Summarizing and Sharing Concepts
My foray into the world of literature on makerspaces was an enlightening one. I started off browsing websites that helped to define makerspaces to seeing if research had ideas for how makerspaces could help promote literacy. There was a lot more research to sift through than I had originally anticipated. Rendina states that "you don't have to give up on literacy to start a makerspace - you add a new dimension of literacy to your library" (2017). As such, I decided to do a bit more digging around and refine some of my earlier searches to see if I could find articles or websites that were less generalized and more focused on makerspace ideas for promoting reading literacy.
Further Review of Previous Resources
Out of the five resources I had listed in my previous reading review post, my favourite resource is Laura Fleming's "Literacy in the Making." This resource not only highlighted the importance of allowing students to approach inquiry and literacy from a "maker" perspective, but also provides an example of how to combine different forms of multimedia into a single topic of inquiry. This multi-modal approach to learning was something that I recently explored in another course, so I was pretty excited to be making even more connections in my readings. In LLED462, we read an article where the author introduced "creating digital narratives as multi-modal texts," where students analyzed, evaluated, and critically thought about a story from various perspectives (Barton, 2016). Instead of the traditional written response, students used a variety of multimedia to creatively express their analyses of the text. As a former ELL teacher, I find that having this multi-modal approach is so important for engaging students and helping them with language acquisition while, at the same time, allowing them to express themselves through their creations.
Extending from this is the idea of "storymaking," which is found in Bull et al.'s article. They used various making techniques, both physical and digital, to re-create stories based on their understandings. What I found particularly interesting about this article is that it also realized that allowing students to approach a literary text using other forms of media gave support to ELL students. The project was successful in "facilitat[ing] language learning and [enabling] creative expression through the use of rich language and activity-based environments" (Bull et al., 2017).
A big question that came out of the readings I found is: how do we implement the makerspace into our school libraries? I noted in my reading of "The Philosophy of Educational Makerspaces" last week that a related title, called "Practical Implementation of an Educational Makerspace," popped up on the sidebar. This week, I decided to take a look at this resource. It details the transformation of New Milford High School (NMHS) in New Jersey from a traditional school library into a SLLC with a educational makerspace. The figure below summarizes their process:
As makerspaces become more and more common, school libraries wishing to transition into having a makerspace will need to be able to have the knowledge and tools to do so. The best thing to do, at this point, is to not re-invent the wheel. This article is not the only available resource on implementing a makerspace. It doesn't always have to be a grand transformation right away; starting small is sometimes the right approach. Many of the resources I found last week covers using various makerspace activities in the classroom or library to help enhance learning (see bibliography and the previous post for more information).
Key Takeaways
One thing that I realized as I started narrowing down my search queries is that makerspaces are often associated with the STEM fields (as evidenced by the plethora of STEM-related activities in the Pinterest I found). I've mentioned Laura Fleming earlier - her views of incorporating the free-form exploration of makerspaces into storytelling is one that dominates the field and much of what I found. She believes that "there's no right or wrong way to tell a story," and "her students used everything from clay to comic to puzzles to PowerPoint to tell stories, and that the different approaches to storytelling helped remind them how engaging reading and writing can be" (Zubrzycki, 2016). While STEM-based makerspace activities still dominate the field, there is a growing demand for literacy-based makerspaces as well. It might require a bit more creativity to approach, but the various articles that I have already presented in the section above provides great examples of how to incorporate makerspaces into language literacy.
A more focused search on makerspaces specific to BC curriculum guidelines yields much fewer results. Perhaps with the focus on implementing the new curriculum, makerspace policies and integration had been pushed to the background, but there were some samples of makerspace lessons when I looked through the instructional samples found on the curriculum website. Surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprising), Google returned a lot of results from UBC Scarfe's Digital Sandbox. The UBC Library even has a research guide on how to implement simple makerspaces in a school library, with examples that can be accessed at the Education Library in the Neville Scarfe building on campus.
Next Steps
I'm excited to continue my research into makerspaces as the course continues. There seems to be an endless amount of research and resources available for making in the classroom and library, I feel like I've only touched the tip of the iceberg! As I wrap up this blog post, I would like to leave off with an image that I found reflecting on the making process. A consideration to have in the future: once we have established a culture of making in our school, where do we go from there?
References:
Barton, G. & Trimble-Roles, R. (2016, October). Supporting middle years students in creating multimodal texts with iPad apps. Literacy Learning: the Middle Years, 24(3), i-vii.
BC Ministry of Education. (n.d.). Instructional samples. BC's New Curriculum. Retrieved from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/instructional-samples
Bradbury, J. [Jeffrey Bradbury]. (2017, May 8). Creating great makerspace lessons for your students [YouTube]. TeacherCast.net. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0qqc_Jjv2uE
Bull, G., Schmidt-Crawford, D.A., McKenna, M.C., & Cohoon, J. (2017, November 10). Storymaking: Combining making and storytelling into a school makerspace. Theory Into Practice, 56(4), 271-281.
Fleming, L. (2014, September). Literacy in the making. Reading Today, 28-29. Retrieved from http://hivenyc.org/wp-content/uploads/LauraFleming_Maker-Movement.pdf
Gerstein, J. (2015, October 5). Reflecting on the Making Process. User Generated Education. Retrieved from https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/reflecting-on-the-making-process/
Kurti, S.R., Kurti, D., Fleming, L. (2014, June). The philosophy of educational makerspaces part 1 of making an educational makerspace. Teacher Librarian, 41, 8-11.
Kurti, S.R., Kurti, D., Fleming, L. (2014, December). Practical implementation of an educational makerspace. Teacher Librarian, 42(2), 20-24.
Rendina, D. (2015, April 2). Defining Makerspaces: What the research says. Renovated Learning. Retrieved from http://renovatedlearning.com/2015/04/02/defining-makerspaces-part-1/
Rendina, D. (2017, January 23). 3 reasons why making and literacy aren't mutually exclusive. Knowledge Quest. American Association of School Libraries. Retrieved from https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/3-reasons-making-literacy-arent-mutually-exclusive/
Scarfe Digital Sandbox. (n.d.). Makerspace [Search Query]. University of British Columbia, Teacher Education. Retrieved from http://scarfedigitalsandbox.teach.educ.ubc.ca/tag/makerspace/
Wik, J., & Wilkes, G. [TEDx Talks]. (2015, January 12). The maker movement in schools [YouTube]. TEDxTokyoTeachers. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpFnsCBVpH4&t=335s
White, C. [Cari White]. (n.d.). Library makerspaces [Pinterest]. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.ca/cari_young/library-makerspaces/?lp=true
UBC Library. (2018, February 21). Making and makerspaces. University of British Columbia, Library Research Guide. Retrieved from https://guides.library.ubc.ca/Makerspaces
Zubrzycki, J. (2016, June 9). 'Maker space' and literacy instruction: Playing with story. Curriculum Matters. Education Week. Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2016/06/makerspaces_and_literacy_instr_1.html
 |
| Rendina (2015) | Renovated Learning |
Out of the five resources I had listed in my previous reading review post, my favourite resource is Laura Fleming's "Literacy in the Making." This resource not only highlighted the importance of allowing students to approach inquiry and literacy from a "maker" perspective, but also provides an example of how to combine different forms of multimedia into a single topic of inquiry. This multi-modal approach to learning was something that I recently explored in another course, so I was pretty excited to be making even more connections in my readings. In LLED462, we read an article where the author introduced "creating digital narratives as multi-modal texts," where students analyzed, evaluated, and critically thought about a story from various perspectives (Barton, 2016). Instead of the traditional written response, students used a variety of multimedia to creatively express their analyses of the text. As a former ELL teacher, I find that having this multi-modal approach is so important for engaging students and helping them with language acquisition while, at the same time, allowing them to express themselves through their creations.
Extending from this is the idea of "storymaking," which is found in Bull et al.'s article. They used various making techniques, both physical and digital, to re-create stories based on their understandings. What I found particularly interesting about this article is that it also realized that allowing students to approach a literary text using other forms of media gave support to ELL students. The project was successful in "facilitat[ing] language learning and [enabling] creative expression through the use of rich language and activity-based environments" (Bull et al., 2017).
A big question that came out of the readings I found is: how do we implement the makerspace into our school libraries? I noted in my reading of "The Philosophy of Educational Makerspaces" last week that a related title, called "Practical Implementation of an Educational Makerspace," popped up on the sidebar. This week, I decided to take a look at this resource. It details the transformation of New Milford High School (NMHS) in New Jersey from a traditional school library into a SLLC with a educational makerspace. The figure below summarizes their process:
 |
| Kurti et al. (2014, December) |
Key Takeaways
One thing that I realized as I started narrowing down my search queries is that makerspaces are often associated with the STEM fields (as evidenced by the plethora of STEM-related activities in the Pinterest I found). I've mentioned Laura Fleming earlier - her views of incorporating the free-form exploration of makerspaces into storytelling is one that dominates the field and much of what I found. She believes that "there's no right or wrong way to tell a story," and "her students used everything from clay to comic to puzzles to PowerPoint to tell stories, and that the different approaches to storytelling helped remind them how engaging reading and writing can be" (Zubrzycki, 2016). While STEM-based makerspace activities still dominate the field, there is a growing demand for literacy-based makerspaces as well. It might require a bit more creativity to approach, but the various articles that I have already presented in the section above provides great examples of how to incorporate makerspaces into language literacy.
A more focused search on makerspaces specific to BC curriculum guidelines yields much fewer results. Perhaps with the focus on implementing the new curriculum, makerspace policies and integration had been pushed to the background, but there were some samples of makerspace lessons when I looked through the instructional samples found on the curriculum website. Surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprising), Google returned a lot of results from UBC Scarfe's Digital Sandbox. The UBC Library even has a research guide on how to implement simple makerspaces in a school library, with examples that can be accessed at the Education Library in the Neville Scarfe building on campus.
Next Steps
I'm excited to continue my research into makerspaces as the course continues. There seems to be an endless amount of research and resources available for making in the classroom and library, I feel like I've only touched the tip of the iceberg! As I wrap up this blog post, I would like to leave off with an image that I found reflecting on the making process. A consideration to have in the future: once we have established a culture of making in our school, where do we go from there?
 |
| Gerstein (2015) | User Generated Education |
Barton, G. & Trimble-Roles, R. (2016, October). Supporting middle years students in creating multimodal texts with iPad apps. Literacy Learning: the Middle Years, 24(3), i-vii.
BC Ministry of Education. (n.d.). Instructional samples. BC's New Curriculum. Retrieved from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/instructional-samples
Bradbury, J. [Jeffrey Bradbury]. (2017, May 8). Creating great makerspace lessons for your students [YouTube]. TeacherCast.net. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0qqc_Jjv2uE
Bull, G., Schmidt-Crawford, D.A., McKenna, M.C., & Cohoon, J. (2017, November 10). Storymaking: Combining making and storytelling into a school makerspace. Theory Into Practice, 56(4), 271-281.
Fleming, L. (2014, September). Literacy in the making. Reading Today, 28-29. Retrieved from http://hivenyc.org/wp-content/uploads/LauraFleming_Maker-Movement.pdf
Gerstein, J. (2015, October 5). Reflecting on the Making Process. User Generated Education. Retrieved from https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/reflecting-on-the-making-process/
Kurti, S.R., Kurti, D., Fleming, L. (2014, June). The philosophy of educational makerspaces part 1 of making an educational makerspace. Teacher Librarian, 41, 8-11.
Kurti, S.R., Kurti, D., Fleming, L. (2014, December). Practical implementation of an educational makerspace. Teacher Librarian, 42(2), 20-24.
Rendina, D. (2015, April 2). Defining Makerspaces: What the research says. Renovated Learning. Retrieved from http://renovatedlearning.com/2015/04/02/defining-makerspaces-part-1/
Rendina, D. (2017, January 23). 3 reasons why making and literacy aren't mutually exclusive. Knowledge Quest. American Association of School Libraries. Retrieved from https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/3-reasons-making-literacy-arent-mutually-exclusive/
Scarfe Digital Sandbox. (n.d.). Makerspace [Search Query]. University of British Columbia, Teacher Education. Retrieved from http://scarfedigitalsandbox.teach.educ.ubc.ca/tag/makerspace/
Wik, J., & Wilkes, G. [TEDx Talks]. (2015, January 12). The maker movement in schools [YouTube]. TEDxTokyoTeachers. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpFnsCBVpH4&t=335s
White, C. [Cari White]. (n.d.). Library makerspaces [Pinterest]. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.ca/cari_young/library-makerspaces/?lp=true
UBC Library. (2018, February 21). Making and makerspaces. University of British Columbia, Library Research Guide. Retrieved from https://guides.library.ubc.ca/Makerspaces
Zubrzycki, J. (2016, June 9). 'Maker space' and literacy instruction: Playing with story. Curriculum Matters. Education Week. Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2016/06/makerspaces_and_literacy_instr_1.html
Very well done final Part C of your reading review. This felt very close to a "Literature Review" section of a thesis, where you annotate and assess your resources, articles and research on your Makerspace topic for relevancy, insight and support. Your discussion of key takeaways, as well as next steps showcased to your readers what to do next. Your extensive and comprehensive list of resources in your Works Cited is impressive and will support your ongoing inquiry for sometime to come. Well done.
ReplyDeleteWow, Rachel such a great list of resources. I especially like the link to the Scarfe Digital Sandbox. Your post really struck a chord with me. Since coming back to the library from a leave, I am entering a new vibe where there is a big emphasis on making in the library. The quote from Diane Rendina's Renvoted Learning about the robotics, electronics, sewing, lasercutting, etc. is a bit heavy for me at this early stage of my TL career. It's financially intimidating plus, I find that it is pretty far removed from literacy and reading promotion that I think is so important in an elementary library. I will be watching your journey because I'm so interested in how you see the two coming together through storytelling.
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