Education

Maker Education is such a valuable role. These stories will bring you the latest information and tales of maker educators who area spreading the maker mindset. Help others learn how to make things or how to think like a maker at makerspaces, schools, universities, and local communities. The importance of maker education can not be understated. We appreciate our educators.

The Maker Movement to be Featured on White House Hangout Tomorrow

The Maker Movement to be Featured on White House Hangout Tomorrow

The Maker Movement will be the subject of a special Google+ Hangout on Air tomorrow, March 28, at noonPST/3pmEST. The hangout will be hosted by White House innovation advisor Tom Kalil and guests will include Dale Dougherty, founder and publisher of MAKE, Tara Tiger Brown of the Los Angeles Makerspace, Super Awesome Sylvia, Saul Griffith, co-founder of Otherlab; and Venkatesh Prasad of Ford.

Math Monday: Introducing the Sonobe Unit

Math Monday: Introducing the Sonobe Unit

There have been numerous installments of Math Monday on origami or kirigami of one mathematical form or another, but today is the first time we’ve covered a classic workhorse from this genre: the Sonobe modular origami unit. One of the simplest and most versatile of the modular units, there’s so much to say about Sonobe that today we’re going to start from the basics (parallelogram one?) and next time we’ll take it to places I hope you’ve never seen it go before.

Magical vs. Hackable

Magical vs. Hackable

I meet more and more folks in education that are contemplating swapping out laptops with complete operating systems like Linux, Max OSX, or Windows in favor of tablets (or most recently the advent of Chromebooks). I’m in favor of more complete systems because, while not being sufficient conditions for creating the next generations of inventors, engineers, and makers, it certainly is necessary to do so.

Oakland High Schoolers Need Your Power!

Oakland High Schoolers Need Your Power!

Tony, Carlos, and Raul, students at Lighthouse Community Charter School in Oakland, have taken on an ambitious senior project they plan to exhibit at Maker Faire: converting a gas-powered truck to electric power. They’ve been working afterschool and weekends and already gave up at least one holiday to work on the conversion. These young men exemplify the self-motivation we see in so many maker projects.

Homegrown Village: Food, Farming, and More

Homegrown Village: Food, Farming, and More

The Homegrown Village at Maker Faire celebrates the fact that farmers and food makers are the original makers. After all, the earliest examples of tool-making and innovation is for the making, hunting, and growing of food. Homegrown Village is back for the 5th year running, and you can still be part of it as a maker, presenter, demonstrator, and, of course, visitor.