ideas. This continuum spans everything from common arts-and-craft supplies to cutting-edge technology. Indeed, teachers in
our Invent to Learn workshops often
begin the day working with cardboard
construction to house microcontrollers
they’ll program later in the day.
Project-based learning. Some of the
time-honored practices that were
common in classrooms a generation
ago—art, music, drama, woodshop,
sewing, cooking, playing with and
using real tools and craft materials—
need to return to the daily experience
of children trapped in schools with no
time for anything but test prep. For
too long, schools have undervalued
learning with one’s hands. Schools
must stop sorting kids into academic
or vocational tracks because such distinctions no longer make sense. Many
of the same technologies, process
skills, and conceptual understandings
are found in the physics lab, art studio,
and auto shop.
The key to making is using authentic tools to create meaningful projects.
It is a natural fit for the STEM subjects
or the arts, but historical research,
producing documentaries, and writing
for an audience are also forms of making. Computers are not required, but
they supercharge project development
by expanding the breadth, depth, and
sophistication of what’s possible.
For the first time, students can use
their own powerful ideas to create real
things, not just make-believe models.
Kids can solve real problems with
their own inventions. And we can focus technology instruction on providing authentic interdisciplinary experiences rather than isolated tech skills.
Game-Changing Technologies
Our book, Invent to Learn—Making,
Tinkering, and Engineering in the
Classroom, identifies three technological game changers that are transforming learning and everyday life in the
digital age. These tools allow students to
solve real-world problems and should
be on every educator’s radar.
Personal fabrication. Until recently,
the only things you could make with
a computer resided on the screen or
paper. Today, additive (3D printers) and
subtractive (laser cutters, vinyl cutters,
computer-controlled mills and lathes)
technologies allow users to design an
object on the computer and “print” it
out in a variety of materials. Websites
such as thingiverse.com are teeming
with STL files that are compatible with
most 3D printers and allow users to
“remix” physical objects. 3D scanners
can also turn existing objects into com-
puter files that you can then modify
and print out into new objects. Kids can
print replacement parts for their bikes,
limbs for their dolls, or that Lego piece
they wish existed. You can already print
many of the parts to build a 3D printer
on a 3D printer. And soon you will be
able to print circuitry with conductive
ink that you can turn into objects with
embedded microcontrollers.
The most significant development in
personal fabrication may be 3D design
software. Once too complex for most
users, now software like cloud-based
TinkerCAD and SketchUp put 3D
design within students’ reach. Among
It’s hard to teach 21st century learners if you haven’t learned in this century yourself.
Here are a few suggestions for educators who want to become makers too:
Read our book. Invent to Learn—Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom
includes chapters on teaching, learning, advocacy, shaping the learning environment,
technology, materials, and professional learning. It also situates making in a historical
and theoretical context.
Visit the website. Inventtolearn.com has hundreds of curated resources, links, and shopping
recommendations for making.
Check out a local makerspace. There are public or membership-based makerspaces,
TechShops, and hackerspaces in communities around the world. Ask around or “use
the Google” to find the allies, expertise, and hardware you crave.
Make your own maker day. Invent to Learn features a chapter on organizing a maker day
for your school. This is a great way to get your community excited about learning by doing.
Attend a Maker Faire or Mini Maker Faire. Find a calendar of Maker Faires around the world
at makerfaire.com/map. Attend one near you! Take the family! Bring students!
Check out our ISTE 2014 session. We’ll give you the lowdown on fabrication with cardboard
and found materials, squishy electronic circuits, wearable computing, Arduino, robotics,
and computer programming. Search the online program to find the time and location of
the session at the ISTE Conference and Expo in Atlanta in June.
Host an Invent to Learn workshop. We have led immersive, hands-on maker workshops at
schools and conferences from Mumbai to Melbourne to Manhattan. We’d love to introduce
your colleagues to the power of making too.
Participate in Constructing Modern Knowledge. We founded the Constructing Modern
Knowledge summer institute ( Constructingmodernknowledge.com) seven years ago to create
a space where educators could enjoy the luxury of time, a bounty of materials and technology
to work with, and a world-class faculty to support project development. Join educators from
around the world and amazing guest speakers in Manchester, New Hampshire, in July.
Become a Maker
