Katherine Hicks
Internationally Minded.
Spartan Educator.
Life- Long Learner.
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Maker Movement
As part of my Masters in Art Educational Technology, we were asked to create a project that fit into the “Maker Movement.” This trend, encourages individuals to build, explore and create. The philosophy behind this movement is that as children “make,” they construct a better understanding of their environment and become better problem solvers.
My group was comprised of 3 people (Elizabeth Curby, Sarah Hunt, myself) and we chose to investigate a “Maker kit” called “Code and Go.” This hands-on activity requires users to “code” a toy mouse in order to move him through pre-designed obstacles. This activity was targeted toward younger children (6-13) for the purposes of our assignment. However, this could also be appropriate for older children as an introduction into more complex coding. If you are interested in exploring our lesson plan or introduction video, check out our website by pressing the button below!
Reflection
After completing the Maker project, I thought it was an excellent way to get kids engaged and invested in questioning and problem solving. Overall, I really enjoyed the process (start to finish) of creating our prototype. In the beginning, my group mates and I discussed how we worked best, what our strengths and weaknesses were and what we were hoping to take away from this project. Because of that discussion, we realized that we all taught elementary school had an objective of creating an experience that could actually be used in any of our classrooms. This meant that we needed to do something that could be applicable to students 7-10 years old. Having that mindset, helped us focus on Maker kits that would fit our needs. As we moved through the project, we continually referenced or strengths and ensured that each member had a chance to capitalize on that strength. This allowed for consistent cohesion through the planning, conception and testing phases.
The one part of this project that was quite frustrating was when we were editing the website as a class. My group had established strengths and delegated tasks, but when we came together as a group, there were so many people sharing ideas and criticizing other’s work, that it became stressful. We tried re-delegating tasks and writing names and responsibilities up on the board, but it still seemed like we couldn’t come up with an effective plan.
From the positive experience at the beginning and the negative one at the end, I learned that I like working individually or in small groups. I found myself very anxious coming away from our class meeting. If I were to be in that situation again, I think that I would start with the individual that is bringing up the complaints and list each suggestion (along with others) on the board. Then, as a group, we could weed through those suggestions and choose the best solution. Maybe starting the conversation off with a visual would help the group keep focused.
Team Planning Popplet
Advice
After having an up close and personal experience with the maker movement, I really believe that it allows students to utilize their individual interests and create something that they are invested in seeing succeed. Furthermore, in the process of “learning” and achieving “expert” understanding status, we “chunk” similar information based on our background knowledge (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). By questioning, creating, and exploring, we access our existing knowledge to make something new. By eliminating/ or reducing the parameters of creation, we let students make their own connections. This in turn, allows children to make the information relevant to their own life, chunk it in a way that’s easily accessible and transferable across contexts.
​ The biggest teaching insight I have gained through this project is how effective inquiry based teaching can be. In my district, there is a lot of emphasis on questioning and creating an “essential question” for students to explore, but rarely have I seen children take ownership of those questions and use them to be problem solvers. In the book, A More Beautiful Question, Berger states that inquiry produces the “lightbulb” effect (Berger, 2014). As educators, it’s (arguably) the ultimate goal to get all students to have the “lightbulb” effect across contexts. Therefore, it stands to reason that my encouraging your students to ask questions, you can help them think deeply about a topic and subsequently, “own” their learning. Next year, I hope to implement much more inquiry into my lessons and compare how their responses and thought differs from a lecture-based approach (as I’ve used in the past).
When thinking about inquiry within this project, the first thing that comes to mind is our questioning document. As a class, we generated as many questions as we could about the assignment. We then, categorized and prioritized questions so as to determine the essential information. It was interesting to see how the collaboration occurred and how one question prompted several other questions from our classmates. I fully intend on practicing this activity with my students next year. The questions that we created, drove my thinking and helped me anticipate potential problems. I believe that it would do the same for my students.
The best advice that I could give a teacher replicating our activity is “don’t be afraid of student failure.” As educators, it is natural to want your students to succeed. We try and provide as much assistance as possible to ensure that students “understand” the information by reaching the “correct” answer. However, in doing this, we take away from the child’s learning. Instead of being so focused on having the students achieve success the first time, let them make mistakes so they can LEARN from it.
When we tested our prototype, we used 3 groups of students as test subjects. In the first group, we provided a lot of scaffolding and even hinted at the answer by asking suggestive questions like, “is the mouse pointing the right way?” In the next 2 groups, we eased off the directions and let the children get fail and make modifications as necessary. We found, that this autonomy caused several student to get the “lightbulb” moment. If you try this in the future, give them independence and let them learn through failure!
