“The renewed interest in making has come to be known as the maker movement - a rising interest in sharing and learning from others while working with one’s hands within interdisciplinary environments that combine a variety of tools and technologies.”

-Agency by Design

Our MICDS Makerspaces are uniquely equipped shops for students to explore their ideas through making, tinkering, and experimental play. These community spaces are available for all to access tools, materials, and expertise. This opportunity to learn by doing allows students to apply their knowledge from classes and other experiences here at MICDS, to pursue projects that are personally meaningful, to create objects of utility, or to build things just for fun. The Do It Yourself (DIY) attitude is always changing with exposure to new technologies, along with the growing number of online platforms that allow for widespread sharing of ideas. Designs, prototypes, and builds for local problem-solving can begin with an inspiration from the vast creative solutions of makers around the world. Making can be learning about materials and techniques with guided projects or self-directed learning in moments of, “I need to know about x to build y”. This means that it is okay to try something new and be bad at it. At MICDS Makerspaces, students engage in iterative training, where tweaking things to see what will happen is the inspiration, and learning from failure is part of the process. When students take ideas from their head and prototype and rebuild along the path to making their ideas real, that is the beginning of a growth mindset that encourages students to believe that they can learn to do anything. A life long learner that says, “I can do that”.

Are we all Makers? We tend to organize ourselves by what we make, such as professional titles. Throughout history people have made tools, including tools to make new tools, and then new technologies, using anything from antique equipment to the latest materials, and techniques to work through the need to modify the world around them. A Maker is anyone who builds or adapts objects by hand. Anyone who engages with the world around them by being curious about how things work can be considered a Maker. The experience of holding something in your hands that you have made is a frequent source of pride, and the desire to share the creative process and products with others helps to build a Making community. A culture where those involved can learn from each other and perhaps work together towards innovative solutions for real-world problems.