How To Think Like a Maker – Wired Magazine

How to Think Like a Maker – Wired Magazine Online
Published Today February 16th.

Very timely, since this is what we are focusing on this week in Maker Rings.

“Maker Culture has coalesced into a formal movement over the past 10 years,
taking strands from punk rock,  traditional DIY, hacking and open source computing and the trend towards DIY peer to peer education and woven them into a cohesive, identifiable whole. While generally technology focused (think: 3D printing, robotics, arduino) Maker Culture has expanded to include low tech, arts and crafts based projects along with food and content as well.”

The article points to 4 values that Companies should take from the Maker Movement. But these values are also true for education.

Be Open

– we are constantly promoting collaboration and a culture of sharing. Maker Rings is our attempt to combine Making and Sharing.

Embrace Imperfection

– this is so hard for most kids. We try to show students that by failing you are discovering. The Engineering Design Process teaches that failure is part of the process and essential to strong success.

Love the Process

– Using choice, and inclusive circle routine we encourage students to engage in projects they are interested in. We try to help them find their motivation and identify ways to act on them.

Build Community

– Makers rarely make alone. Even if they are working in their basement they are often connected to other through online activities. At school we have a strong sense of community among the school at large. Maker Rings is working on strengthening and personalizing the connections between peers, with the idea that strong personal relations will allow young people to be supported in doing their best work.