"...it is possible to change the system not by negative attacks (which tend to inflate the ego), but simply by quietly moving to the side and doing it better!" -Richard Rohr
More and more, Chattanooga, Red Bank and Hamilton County are emerging as not just leaders in the Southeast, but a thoughtful, progressive force in the nation for innovation. eLabs are carrying that forward.
So, imagine identifying a problem. Now imagine having the tools, materials and community members at hand, in a designated space and culture, that can help bridge the gap that often exists between classroom theory and real-world practice.
An eLab is a designated space in the school where we can all come to put classroom learning into applied practice. We have all kinds of cool tools that students and teachers can come use to prototype and revise solutions toward a goal.
Not only do teachers have an opportunity to demonstrate what they know, they also learn alongside students about the things they don’t. Because no one can know it all. After all, the kind of problems students will face we haven’t even thought about, yet. In the eLab, everyone is demonstrating the concept of lifelong learning.
If you’ve never experienced it, working in a lab on longer-term projects offers opportunities for more informal discussion and relationships. The whole scene is pretty inspiring, uplifting, empowering.
Ten Bullets (playlist): a philosophy of lab organization by Tom Sachs and Van Neistat
Above Average Systems: Questions to Drive Critical Thinking
Chattanooga Fab Institute: annual Summer Professional Development
Buy List for much of the equipment that started our lab
Future 9 : 9 Core Competencies from Lemelson-MIT