Hands-on and project-based learning is making waves in the traditional education system for students and educators alike. Consider yourself a lifelong learner? Explore below for new ideas and information to discover!
Friday afternoon, I was vising my friend Amon Millner at Olin College. After finishing up, he invited me to go with him to the nearby Wellesley College and the Engineering Studio. Not knowing quite what to expect, but always interested in seeing hands-on learning spaces, I went along for the ride. What I saw took my breath away and left me speechless. It is still a bit mind boggling to consider what this lab has, and the amazing ideas that have come from it.
Recently, I had an opportunity to get early access to a new hardware system from Microsoft. Gadgeteer is a way for people to rapidly build devices, program them and then even build enclosures around the projects they make. On Wednesday morning, almost none of my students had ever written a computer program, and by Friday afternoon, every one had the opportunity to write a program that would control output hardware based on the input of sensors that they had built.
I was one of a generation of American secondary school students who didn’t even have the option to take “industrial arts” classes. Fortunately, I got plenty of hands-on how-to training at home, from Dad, who had a workbench and a garage full of tools that he was patient enough to let me borrow, use, break, and lose while I figured out how to use them.
In the past, we’ve run monthly themes on the site (e.g. Earth Sciences, Alt.Transportation, Citizen Science). This year, we’re going to do a series of monthly “Make: Skill Sets” (special articles and projects and round-ups of existing projects and posts designed to teach basic competency in a discipline). To coincide with the forthcoming release of […]
Maker Media’s Education Director, Michelle Hlubinka, writes: We’re so pleased to share with you some more details about the new season of the Young Makers Program. For those new to our network: the Young Makers Program is a collaboration between MAKE, The Exploratorium, and Pixar. The purpose of the program is to inspire and develop […]
Team Habitable: Young Makers Janavi, Pearl, and Hana, together with their mentor Yoshi, created this mod of an Ikea table that doubles as a reconfigurable hamster habitat. The Young Makers Program is a collaboration between MAKE, The Exploratorium, and Pixar. The purpose of the program is to inspire and develop the next generation of makers, […]
This weekend, there’s an “inaugural” science and engineering festival happening on the National Mall in Washington, DC. If you’re from the area, or plan to be visiting, this looks to be an action-packed event to check out. It’s a veritable geek overload of speakers, exhibitors, hands-on workshops, and more. Over 1500 activities, 75 shows, four […]
