Think about it. The Maker Movement is incredibly powerful for something that just got its (official) start only a few years back. It’s completely user-driven and becoming a cornerstone for success in the 21st century. And, its popularity may be outshone by only its critical importance.
The Power of the Maker Movement
Maker Ed is a form of STEM Education that combines and embodies the spirit of acquiring necessary knowledge through hands-on trial and error learning with technologically relevant tools. Makers engage in creating projects of all shapes and sizes—as long as it’s functional and serves a purpose, it contributes to the Maker Movement. That movement, as you may have guessed, is all about sparking creativity in children. With that newly acquired creativity, students are set up much more effectively to be able to solve real-world problems and apply real-world knowledge to the process.
Makerspaces are the cornerstone of the Maker Movement. Above all else, they are spaces where everyone—creative or not—can collectively explore their passions using raw materials, tools, technology and their imagination. Making brings with it a sense of community and in no other place is this more apparent than in the makerspace. Whether it’s a STEM subject or a “life subject,” the biggest advocates of the Maker Movement are determined to build essential skills in children. These include proficiencies in math, science, programming, engineering and technology, but also focus on developing personal skills, such as collaboration, inquiry, problem solving, creativity and inventiveness among many, many others.
The best educational makerspaces inspire students to make their own learning and own it in a way that’s as powerful as they are. By using technology to explore the world around them, children exercise their natural creativity, which enhances the learning experiences they have. Makerspaces can feature an infinite amount of custom designs, but by getting up and getting hands on, the Maker Movement allows kids to learn independently and cure their curiosity through exploration, tinkering and inventing projects that have real impact. If nothing else, the Maker Movement is carried on each day to serve as a reminder that makers are people who create things instead of just using them.
What is Driving the Maker Movement?
There is no longer any question—the Maker Movement has become an ever-increasing international phenomenon. Did you know that there are at least 2,200 registered makerspaces worldwide and you can find at least one in approximately 26 percent of US cities? The Maker Movement originally gained steam as an outlet for hobbyists to meet up and work to find creative ways to show off their skills and interests. Once the practicality of having a working knowledge of maker technologies was realized, however, it really took off. No longer is the Maker Movement exclusive to tech-savvy designers, but it has now spread into K-12 education with its real-world relevance as the driving force.
Perhaps the single most essential factor driving the Maker Movement is the importance and relevance that hands-on activities have in shaping the success of today’s students. Many of the best jobs in today’s economy are STEM jobs and many of the skills that those workers need are born and honed through making. The Maker Movement spans from classrooms to afterschool clubs to the free time of students who are genuinely excited about the possibilities of working with their hands. The maker culture is really starting to come to life due to the factors mentioned above and also because of the maker community. Hundreds of online forums and groups have sprung up as everyone shares the common goal of learning through doing.
Another factor in the Maker Movement’s rapid growth is the increasing availability of maker technology as well as its general affordability. Previously, makers had to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on hardware or software in order to learn to code or build a foundation of robotics knowledge. Not anymore. In order for today’s students to get into the kind of hands-on work they will likely be doing for the rest of their lives, they turn to maker groups and activities to get that start. So, to answer our original question of what exactly it is that drives the Maker Movement, well, it is no one specific factor. It’s basically a combination of curiosity, preparation and the right tools that goes into the beauty of maker-made technology.
The Importance of the Maker Movement
We all know that deep within the minds of children lies an unlimited imaginative potential that can be used in a truly powerful way if guided correctly. Whether they realize it or not, it’s there. And, whether they choose to access it or not, you guessed it, it’s still there. The power of the imagination is not something that can be taught—it’s present in everybody—like it or not. How, then, do we get it out of the depths of these kids’ minds and bring it to life in a meaningful, productive way? Enter the Maker Movement.
Generally, we consider the Maker Movement to be an initiative for creating something useful with your hands and with the help of technology. Before the advent of the current technological age, most people did not have access to the tools necessary for these kinds of breakthroughs. They also required advanced knowledge rather than creativity and desire. Thanks to maker products now being readily available to consumers and to school communities through Educator Discount programs, the Maker Movement phenomenon is taking off. Finding a place for it in education was not too difficult. Manufacturers (or professional makers) do their best to efficiently create products that will make peoples’ lives easier. In the education community, the same concept is applied when teachers use the Maker Movement to build and develop these hands-on skills in each one of their students.
Don’t get us wrong; if intrigued adults want to get involved in the Maker Movement, that’s great! But, we’re far more interested in exposing young students to the power of making. As early on as early elementary school, the Maker Movement boasts many advantages for furthering STEM education. When engaged in making, the learning is strongly personal. Kids are given choices and the chance to learn more about something they have a real passion for. Making also provides for numerous growth opportunities. Seeing their creations come to life not only results in a sense of tangible satisfaction, but it physically shows kids the skills and concepts they have learned along the way and unlocks a sense of belonging in the school community or even the general community. Most importantly, Maker Movement projects have a direct and indisputable relevance in the real world. Seeing how educational concepts relate to real-world problems is a 21st century skill that making hones in kids and one that will never lose its importance.
Finding Creativity Through the Maker Movement
There are a lot of ways for the Maker Movement to have a positive effect on today’s students. It facilitates increased collaboration, improves familiarity with technology and fosters a sense of belonging to the community just to name a few. The effects it has on the future of young makers, however, cannot be measured quite yet. It is by engaging in the Maker Movement that these kids begin to realize what it means to be creative. You can’t really teach creativity, but, you can learn it. And, learning how to be as creative as possible is a necessity for the future that each one of today’s students will, sooner or later, have to accept as true.
The Maker Movement is all about using innovative technology to creatively find viable solutions to real-world problems. Even makerspaces themselves are creative. In fact, that’s often among the first assignment for young makers: designing a space that’s inventive and comfortable for all they need to accomplish. Anything from standing desks to whiteboard walls will help to enhance creativity in students. When students need to figure out the best designs and how to complete the construction themselves, they’re solving a real problem—albeit a small one, but that’s the kind of foundation we’re talking about. Once they have the coolest space they can dream up, they can move on to solving larger problems with more interesting tech tools and even expand their STEM programs with activities like coding.
Makerspaces truly do serve a very important educational need. All too often, the opportunities for students to express and develop their creative skills are lost in subjects like Geography, Math and Spelling (sorry, teachers). Teachers need to tap into that innovative side of their students’ minds and kids need to have the chance to let them in. Kids are familiar enough with computer technology that they know how to type up a document or do a basic Web search, but it’s the creative skills that the Maker Movement is designed to hone. Things like wonder, inquiry and problem solving will be just as important in shaping them to become real-world ready. The world needs problem solvers; kids need the Maker Movement so they can become one.
What’s Next for the Maker Movement?
So, it seems as if the Maker Movement is a pretty big phenomenon at this point in time, no? What started as a hobby for people interested in one specific niche has ballooned to include so many groups, including a huge presence in STEM education. Today, kids as young as six can build their own computers, create their own speakers, fly a drone or 3D print any number of usable products for a reasonable amount of money. The idea that everyone entering our future workforce will need increased familiarity with technology and proficiency in creativity and working with their hands has turned the Maker Movement into a part of our mainstream culture.
Believe it or not, the students currently enrolled in elementary school have a real chance at being able to completely reinvent some of the everyday products we take for granted. They’ll be able to do it at lower costs and, thanks to open-source technology, they’ll be able to do it exponentially quicker—likely while they’re still in school. Mobile computing is one area that could be ready for transformation. Components are cheaper than ever, which is ideal for the average “maker.” Just think of the possibilities if one student spends a little bit of time putting together some rough draft of a life-changing product, works to improve and optimize it and gets it into the hands of the right person. Boom; their set for life because they took the opportunity that was presented to them by the Maker Movement.
New hardware is popping up seemingly every day and we’re pretty sure that curiosity and imagination are not going to wane. Since the tools are there for the taking, it’s fairly safe to assume that more household projects will be started and more innovation will be accomplished. As long as companies keep producing powerful technologies, like, ahem, the Raspberry Pi 3, the possibilities for incorporating tech into DIY projects will continue to grow. The power is truly in the hands of curious students. We don’t know what exactly the future has in store in regards to the possibilities for making, but it’s safe to say we haven’t seen the pinnacle yet. We’ll have to wait and see.
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