zerotomaker

Zero to Maker: Project-Based Learning

Zero to Maker: Project-Based Learning

I learned simple things like which way to hold the soldering iron and how to clean the tip before soldering — trivial to an experienced maker, but nerve-wracking to the newbie. As important as such subtle learning was, the big lesson didn’t hit me until the following day while I was showing a friend my MintyBoost: the journey from Zero to Maker was going to be primarily-project based. As much as I wanted to learn, I wouldn’t really absorb anything unless I had a project (or series of projects) to center that learning around.

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Zero to Maker: Surrounding Yourself with the Right People

Zero to Maker: Surrounding Yourself with the Right People

As a first step on my journey from “Zero to Maker,” I spent a lot of time thinking about who I was going to spending time with, and more importantly, how I was going to convince them to let me hang out! After a cursory search for people to meet in my area (San Francisco), many of the signs pointed to Make: SF, a monthly Meetup group that offers, in their own words, “an opportunity to get started in the maker community. You can meet local makers, learn some new skills and grow from there.”

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“Enough to Be Dangerous” — Introducing Zero to Maker

“Enough to Be Dangerous” — Introducing Zero to Maker

Over the next month (and beyond) I plan to chronicle my journey of going from Zero to Maker in this column here on MAKE. By rolling up my sleeves and getting my hands dirty, talking with other makers about how they got started, and my willingness to ask “stupid” questions, I hope to learn enough to be dangerous, to take an idea from inception to reality.

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