A smaller cohort attended today as it is the last week before the term break. Most of the students participating have been attending for several weeks now and enter the space with clearer intentions and aims. We had one new students, several parents, a high school teacher and the principal attend. One parent commented “It is the highlight of his week”.
We discussed the possibility of running a simple maker space at the Spring Fair as a means to publicise the activities and to explain the intent of the space to students, parents, teachers and the wider community. A parent, a teacher and a volunteer have agreed to help out so we will go ahead with it if it is not too late to enter.
The space has the potential to be a very useful resource beyond providing an avenue for students to explore creativity through technology. I envisage that the space we are creating at CC will be a space for:
- children of all ages, primary through to secondary, from CC and the region
- teachers pre & in service, to observe, engage and trial ideas, from CC and the region
- a place to run PD for teachers from CC and the region
- specialised classes, teachers may use the space and its resources in the same way students move to another facility for other classes e.g. art.
- parents & extended families may also wish to make use of the space to support their kids or to learn themselves,
- artists, local, invited, self-initiated, residency, exhibition, can often bring fresh ideas and stimulate others
- makers, designers, hobbyists
- short courses
- fabrication
- experimentation …
Technology is to be regarded in the broadest sense; from paper and fabrics to coding and micro-controllers. What binds all of these technologies is their creative potential. Creative uses of technologies has been an interest and part of my creative practice for many years, and has been shown in recent NSF Funded Research that “the results confirm what so many education experts believed: STEAM or in this case, Art Based Learning of STEM works and works beyond expectation.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-m-eger/arts-based-learning-of-st_b_8724148.html
These teen brothers in Haiti build electronic toy trucks out of trash.
https://www.facebook.com/ajplusenglish/videos/798464666961709/
This Bolivian teen built a real-life Wall-E out of trash.
https://www.facebook.com/ajplusenglish/videos/654103054731205/
When i was a kid i got into making space ship ‘models’ with the aim of making B-grade sci-fi short films on Super 8… The models used all sorts of re-purposed tech to create Battlestar and Star Wars style intersteller craft- sprayed grey and detailed to make them look like they’d seen a few meteor fields or space battles. They looked straight out of Industrial Light and Magic, despite being basically soft-drink bottles, diodes and circuit boards…,
Very creative. Would love to see some of these Anthony. Do you have any of the super 8?
Nice work – Fiona Hall would be impressed.