Análisis del uso de la cultura maker en contextos educativos

Este artículo presenta los resultados de una revisión sistemática de la literatura (RSL) con el objetivo de entender cómo la cultura maker ha sido implementada en los contextos educativos. La cultura maker manifiesta la idea que cualquier persona es capaz de construir y crear sus propios objetos a partir de herramientas tecnológicas. Por eso, se ha despertado el interés de los educadores ya que permite proporcionar a los estudiantes la posibilidad de asociar los contenidos curriculares con la práctica, de esta forma, los estudiantes se tornan protagonistas de su conocimiento. Protocolo de la RSL para responder las interrogantes de la investigación: ¿Que infraestructura y herramientas están siendo utilizadas? ¿Cuales son las estrategias más utilizadas? ¿Cuales son las principales ventajas y desventajas? Las experiencias educativas acontecen , principalmente, en espacios escolares y en los llamados FabLabs. La impresora 3D y los kits de arduinos son las herramientas más utilizadas. La metodología de enseñar basada en proyectos es la más usada. La principal ventaja recae en el fomento del trabajo cooperativo y colaborativo y las desventajas más significativas actúan en la falta de estructura y en la formación de los profesores para ejercer el enseño en el contexto innovador exigido por una ecología del aprendizaje inherente a la Sociedad de la Información en la que vivimos. Las experiencias educativas makers son vivencias que van más allá de las paredes del salon de clases y empoderan a los jóvenes, dándole la oportunidad para que sean constructores y transformadores de sus propias realidades. This article presents the results of a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) conducted to explore how maker culture has been implemented in educational contexts. Maker culture draws on the idea that anyone can build and create their objects from technological artefacts. Therefore, maker culture has increased educators' interest in providing students with the possibility of associating curricular content with practices to make students protagonists in the construction of their knowledge. The SLR protocol was used to respond to three research questions: What infrastructures and tools are most used? Which methodologies are most used? What are the main advantages and disadvantages? Educational experiences occur, above all, in school spaces and the so-called FabLabs. The 3D printer and the arduino kit are the most used tools. Project-based learning is the most used methodology. The main advantage lies in fostering cooperative and collaborative work. The most significant disadvantages are the lack of infrastructure and of specific teacher training programs through which to approach the innovative learning ecologies typical of the Information Society in which we live. Maker educational practices are experiences that go beyond the classroom walls. These practices empower young people, giving them time and voice to be builders and transformers of their realities.

Cross-age peer tutoring in a technology-enhanced STEAM project at a lower secondary school

The present investigation examined cross-age peer tutoring in the context of organising a technology-enhanced STEAM project aimed at bringing elements of maker culture to a lower secondary school. We examined how 8th graders tutored 7th graders in programming skills. The participants were peer tutors (n = 15) studying in a technology-oriented class, along with their teachers (5) and the researchers (2). By interviewing the tutors, we studied skills that the tutors had experienced as being essential to overcoming the challenges encountered. To trace the tutors’ social support network and the sharing of expertise, we asked the participants to draw a personal social network map. Three key tutors were identified, whose centrality in the network was socially validated by the number of peer tutors seeking their advice. Two case studies of key tutors’ learning networks were carried out. The findings revealed that the tutors needed versatile technological, social, pedagogical, and reflective know-how in the project. It is concluded that cross-age peer tutoring provides significant support for implementing practices of making and STEAM education at school.

Networks of digital manufacturing of face shields and the Covid-19: design, maker culture and social mobilization

This paper addresses the issue of the configuration of a network for the digital fabrication of personal protective equipment to fight the pandemic of COVID-19. The main aim is to highlight how creative and innovative design practices, based on digital fabrication, have contributed to combat the new coronavirus in Brazil, concerning the design, production and distribution of face shields. The paper is the result of both exploratory, descriptive and qualitative research. In addition to documentary data and revisiting design literature, this work sought to understand the network formation modus operandi for digital manufacture of face shields, based on examples carried out in every region of the country. In conclusion, it argued that these social mobilization networks are based on the assumptions of the maker culture and reveal the potential for an open, distributed and resilient design to face this contemporary and future crisis.

Enabling design: a case of maker workshops as a method for including special educators in creating digital interactions for learners with profound disabilities

Purpose This purpose of this paper is to present findings from three workshops that aimed to enable learners with profound and multiple learning disabilities to have a richer, more meaningful experience of a digital curriculum and to bolster a more meaningful creative exchange than currently offered by off the shelf products. Design/methodology/approach Informed by the maker culture and participatory action research, this workshop method focussed on making prototypes and creating concepts that encourage a dialogic approach for envisioning future technologies. As a process of enabling design, this approach placed participants at the heart of iterative methods that support imaginative ideation and improvisation, rather than the production of marketable products. Findings A thematic analysis of post-workshop discussions revealed that participants felt inspired and supported to envision learner responses to stimuli as novel interactions, without prior knowledge of designing and coding. The collaborative approach provoked the articulation of narratives on learner ability and a reconsideration of “digital” with a contemporary curriculum for learners with profound disabilities. Practical implications Running a maker workshop requires a time and resource commitment from all parties. The emphasis is on easy-to-follow, direct teaching together with low cost electronics and non-digital materials, ensured that these demands were kept to a minimum. However, the gains of participation can only be maintained when support exists both in and out of the workshop environment through the provision of resources and communication channels. Originality/value The originality of the workshops lies in the focus on basic electronics, coding and prototyping as a means to think about digital futures. As a method of enabling technologies to tap into learner ability, this process fostered design dialogues through the social act of making, sharing and learning without the need for prerequisite skills.

School Makerspace Manifesto

This contribution describes a sustainable model for makerspaces in primary and lower secondary schools. Based on Indire research on innovative school spaces, it discusses the theoretical background that schools should adopt and create before starting a makerspace lab. It also looks at which aspects of the maker culture can successfully be combined with active pedagogy. In this way, educational institutions and makers can come together to build makerspaces within schools that will be useful to both.