Virtual Makerspace Considerations & Suggestions

There are many variables surrounding access to online resources in schools in North America that make it impossible to recommend a one size fits all approach. Therefore, our effort is suggestive. Below you will find information on virtual makerspace issues, as well as suggestions to help you make your own virtual makerspace a success.

Platform Building Tools

We used Google Sites software as our platform because it is compatible with many programs. It is also a familiar format to young people who have smartphones or tablets and are already used to the idea of apps they can group together on various swipeable screens. As an alternative to Google sites, you might consider Symbaloo software, which a number of virtual makerspaces have used. We encourage you to use whatever technology would easily lead a kid or teen to the various apps of the virtual makerspace. If it is not easy to use, it will be bypassed by the intended audience.

Virtual Makerspace Apps

Criteria for Inclusion

The apps we chose to list on our site encourage the user to:

• 1. Create

  2. Construct

  3. Tinker

  4. Experiment

  5. Invent

  6. Design

  7. Explore

The apps listed on our site are not connected to an assignment or a tutorial that would teach and then test. We believe that directed learning apps belong in other spaces rather than the virtual makerspace, where creativity and tinkering are the prevailing emphasis. The perfect app to include is one where a child or teen can create something, save the creation, share it if desired, and use it in a portfolio. We also prefer free apps due to equity concerns across the economic spectrum of our communities.

Fee or Free

We prefer free apps where owners sponsor great making opportunities for anyone with a device. We also recognize that there is a need to keep an app running and to support those individuals trying to make a living from their innovation. For apps requiring a fee, we recommend that the school, the school district, a regional service center, or a state library/dept of education license apps that would have a wide audience among their user population. Most libraries already license databases for information use, and we see the same principle applying to apps. When apps have a narrow audience or usage potential, certain computers or devices located in the library learning commons could have licenses for a group of devices without having to obtain a whole-school license. The staff of the learning commons should shop around for the best apps for their users at the best prices. By connecting with other professionals via social media, the best of the best can be shared with everyone.

Downloading and Logging in

In our suggested webmixes, we have included some login and download apps because there were no alternative methods of accessing the full features of the apps.

For login apps, we suggest librarians/teachers work with students to create app accounts with their school login information. If students use their school login information to access their apps, they only have to remember one set of credentials.

Schools with download apps (e.g., Google Apps for Education) have a much better chance of accessing additional useful apps. Your school may also want to consider programs that allow apps to be downloaded to registered devices. For example, a learning commons might have ten devices with an app downloaded for students to use without having to log in.