Week 8

The Maker Movement. Oh. My. Goodness. Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Ok that pretty much sums up this week, see you later!

Hehe I kid :P

But seriously, I am so excited.

We started off the lesson by looking at a list of things we could have played with in real life, aw :( I went through all the things the Canvas page and they look awesome. This list included Bare Conductive touch Board start kit, Makey Makey, LittleBits Synth and more. I was super interested in the Bare Conductive touch board, but it was out of my justifiable price range (but it looks so cool!). But it turns out all of the kits and so on were out of my price range. The Jaycar short circuits 1 project kit was actually affordable for me, but I had experimenting with very similar kits in my high school science and technology classes and I had done a lot of the suggested projects before. But let's stop dwelling on what we didn't do, let's focus on what we did do!

We watched an James interview educator Phil Nanlohy, who runs a Makerspace at a Primary School in Merrylands which has an awesome Maker program (how do I get on prac here?). He talked us through the basics of the Maker Movement (which is outlined in the image above), and then described his own experience with designing and teaching a Maker program. The school he was working with already had a strong IT program, so the Maker program was geared towards woodwork, circuitry and Reverse Garbage Creative ReUse principles. This obviously has a basis in Project Based Learning, to create variety and depth in content teaching.

Listening about this learning philosophy was like listening to a choir of angels. I LOVE Project Based Learning. I did TAS in years 7 and 8 and continued with Design and Technology right through to year 12. The skills I learned in this subject are honestly invaluable. I learned creative skills, problem solving skills, communication skills, time management skills and collaborations skills, to name a few. There was always an element of autonomy as you got to decide where the project was going to go. Not to mention there was always a sustainable agenda to the course which was fantastic. DT as a subject has many of the same fundamentals as the Maker movement, and I love that the Maker movement is providing space for this teaching method across a variety of subjects. Anyway, I have not even brushed the surface on why I love PBL so much, but its time to move on (please contact me if you would like to talk more about it!).

Phil described how he fit his course into the school's brief and limitations. He made the space multi-use by having all the materials and tools able to be packed away in storage containers at the end of each lesson. Phil's outlined design process was "dream, draw, create". The inclusion of drawing and writing/ documenting throughout the process was purposefully included as it allows for creativity, problem solving, communication and literacy skills to be developed. This is underpinned by the value of sustainability, as observed through the use of Reverse Garbage and other materials found at student's or teacher's homes. These are just the main points of the interview, but needless to say the whole movement is very exciting. Phil talked us through projects that he has seen students work on including, making marimbas and creating a tent that convicts from the first fleet would have lived in. The possibilities for projects are exciting and endless. Phil spoke of good reception from the primary school students, as it was something outside of their usual learning and they get to do "adult things". However, I do know at high school level, it can be hard to get some students motivated and engaged. Every year at school during TAS and DT, there were always unfinished projects and portfolios, failed designs and tears, all-nighters trying to finish two terms worth of work and sometimes just blatant refusal to participate. Some of PBL really depends on the willingness, ability, and learning style of the student (and multiple other factors) that can be difficult to navigate. The Maker movement has really inspired me, and I want to keep working with it in the future, and maybe I will be able to finds some solutions to the learning problems some students face in PBL.

After Phil we heard from Caitlin Sandiford, who worked with a team of undergrad music students to develop their own MIDI. It was really awesome and looked like a lot of hard work. Due to my reaction to the coding last week, I don't think I will be taking a similar project on for this subject, but I won't rule it out as something I might endeavour to do in the future.

James made a fantastic point that the arts are starved of funding but STEM is not. Why not creatively incorporate STEM to buff up the music program at a school? Musicians and instruments are born out of engineering. He also provided this cool article on the subject: https://inventionland.com/maker-movement/musical-instruments-and-the-maker-movement/

This movement is amazing and I can't wait to research more into it. Honestly, do what Phil does and being the "maker teacher" at a school coupled with conducting and directing choirs community and school base to professional level would be my dream life. I can't believed I hadn't heard of this movement before, and I want to bring it into my own teaching.

Larisa Neuhoff who I worked with on my previous choral arranging project, ears also pricked up on this subject, and we are currently scheming about project ideas based on the Maker Movement together. :)

I feel absolutely inspired. I will leave you with my response to this week's challenge where we had to make an instrument of up cycled garbage found around our house. Enjoy!