In trying to decide which approach to learning I should research, I’ve decided upon the maker movement, as I didn’t know much about it. So to get right to it, what is the maker movement?
According to http://www.edudemic.com/maker-movement-classroom/, “The maker movement is an extension of the DIY . . . movement inspired by the democratization of manufacturing practices and tools in the early to mid-2000’s.” Well, what does this mean? This means that those involved in this particular movement are taking production into their own hands, and out of the hands of larger corporations. This has especially been bolstered by the ever changing and ever evolving world of technology. Take the 3-D printer, for example. In utilizing the 3-D printer, individuals “are learning how to design and 3-D print . . .” virtually anything and everything. This ranges from toys to tables and chairs to other types of furniture. Awesome, right?
In terms of utilizing this movement in the classroom, what a typical classroom looks and sounds like, and what the students are typically doing, a classroom could be described as being divided up into workstations, and it is at these workstations that the students collaborate. Naturally there will be discussion among the students, as according to weareteachers.com, students “brainstorm, invent, design, and build – and then . . . fix mistakes, improve, test and improve again . . ..” In my opinion, if this kind of learning is going on, why would he/she not want to incorporate the maker movement into his/her classroom?
Therefore, the advantages are virtually endless. For the sake of brevity, however, according to weareteachers.com, “the Maker Movement overlaps with the natural inclinations of children and the power of learning by doing.” What students are doing are playing with 3-D printers, they’re computing, and they’re programming. With all this being said, however, I do not believe there are any real disadvantages. Therefore, the only problems I could possibly think of are time constraints in the classroom. However, that’s a good problem to have, in my opinion.
Don’t just stop at reading my blog, however. Check out these other sweet resources!
This cool video is a great example on how to implement the maker movement into schools:
Fellow Twitter-ers! Here are some must-follows. Gain more insight into the maker movement at: @coolcatteacher,@DianaLRendina, and @TechShopPGH.
joshuapilkington 
Well I thought I was the only one with the problem of deciding which learning approach to learn and write about. I chose project base learning. Although this approach you wrote about is very interesting aswell. Students will definitely have fun creating 3-D objects while learning.
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How interesting about the 3-D printer. My senior year of high school we got a grant that paid for a 3-D printer. I loved it! So far I have made a fork, a chess piece and a box. To create one you had to use math, science and some reading. This is a great post and I know kids will love learning about this.
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Oh gosh, I bet that was fun. That’s very cool! I didn’t even know what a 3-D printer was until just recently lol.
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I know it was crazy! We had just figured out what it was.
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Although learning about one seemed difficult this week, so is implementing one strategy for students. Great resources you provided.
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Thanks!
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You made me want to learn more about maker movement learning. It would be cool to allow students to work with advanced technology. One challenge I may see is if I myself the teacher do not know how to use the technology. Overall, maker movement is a really interesting teaching method.
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That’s a good point. I didn’t even know what a 3-D printer really was until recently, so I can see myself in that situation. Hopefully, if there ever was a time where we had to use 3-D printers, they would provide some workshops or something for the teachers beforehand.
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I enjoyed reading your post this week. I did’t really think of making things in school as a movement, but when you think about it most students are more “hands on” learners. Have you ever made a craft project or a poster or something that was more or less 3D that helped you remember history dates or some other subject that you probably wouldn’t have remembered nor learned as much otherwise? Yes, I have had a lot of these circumstances!
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Oh, definitely. I remember in 6th grade we learned about the Aztecs (not interesting to me whatsoever), but my partner and I made this diorama of this sport they played that was kind of like volleyball. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have remembered anything about that unit at all!
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I didn’t really know what the maker movement was, but I thought you explained it really well. I like that this is being implemented into schools. I think it is great for hands on learners.
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Absolutely. Thanks for taking the time to read it!
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