Connecting Makerspace to Literacy

Makerspaces are informal sites for creative expressions in the sciences, technology, the arts, engineering, and mathematics in which learners blend digital and physical technologies in an informal learner environment to share with a wider community (Miller, 2015). Incorporating purposeful project-based learning activities within a makerspace addresses literacy and engagement gaps. Makerspace activities provide improved student choice and control, increased interest, connections to real world experiences, improved community support and overall attitudes and behaviors toward literacy. Such experiences provide opportunities for interactive learning in which students can contribute cultural funds of knowledge to the learning environment, creating a more meaningful and memorable experience. In addition to fostering creativity, makerspaces not only encourage play but serve to provide a range of digital tools which can be used in the early years to promote digital literacies to include virtual reality (VR), circuitry, fabrication technologies, digital art, sandbox video games, podcasting, augmented reality, videography, robotics, and drones. As communities have embraced makerspaces across the world, little work has been produced to actually connect makerspace activities to classroom curriculum content that also enhances the foundational components of literacy.

"The role of the teacher is to create the conditions for invention rather than provide ready-made knowledge" ~ Seymour Papert, Ph.D.

"Learning is an active process that requires the learner to apply an experience in their own world through the art of reading, making, and reflecting." ~ Jennifer Miller, Ph.D.