Maker-Centered Learning

Acknowledgments ix
 
List of Tables and Figures xiii
 
Foreword xix
 
Introduction 1
 
What is a Maker? And What is Maker-Centered Learning? 4
 
A Road Map to the Journey Ahead 8
 
1 Exploring the Benefits of Maker-Centered Learning 15
 
Learning from Maker Educators and Thought Leaders 17
 
Identifying the Real Benefits of Maker-Centered Learning 18
 
Understanding the Primary Outcomes of Maker-Centered Learning: Developing Agency and Building Character 19
 
Understanding the Secondary Outcomes of Maker-Centered Learning: Cultivating Discipline-Specific and Maker-Specific Knowledge and Skills 35
 
Recapping the Real Benefits of Maker-Centered Learning 39
 
2 Teaching and Learning in the Maker-Centered Classroom 43
 
Maker-Centered Roots and Connections 45
 
Who (and What) Are the Teachers in the Maker-Centered Classroom? 51
 
Students as Teachers 51
 
Teachers in the Community 55
 
Online Knowledge Sourcing 56
 
Tools and Materials as Teachers 57
 
What Does Teaching Look Like in the Maker-Centered Classroom? 59
 
Facilitating Student Collaboration 60
 
Encouraging Co-inspiration and Co-critique 63
 
Redirecting Authority and the Ethics of Knowledge Sharing 70
 
What Does Learning Look Like in the Maker-Centered Classroom? 73
 
Figuring It Out 74
 
What Does the Maker-Centered Classroom Look Like? 77
 
Tools and Materials 78
 
Storage and Visibility 80
 
Specific and Flexible Spaces 83
 
3 Developing a Sense of Maker Empowerment 85
 
What Is Agency? 89
 
Choice, Intention, and Action 89
 
Scope: Agency and the Complex Web of Interrelated Actions 91
 
Locus: Participating in Agentic Action 94
 
Agency and Maker Empowerment 98
 
Empowerment and Social Justice 101
 
Empowerment in Education 103
 
4 Developing a