The Boston Makespace Tour, hosted by Media Smart Libraries, was a chance for librarians and educators to explore Makerspaces; the movement, their equipment, and their pedagogy. On June 22, a group of school and public librarians, public library directors, technology teachers, and GSLIS graduate students made the trek to Boston and visited three different Makerspaces in order to view a variety of contexts and making philosophies.
Our first stop was the Lesley University’s Makerspace in Cambridge. The Lesley STEAM team of Sue Cusack, Jacy Edelman, and Kreg Hanning invited us to explore their makespace which they use to teach pre-service and in-service educators about the various tools available and potential uses in all content areas for problem-based learning. We were able to tinker with virtual reality tools, Littlebits, coding programs, makerbots and more. We also had a chance to apply our learning by using the iPad Book Creator app. In groups, we produced chapters that included text and images to communicate our ideas about Makerspaces in education.
After this incredibly fun and thought provoking hands-on experience, we headed to the venerable Boston Public Library to visit their recently renovated Teen Central and Children’s Library. At the new, sleekly designed Tech Center in Teen Central, Catherine Halpin, Youth Technology Librarian, shared the ins and outs of her programming events, outreach efforts, and the success of her teens as interns program. Next we toured the Children’s Library with Laura Koenig, Team Leader of the Central Library Children’s Services, and marveled at the bustling activity, robust programming schedule, fantastical artwork, architecturally impressive use of space, and the creative yet functional furnishings. Hands down, our favorites were the colorful flying books of Morris Lessmore hanging from the ceiling. We all vowed to return to this incredible place at another time to continue exploring and soaking in all that it has to offer.
We ended the day at the South End Technology Center, in a neighborhood called Tent City. The SETC @ Tent CIty is a collaborative effort between this community organization and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was the first Fablab for America. Mel King, a retired MIT professor, regaled us with stories of the center’s history and current success in the Learn 2 Teach, Teach 2 Learn program where inner city youth learn about computer applications and then continue their learning by teaching them to younger children. His beautiful message of the importance of listening and the power of collaboration to create the genius in us all was inspiring. Susan Klimczak, Director of Special Programs, spent time learning about us and answering our unique questions and then gave us a tour of the facility. We observed teens working on solar powered objects, laser cut designs, and other innovative virtual and hand constructed products.
We all came away with a deep appreciation for the value of maker culture and how it helps develop an individual’s agency and lifelong learning dispositions. We realized it is more than a physical space, some tools, and a challenge problem to solve. It is about developing a mindset. If you would like to read more about the maker mindset, please read this white paper from Harvard Graduate School of Education.