ASHLAND, Massachusetts – Chad McGowan noticed the trend toward makerspace programs in the summer of 2016, while he was attending a teachers workshop with Code.org.
McGowan, who teaches about computers at Ashland High School, quickly realized the importance of such flexible learning opportunities. They provide students with experiences they desperately need and may not otherwise have, he explains, and are a doorway to unexplored future possibilities. Students may literally walk out of a makerspace discovering themselves in a way they never thought possible.
“While all students may not grow up to patent inventions, I believe that being knowledgeable of the technical world we live in, creative beyond the art classroom, and capable of working with tools in a team environment, will help prepare our students for things we can’t even imagine,” he says. “This is not about filling students…