Makerspace in school—Considerations from a large-scale national testbed
Publication details
| Year: | 2018 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ijcci.2017.10.001 |
| Issued: | 2018 |
| Language: | English |
| Volume: | 16 |
| Start Page: | 9 |
| End Page: | 15 |
| Editors: | |
| Authors: | Eriksson E.; Heath C.; Ljungstrand P.; Parnes P. |
| Type: | Journal article |
| Journal: | International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction |
| Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
| Topics: | Learning |
| Sample: | "single case study approach (Yin, 1994). The study of this project has so far generated large amounts of qualitative data of different formats (interviews, first hand experiences, field notes, written documents, video conferences, web documentation, web resource bank, photo and video documentaries and summaries of events) as well as some quantitative data (data on numbers of participants and geographical location)" (p. 11) Observations, interviews as well as workshops - all in Swedish school settings (Makerskola) |
| Implications For Educators About: | Professional development |
Abstract
Digital fabrication and making has received a growing interest in formal and informal learning environments. However, many of these initiatives often start from a grassroots perspective, with little coordination on a national level. This paper illustrates and discusses a study from an ongoing large-scale national testbed in Sweden named Makerspace in schools (Makerskola). The project embodies a series of considerations that arise when a maker approach is applied to a geographically widespread national education context. The results of this study are based on an analysis of the extensive project documentation and first-hand experiences from initiating and running a large-scale national testbed in Sweden, involving more than 30 formal actors and more than one thousand active partners in a national educational setting. The main contribution of this paper is the identification and discussion of five different considerations that have emerged during the project, and include Procurement practices, The teacher and leader perspective, Informing national policy making, Creating equal opportunities, and Progression in digital fabrication.
Outcome
"Digital fabrication and making does not aim to appeal solely to talented children who might become innovators or entrepreneurs and have a special interest in computing and computational devices. Rather, digital fabrication is for everyone since all children growing up today will most likely be dependent on computation and computational devices for both professional and social life. " (p. 15)