EDET 677 Mech App Week 6 Blog

EDET 677 Mechanical Application

Week 6 Blog

Essential Question: What stuff will you stock your making space with, what’s the cost, and how will you fund it?

            The makerspace that I will be proposing is going to be in conjunction with the local college mainly because the college is willing to support the high school in any way possible. There is already a FAB lab, which consists of a 3-D printer, access to computers, and other materials needed to fabricate (make and tinker). The professor who works with this lab frequently is willing to work with any making and tinkering done in the college and high school. Every year he offers a class during the summer that gives high school students the chance to make up math credit by building various things such as a maqai or a shed. Another possibility to add into the makerspace that is already covered is a classroom set of Arduino kits. Last year my school bought 20 kits for middle schoolers to work with for a week.

            My plan to stock the makerspace with various tools and materials by asking the community to donate anything that can that is on a list that I provide. Also, I would ask for people to keep on donating to the makerspace throughout the year. Another way to connect to the community would be to put a list up at the dump and maybe have a special place to dump these materials to make it easier for people. I know that this won’t get us all of the material but I do know it will start us out really well. People here want to donate to the school.

            There are a few things that need to be bought such as consumables for the Arduino and 3-D printer. We will also need to buy a solder and all of the safety materials that needs to go with it. Most importantly, I need to get the tools that aren’t easy access to in my town. These will be things such as extra breadboards and wires. I know that as soon as I start running ideas by the professor I will be working with, he will have so many more ideas than me. I suspect that he will take the makerspace in a different direction than me, which will be good so that students have more options from what they can learn and make.

            To begin funding the makerspace I would search out grants that can help pay. I would work with grants that not only support makerspaces but also support giving opportunities to underprivileged students. In our district office I have someone I would talk with to figure this out. Then I would reach out to the college and see if they can fund any of the makerspace. Next would be lots of fundraising activities that the community is more than capable to support. Lastly, I would ask for funds that can maybe be supported by the technology department.

Resources:

Hlubinka, M. (2013). Funding school makerspaces. Make. Retrieved from http://makezine.com/2013/09/05/funding-school-makerspaces/

Hlubinka, M. (2013). Stocking up school makerspaces. Make. Retrieved from http://makezine.com/2013/08/21/stocking-up-school-makerspaces/

Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G (2013). Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom. Torrence, CA: Construction Modern Knowledge Press.