Many more schools now have a makerspace, yet educators are still looking for guidance in connecting the projects, tools, and technologies to classroom curriculum.
Design thinking principles are one way to make those connections and engage students in STEAM-driven creativity along the way, says Erin Barringer, an instructional technology facilitator at Jesse C. Carson High School in North Carolina, who will present “Techifying Design: The Makerspace Reimagined” at the Future of Education Technology® Conference in New Orleans next week.
Barringer will share ideas for how educators can transform unused office space, closets, or other rooms into design labs aimed at inclusion, differentiation, and equity. One key is to provide students with podcasting booths, DSLR cameras, Robotics kits, green screens, sewing and Cricut machines, and other tools to which they might not otherwise…