The Maker Education Initiative (Maker Ed) welcomed more than 100 educators to our first Making Possibilities Workshop, held Thursday, May 15 at Intel’s Santa Clara, Calif. Global Headquarters. In the spirit of making, we began the day with a full hour of tinkering and play. Attendees customized their badges, built and painted large cardboard creations, and invented their own versions of mini watercolor artbots.
Dale Dougherty kicked off our speakers with “an epic keynote” on the importance of making in all forms of education, immediately followed by “the world’s most adorable panel” of students, to highlight the importance of children’s voices.
#MPW2014 by @MakerEdOrg @dalepd just gave an epic keynote to start off the first ever Maker Ed Workshop ever!! @intel pic.twitter.com/hNL94MJS2V
— Tenaya Hurst (@ArduinoWoman) May 15, 2014
Most adorable panel ever @MakerEdOrg workshop. #engineering #k12 #make pic.twitter.com/XynWLacrSb — Katy Scott (@katyscott22) May 15, 2014
Breakout session topics focused on the Maker Ed vision of “Every Child a Maker” — maximizing the opportunities for all children to express their innate creative nature through all forms of making, from the arts, STEM fields, humanities, play and imagination, and social-emotional connections. Sessions included workshops on “The Art of Tinkering,” research and evaluation, making in underserved communities, making for younger audiences, getting started, advocating for administrators, building equity, making in informal settings, and two panels on makerspaces.
How great was this workshop?? Making Matters: The Art of Tinkering – http://t.co/bap5DykCHe via @YouTube @makeredorg #mpw2014 @Intelinvolved — Christina Arpante (@ChrisArpante) May 16, 2014
The middle of the day featured a “Possibility Faire,” an interactive exhibition featuring a huge variety of making possibilities.
Our rousing — and inspiring — closing keynote came from Sylvia Libow Martinez, co-author of Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering and Engineering in the Classroom.
We finished off the packed and productive day with voices from our participants, who shared what inspired them, what they were curious about, and what that they would take immediate action on. Overall, The Maker Ed team is thrilled by the incredible energy, creativity and enthusiasm of the participants. We’d like to thank everyone involved with the Making Possibilities Workshop. Their desire and power to create more opportunities for all children to make is truly inspiring!
Had a fantastic and productive time at the Making Possibilities Workshop. Learned a lot of new skills and experiences. #MPW2014 @MakerEdOrg — Project M@CH (@ProjectMACH) May 16, 2014
Maker Ed’s Making Possibilities Workshop was sponsored by Intel, with support from Maker Media. Inspired by the energy of this workshop? Join these educators, parents and caregivers and more on Maker Ed’s brand new public Google+ community! (makered.org/community). Photos: Steve Davee, Briana Flin, Katy Scott (via @katyscott22), Tenaya Hurst (via @ArduinoWoman).
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