Maker Ed Announces New STEM-Related Partnership with AmeriCorps VISTA

Press release: Oakland, CA, August 26, 2013—

Maker Ed Announces New STEM-Related Partnership with AmeriCorps VISTA

Collaboration echoes goals of President Obama’s effort to increase national service opportunities

The Maker Education Initiative (Maker Ed) today announced a partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to place 22 AmeriCorps VISTA members in a program to support the initiative in 10 underserved areas across the nation.

Maker AmeriCorps VISTA members will be placed in 10 underserved urban and rural areas that are part of the National Maker Network. The members will work with community and school programs providing more opportunities for young people to learn through maker programs that engage them in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), the arts, and learning as a whole.

“Our goal is to help young people engage as makers, and it requires talented, enthusiastic leaders to inspire and organize resources in our communities to make that happen. The Maker VISTA members and leaders will certainly accelerate these efforts in California and beyond,” said Dale Dougherty, Chair of Maker Education Initiative and President/CEO of Maker Media, Inc.

The Maker AmeriCorps VISTA builds on two recent presidential actions. In April, President Obama announced STEM AmeriCorps, which will have AmeriCorps members utilize professionals in STEM-related fields to inspire youth to pursue studies in STEM education. In addition, President Obama in July established the Task Force on Expanding National Service that encourages collaboration between the public and private sectors, including nonprofits, to find ways that national service members can help address the country’s challenges. “We believe that helping more youth identify as makers can be a catalyst for individual and community prosperity,” shared Paloma Garcia-Lopez, Maker Ed’s Executive Director.

“STEM education lays the foundation for a better future for our children,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS. “Through the President’s task force, we look forward to investing in organizations that approach learning in this innovative way. The collaboration with the Maker Education Initiative will allow AmeriCorps VISTA members to expand the reach of these programs, fueling the desire of young people to experiment and learn.”

The Maker AmeriCorps VISTAs will help expand Maker Ed by developing community-school partnerships and other collaborations, recruiting volunteers, and assisting with fundraising efforts. The first Maker AmeriCorps VISTA team will be placed in five hubs across California in November, followed by a second team that will begin work at hubs in five other states in April of 2014.

The five sites for the November Maker VISTA team in California are: Da Vinci Center, Stockton; Lighthouse Community Charter High School, Oakland; SAM Academy, Inc., Fresno and Sanger; The Exploratory: Maker Guilds in Los Angeles; and THINK Together, Santa Ana.

“The Da Vinci Center is a sanctuary where learners have the freedom to express their creativity in endless ways,” said Bill Engelhardt, director of The Da Vinci Center. “They are encouraged to take risks, learn from failure, and rely on inquiry and hands-on problem solving to develop solutions to real world challenges. The Center is thrilled to become a Maker VISTA hub and looks forward to the potential impact maker-oriented experiences will have on learners and educators.”

“The MakerEd VISTA program provides a unique opportunity for California’s expanded learning programs and is a major benefit to our California Makes Expanded Learning Partnership,” said Michael Funk, director of the After School Division California Department of Education. “VISTAs will help build an on-going system for developing local STEM resources and support for afterschool and summer programs in our most economically disadvantaged communities. MakerEd’s commitment to engage students, parents, and communities in ‘Making’ creates opportunities to support students on their pathway to becoming college and career ready.”

“This partnership is building on the VISTA’s long-standing tradition as a leader in bringing economic opportunity to underserved areas,” said Mary Strasser, Director of AmeriCorps VISTA. “We look forward to working with Maker to inspire young people through creative learning opportunities that will position them to achieve success in the future.”
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About AmeriCorps VISTA
AmeriCorps VISTA is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund, and Volunteer Generation Fund programs, and leads the President’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. With passion, commitment, and hard work, AmeriCorps VISTA members create or expand programs designed to bring individuals and communities out of poverty. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.

About Maker Education Initiative
The purpose of the Maker Education Initiative (Maker Ed) is to bring make-oriented activities to scale in multiple learning environments and communities across the nation. Maker Ed plays a national leadership role in developing a maker network of institutions, youth serving organizations, statewide afterschool networks, corporations, foundations, and makers seeking to accelerate and deepen the Maker Movement. Maker Ed is a nonprofit project of the Tides Center, which acts as its fiscal sponsor. For more information, visit MakerEd.org.

Press Release pdf here.

A Teacher’s Reflections on Maker Corps and Maker Faire Detroit

By Mary Foulke, Maker Corp Member, The Henry Ford

“Whether you think you can or think

you can’t, either way you are right”

This famous quote, from Henry Ford, kept running through my mind this past weekend at Maker Faire Detroit. In fact, it has continued to run through my mind as I ponder all of the sights, sounds and feelings that confronted me. The whole atmosphere of Maker Faire was one of total involvement. Every where you looked people who interacting with each other, talking, sharing, observing and perhaps most importantly learning by doing. I have been working this summer as a Maker Corp member for The Henry Ford. This has been one of the best summers of my life in the way that it has challenged my mind and even my beliefs about education and how people learn.

At Maker Faire, I showed my craft of knitting, crocheting, felting and cross-stitch. Probably one of the biggest compliments I received was that I saw people taking pictures of my work! Knowing that someone thought my work was something that they wanted to remember was awesome! I have been making for over 30 years. It is a part of my life, like breathing. I am always thinking about what I am going to make next. Being a historian also, I research the history of my crafts and how they have progresses through the years. I read books, look through magazines, talk with others, and check on-line, all to see what other people are doing and to get ideas.

I have been spending a lot of my summer researching the history of crafting as it relates to The Henry Ford, especially the village. One of the questions I have been pondering is, “How can we interest people, especially the young, in the crafts that have been typically viewed for an older person to do?” After observing the patrons, listening to the comments, I think I have come up with an idea! I want to use E-textiles as a way to arouse interest. I had mostly adults looking at my wares, but once I but the LED lights on my sheep and several other things, I began to get the younger generation to take notice. They would pull their parents over and say, “Look, mom, that sheep has eyes! How did you do that?” They would pick up the sheep and start looking it over. That gave me the chance to share what I was doing. What an opportunity! After observing this transition for several hours, my mind exploded with all of these ideas on how to get people interested in the art of making! The answer to my problem was right in front of me all along: tie in the art of knitting, crocheting, sewing, felting, etc., to 21^st century skills. In this case, E-textiles!

I have so many things that I would like to do at Maker Faire next year. Many people asked me about the history of knitting and crocheting. So, along with telling the story and sharing with others my knowledge, I also want to work on a power point that would show the progression of the craft over time. Greenfield Village shows the history of textiles in Liberty Craft Works and the old homes, such as the Daggett home. The craft goes back centuries and is really intriguing, especially to a crafter. The art of felting, knitting, crocheting, weaving, etc. is centuries old. When I look at a piece of wool roving or cotton and think that everything from clothes to curtains originates there, it makes me almost speechless.

Another thing that I would do is have on display all of the things that were in our Maker Corps Possibility Boxes. Kids by nature like to touch, feel and figure out how things work. Having them on display would give them that opportunity. When they are given the chance to become inquisitive, they begin to ask questions and wonder and figure out things for themselves! It is also the time when the creative juices start to flow and their own ideas come to mind of what they could do.

Maker Corps Members and staff of The Henry Ford

One of the things I appreciate about the Henry Ford is the ‘can-do’ attitude. This was perfect to work in this kind of atmosphere as a Maker Corp member. The Henry Ford embodies the spirit of innovation, empowering others with the belief that anything is possible if you are willing to try, work hard, and not give up. You begin to think that anything is possible if you only believe. Enthusiasm begins to grow and expand. Perhaps Henry Ford said it best when he stated, “Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait, the grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your ideas.”

I am a third grade teacher by trade and there are many things that I plan to do differently in my classroom this year. My own enthusiasm and plans have expanded to include an after school Innovation Class for the students in my building. I would like to have an ‘Innovator’ corner in my classroom with things for children to tinker and create with. I believe each of us is special in some way, we all have skills within us, and we just need to find out where that talent lies. If we do not give children a chance to explore and investigate, how are they going to ever find out?

“We have merely scratched the surface of the store of knowledge which will come to us. I believe that we are now, a-tremble on the verge of vast discoveries – discoveries so wondrously important they will upset the present trend of human thought and start it along completely new lines.” – Thomas Edison

Maker Ed is incredibly grateful for the work and reflection of Mary Foulke and all of our Maker Corps Members. Want to see more about Maker Corps? our Twitter stream and Facebook Page are packed with videos, and links to media coverage, blogs and more about our first year of Maker Corps. We are beginning the process of recruiting additional Maker Corps Host Sites for the Summer of 2014. If your organization is interested in being a part of the expansion of this exciting and effective program, please register on this brief form. -Steve Davee, Director of Education and Communications.

Making as a Celebration: Increasing Access to Creative Technology at the Free Library of Philadelphia

By K-Fai Steele, Free Library of Philadelphia

It’s easy to focus on Philadelphia’s deficits: it is the most impoverished of the top-ten large cities in the United States: 28% of Philadelphians (between 430,000 and 440,000 people) live below the federal poverty line. 39% percent (135,000) of those people are children. 23 public schools closed this year, and 55% of residents lack reliable home internet access. One thing that Philadelphia does have, however, is a strong library system that supports community and helps to build it with an asset-based approach. The Maker Ed Initiative’s Maker Corps, embedded in five Free Library locations in some of Philadelphia’s most underserved communities, is mentoring teens and youth in a variety of maker activities from magnetic races to e-fashion. Our goal is not to highlight educational inequities, or to push kids into a STEM pipeline, but to celebrate and nurture creativity with the aid of technological tools. Instead of having a competition at the end of the summer, we are having a celebration to bring youth from the five sites together to share what they’ve created with each other, with their families, and with the maker community at large. We’re opening up the celebration to 50 participants of all ages and skill levels to share what they make – apply today to be part of it at celebration.freelibrary.org!

In addition to these daily maker workshops, the Free Library has teamed up with the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education and PennDesign on the Digital Media and Learning Competition-winning Connected Messages program. We wanted to develop a project that had several components: would involve kids working collaboratively to create a modular work of art; would be affordable and easy to implement; would be both physical and digital and have an interactive element (some sort of “magic”); and be meaningful and relevant to youth. Youth are working across five sites to create five 4’x4’ physical murals that are comprised of individual 5” square boxes, with an LED in the center. Their box’s top (made of clear acetate) is then decorated to describe their own perspective on the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection, and is backlit by the LED. All of the boxes are pinned to a DIY circuit board, which is connected to the internet through an electric imp. Each box, as well as each mural, has its own page on connected.ecrafting.org, where you can read about each creator, and control which boxes are lit.

At our McPherson Square Neighborhood Library, our theme is Community. Drew, the Maker Corps Member there recalled getting the kids to think about their community before he brought out the colored sharpies and LEDs:

“The next step was to discuss the theme and talk about things that each of them thought of when they think of their community. It was a bit sad to hear their initial responses of “not safe”, “no good”, “staying inside and watching TV”. I wasn’t entirely shocked by these comments…I get to see what their community is like every day. I personally don’t live that far away, either, so at least from an adult’s perspective I know what it’s like. But I was able to get them to start discussing positive things. A lot of the positive emotions came from thoughts of family or statements like “I love my mom”. So we went with that. One of them wanted to make a box about recycling (not because the community is all that trash-conscious, but because it’s something he wanted to say he feels is important to making a community healthy).”

The youth went on to create nine boxes that day. The activity, in this case getting the kids to play with sharpies, copper tape and LEDs, provided them with an opportunity to explore their own concepts of community. If this is what the maker movement can provide, we’re all in. Come celebrate and participate with us on August 17^th! Apply to be part of it at celebration.freelibrary.org.

Read more about what we’re doing in Philly on makerjawn.org!

EurekaFest 2013

By Maker Corps Member Cole Houston, MIT/ Museum of Science, Boston

What do you get when you combine 270 high school students from around the world, thirty excited mentors, over one thousand rubber ducks, over a mile of duct tape, six fans with airplane propellers for blades, marathon blankets, and three hours to build something? You get EurekaFest.

EurekaFest is put on every year by the Lemelson-MIT Program and the Museum of Science, Boston. It is a weekend long celebration designed to empower a legacy of inventors through activities that inspire youth, honor role models, and encourage creativity and problem solving. It culminates in a competition hosted at the Museum. This year as a Maker Corps Member, I was able to have a close-up look at how perfectly the competition encapsulated the principles of designing and building something from scratch while also have a ton of fun.

Central to any competition is the challenge. This year, the challenge at EurekaFest was adapted and scaled up from an activity we facilitate on the museum floor. Teams had to design and build a device that would, powered by the wind from two fans on the ground, hover thirty feet in the air while carrying a payload of rubber ducks. Each team’s score was determined by the number of ducks that their device was carrying when it reached the target zone.

Each team met for the first time at 9 am and had three hours to build their device. They were given a box of materials (items like foam core, PVC pipe, trash bags, chicken wire, string, and—of course—duct tape) and a limited budget that they could spend on extra supplies at the materials store. The short build time made it necessary to test their designs often and quickly make revisions. I was fortunate to be stationed at a testing station, so I got to see the many designs that came through. It was gratifying to see teams catch onto the idea of rapid iteration and test their designs frequently. Whether they realized it or not, they were acting just like real engineers.

Of course, no competition is complete without a bit of fun. In order to bring some lightheartedness to the design process, halfway through the build time we gave each team a mystery item that they had to incorporate into their device. Each item was equally ridiculous and totally random. They included an inflatable salad bar, a window shade, a set of vinyl records, a snuggie and accompanying dog snuggie, and a set of barbeque utensils. Some teams were thrown off by this, while others managed to gracefully incorporate them into their designs. While many of the items initially seemed awkward, many later turned out to be the key to a successful design. This was a powerful lesson in the value of found items and the unexpected places inspiration can come from.

After the prize ceremony, there was a finale in which thousands of rubber ducks fell three stories from the ceiling of the museum’s main hall because, in the words of our MC, “what goes up must come down.” In a way, that finale underscored what the entire event was about. We made up the finale using items we already had and things we could purchase for very cheap. It was developed the week of the competition in a burst of last-second inspiration. EurekaFest was about invention. It was about taking the ordinary materials around you and using them to make something grand and successful. It was about taking ordinary high school teens and helping them see themselves as designers and engineers. It was about showing them that they have the power in themselves to make and create. Were we successful? Looking at the smiles on their faces at the end, I think we were.

Maker Ed is proud to support and share the work of our Maker Corps Members. For more documentation of the projects being developed and executed by the Maker Corps Members stationed at the Museum of Science in Boston, see: http://makeratmos.tumblr.com/

Maker Ed Places 108 Corps Members in Maker Movement Organizations

Press Release

Maker Corps Engages Thousands of Youth in Activities That Inspire Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Oakland, CA, June 11, 2013: The Maker Education Initiative (Maker Ed) will announce its first successful year of Maker Corps at the Clinton Global Initiative in Chicago, a gathering that includes NGO Leaders, CEOs, STEM Educators and top government officials. Maker Corps was developed as a CGI America commitment one year ago in an effort to boost the US Economy by creating jobs that bring making activities to new communities, especially girls and underrepresented minorities. More than 100 Maker Corps members were recruited and trained in the spring and will begin their summer experiences in 34 agencies across 19 states this week. Corps members will engage thousands of kids in camps, museums, libraries, and schools. Maker Ed greatly surpassed its original goal of partnering with 20 agencies in 2013.

The mission of Maker Ed is to create more opportunities for young people to make, and, by making, build confidence, foster creativity, and spark interest in science, technology, engineering, math, the arts—and learning as a whole. Maker Ed plays a national leadership role in developing a maker network of institutions, youth serving organizations, statewide afterschool networks, corporations, foundations, and makers seeking to accelerate and deepen the maker movement.

Maker Ed was created by Dale Dougherty, CEO of Maker Media and founder of Maker Faire, as the non-profit, educational arm of the maker movement. Dale states, “The biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity for the Maker Movement is to transform education. One way that the Maker Education Initiative will approach this is by working to help existing organizations, such as libraries, to build the capacity to engage and develop young makers. Empowering makers of all ages to play an active role in introducing students, and educators, to making will be a key component of these efforts.”

Maker Corps is made possible by generous support from Cognizant, Google for Entrepreneurs, and Intel. Google for Entrepreneurs joined the Maker Corps commitment this year. “Google for Entrepreneurs is incredibly excited to partner with the Maker Education Initiative to help kids across the country build and make,” said John Lyman, Entrepreneurship Manager at Google. “We’re looking forward to helping communities of makers grow and can’t wait to see what they create.”

Cognizant is a pioneering company engaged in the maker movement and will support six Maker Corps host sites to help corps members develop problem-solving skills, while gaining experience serving as leaders in diverse communities. Cognizant made Maker Corps possible at the New York Hall of Science, New York, NY; Newark Museum, Newark, NJ; Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA; Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA; Chicago Children’s Museum, Chicago, IL; and Mt. Elliott Makerspace, Detroit, MI.

Intel is a founding sponsor of Maker Ed and supports a cross section of programs including Maker Corps at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in Portland, OR, “Open Make” programs at museums, and recently Education Day for 2072 kids and 520 educators at the Bay Area Maker Faire.

The Maker Movement has the attention of President Obama. To kick off his Educate To Innovate campaign to improve STEM education in 2011, he expressed: “I want us all to think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering, whether it’s science festivals, robotics competitions, fairs that encourage young people to create and build and invent—to be makers of things, not just consumers of things.” At this year’s White House Science Fair, the White House announced Maker Ed’s summer campaign to give many more students the ability to be “makers.”

Under the guidance of new Executive Director Paloma Garcia-Lopez, Maker Ed plans to expand its programming to include an online project library, recommendations of best practices, program models to engage low-income children in making, and maker clubs in hundreds of schools nationwide. Paloma expresses, “Young makers exemplify creativity and adaptability, two characteristics essential for the next generation of the American workforce. It’s our job to promote the maker-mindset in schools, and grow more makers, more mentors, and more spaces! This is exciting and time sensitive work.”

Above: President Clinton announcing Maker Corps at the 2012 CGI America Conference, Maker Ed Executive Director Paloma Garcia-Lopez with Kumar Garg, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Director, White House Office of Science & Technology Policy at the 2012 CGI America Conference.

This week, Maker Ed will return to the national stage with President Clinton to help transform STEM education in the United States. As part of the STEM Education Working Group, Maker Ed will focus on developing strategies for attracting and retaining excellent teachers, increasing participation of girls and other underrepresented groups, expanding afterschool STEM programs, and promoting skilled volunteering and mentoring among STEM professionals. To learn more about Maker Ed’s commitment to STEM education at the Clinton Global Initiative America, click www.cgiamerica.org/c/?id=760694.

Maker Ed’s Founding Executive Director, Dr. AnnMarie Thomas, with Maker Ed Board Members Mark Greenlaw of Cognizant and Carlos Contreras of Intel at the announcement of the Maker Education Initiative during the 2012 CGI America Conference.

About CGI America

The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Established in June 2011 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America) addresses economic recovery in the United States. CGI America brings together leaders in business, government, and civil society to generate and implement commitments to create jobs, stimulate economic growth, foster innovation, and support workforce development in the United States. Since its first meeting, CGI America participants have made more than 200 commitments valued at $13.4 billion when fully funded and implemented. To learn more, visit cgiamerica.org. CGI also convenes an Annual Meeting, which brings together global leaders to take action and create positive social change, CGI University (CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their community or around the world, and, this year, CGI Latin America, which will bring together Latin American leaders to identify, harness, and strengthen ways to improve the livelihoods of people in Latin America and around the world. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.

About Google for Entrepreneurs

Google for Entrepreneurs empowers entrepreneurs around the world through programs, partnerships and Google products. With over 50 programs in 110 countries, the team seeks to grow entrepreneurial communities and equip entrepreneurs with skills and resources to pursue their big ideas. To learn about the programs, or grow your own skills through free online courses, visit Google.com/entrepreneurs or on Google+ at Google.com/+GoogleForEntrepreneurs.

About Cognizant

Cognizant is a global leader in business and technology services that help clients bring the future of work to life—today—in a business environment that is being transformed by a new generation of highly distributed and virtualized business models; cloud and mobile technologies, and born-digital workers and consumers.

About Intel

Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products, and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Founded in 1968 to build semiconductor memory products, Intel introduced the world’s first microprocessor in 1971.

Full Press release pdf link here.

Maker Ed Celebrates Anniversary at Maker Faire Bay Area

San Mateo, CA, May 15, 2013— The Maker Education Initiative (Maker Ed) celebrates its one year anniversary at Maker Faire Bay Area with an event on Thursday, May 16, 2013 from 2-3 pm.

Maker Ed was created by Dale Daugherty, CEO of Maker Media and founder of Maker Faire, as the non-profit, educational arm of the maker movement. Dale states, “The biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity for the Maker Movement is to transform education. One way that the Maker Education Initiative will approach this is by working to help existing organizations, such as libraries, to build the capacity to engage and develop young makers. Empowering makers of all ages to play an active role in introducing students, and educators, to making will be a key component of these efforts.”

The Maker Movement has the attention of President Obama. At the launch of his Educate To Innovate campaign to improve STEM education, he expressed: “I want us all to think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering, whether it’s science festivals, robotics competitions, fairs that encourage young people to create and build and invent—to be makers of things, not just consumers of things.” At last month’s White House Science Fair, Maker Ed announced its summer campaign to engage thousands of children in making through a skilled cadre of corps members placed in 34 host sites around the country. The Maker Corps program will train more than 100 Corps members in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

Maker Ed is tremendously grateful to its newest partner, Google for Entrepreneurs. “Google for Entrepreneurs is incredibly excited to partner with the Maker Education Initiative to help kids across the country build and make,” said John Lyman, Entrepreneurship Manager at Google. “We’re looking forward to helping communities of makers grow and can’t wait to see what they create.”

Cognizant Solutions, Inc. will support six Maker Corps host sites to help corps members develop problem-solving skills, while gaining experience serving as leaders in diverse communities. Maker Ed will report on the progress of its Maker Corps commitment next month at the Clinton Global Initiative America conference in Chicago. Last June, President Clinton announced Maker Ed’s potential impact on STEM education in the lives of girls and underrepresented populations in the United States.

Maker Ed’s programs promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines with children. Maker Ed is proud to continue the success of the Young Makers Program in partnership with science rich institutions and talented STEM professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area. This Spring alone, over 550 youth and mentors participated in the program of which 245 will exhibit their projects to the public at Maker Faire Bay Area. The program grew from a three-year partnership with the Exploratorium, to include Lawrence Hall of Science in the East Bay, The Tech Museum of Innovation in the South Bay, and the Bay School in San Francisco.

In the next year, under the guidance of our new Executive Director Paloma Garcia-Lopez, Maker Ed plans to expand its programming to include an online project library, recommendations of best practices, and program models to engage low-income children in making. Paloma expresses, “Learning from an early age that designing new things requires the ability to work with a variety of skill sets, is an important lesson. Makers young and old, exemplify a workforce that is creative and adaptable. It’s our job to tell that story, promote the maker-mindset in schools, and grow more makers, more mentors, and more spaces! This is exciting and time sensitive work.”

Maker Ed’s first anniversary event will take place on the grounds of Maker Faire, surrounded by Education Day activities. Education Day is sponsored by Intel for the second year. As a founding sponsor of Maker Ed, Intel supports a cross section of programs that help provide access to tools and instructional support that allow young people, particularly girls, to engage in making activities at home and in the classroom. Maker Ed could not achieve its mission without Intel’s support.

Maker Ed could not do its work without the generous, mutli-year support from its founding sponsors Cognizant, Intel, Pixar Animation Studios, and Maker Media.

About Cognizant

About Intel

About Maker Media

Maker Media is a global platform for connecting makers with each other, with products and services, and with our partners. Through media, events and ecommerce, Maker Media serves a growing community of makers who bring a DIY mindset to technology. Whether as hobbyists or professionals, makers are creative, resourceful and curious, developing projects that demonstrate how they can interact with the world around them. The launch of MAKE Magazine in 2005, followed by Maker Faire in 2006, jumpstarted a worldwide Maker Movement, which is transforming innovation, culture and education.

About Google for Entrepreneurs

About CGI America

President Clinton established the Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America) to address economic recovery in the United States. CGI America brings together leaders in business, government, and civil society to generate and implement commitments to create jobs, stimulate economic growth, foster innovation, and support workforce development in the United States. Since its first meeting in June 2011,CGI America participants have made more than 100 commitments valued at $11.8 billion. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will improve the lives of three million people, create or fill more than 150,000 jobs, and invest and loan $354 million to small and medium enterprises in the United States.

Press Contact Information:

Rachel Alper

703-798-2128

Rachel@makered.org

Friends and members of the press are invited to attend the event May 16^th at the San Mateo Event Center. Please rsvp to Rachel@makered.org to be included on the security list.

Maker Education Initiative Announces Summer Campaign At the White House

By Paloma Garcia-Lopez, Executive Director

Today at the White House Science Fair, I had the great pleasure of meeting President Obama whose enthusiasm and support for inspiring the next generation of innovators was truly contagious. While the President spoke with young scientists about their projects, including “Super Awesome Sylvia” who designed a drawing robot that paints with watercolors, I met industry leaders committed to improving STEM Education. I was able to thank Gordon Coburn, President of Cognizant, for their commitment to Maker Corps and the founding of Maker Education Initiative. Carlos Contreras, Maker Ed board member and U.S. Education Manager for Intel Corporation also participated. Intel is a founding sponsor of Maker Ed and has funded key Maker Corps placements as well as Education Day at Bay Area Maker Faire next month.

In front of the White House, and inside with Super Awesome Sylvia

The White House Office of the Press Secretary released new details today about several key commitments in the president’s “Education to Innovate” Campaign. Among them was our flagship program Maker Corps, envisioned by our Founder Dale Dougherty when our organization was launched. In this excerpt from today’s White House Science Fair press release, our summer campaign commitment to give many more students the ability to be “makers” states:

“This summer, the Maker Education Initiative will launch the first-ever MakerCorps. These volunteers will give more young people the opportunity to design and build something that is personally meaningfully to them. In its first year, over 100 MakerCorps members – in 19 states and Washington D.C. —will work work with 34 different partner organizations such as schools, libraries, and science centers.”

We are especially proud of this commitment because it almost doubles our original partnership goal, and we have a waiting list of over 45 agencies eager to sign up for Summer 2014!

For the full text of today’s White House Science Fair press release, click here.

Aligning with our work, the White House also announced “AmeriCorps VISTA will partner with leading non-profits in the Maker Movement to create Maker Spaces in high schools around the country.” Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS, shared her enthusiasm at the event. This burgeoning partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service represents an opportunity to build the capacity of youth serving organizations around the country by developing a cadre of talented VISTA members as well as cultivating stronger maker community networks at the local level. We want to seed thriving schools, libraries, museums, afterschool programs, mini-maker faires, and maker spaces working together to develop the next generation of creative thinkers, innovators, makers!

Paloma Garcia-Lopez was appointed Executive Director of the Maker Education Initiative as of April 1, 2013. She teamed up with Dale Dougherty and the board of directors to establish the nonprofit, educational arm of Maker Media one year ago. Today, Maker Ed is a national organization that offers training, educational frameworks, and resources drawn from a national network of institutions to engage more youth in making activities.

United Nations International School’s MakerSpace AKA CoLaboratory

By: Francesca Zammarano, Junior School Technology Integrator & Jacqueline Jenkins, Junior School Divisional Head, United Nations International School

UNIS is in its first year of having a CoLaboratory, a room which is just that – an interactive, colorful and vibrant space.

Here we allow students to generate and create visible, tangible and exciting products, which they then can share with the wider school community. These projects are often interdisciplinary in nature, which allows for concepts in Math, Social Studies, or Art to be integrated into the final outcome. In sharing these final products an energy and curiosity evolves and the desire to interact with the space grows.

As students enter the CoLaboratory, they immediately come in contact with tools, similar to those found in childhood shop classes; screwdrivers, safety goggles, cardboard, meter sticks, and a sink. Of course the space is also home to some of our new and exciting technological tools; the 3D printers, robotic kits, iPads and MacBooks. In addition there is an interactive wall covered with buckets and bins, filled with materials just calling out to the children to engage and create.

We have created an environment that mixes high and low technology for the students to use, create, MAKE.

The CoLaboratory is meant to inspire multidisciplinary projects by having full and easy access to storage, project display areas, and different workspaces allowing a variety of activities to take place. In this space we want to provide time for self exploration where ‘whoops’ moments are celebrated and desired in order to foster questions and feedback and most of all sharing.

All projects are inquiry based and use the design process; from designing a way for a Lego man to get off the roof of a building safely, to creating vibrating bots or marble mazes. Each project starts with a problem, time to brainstorm and design, then a build, test, redesign period before sharing the final outcome.

An example which springs to mind comes from our UNIS 3rd grade class, where students are working on an Action Unit. The enduring understanding of this unit is – Human actions impact the earth positively and negatively. Within this unit students are working to define real-world problems and discuss the cause and effect these problems have on other areas or biomes in the world.

During time in the CoLaboratory, students are asked to design and build a maze using a recycled laptop box. The concept design starts with the isolated problem the child is working on within the unit, this problem is reflected at the start point of the maze and the impact it has on the world is reflected through various obstacles and threats (dead ends) in the maze. In developing their model, the students are reflecting on the enduring understanding while creating/making something tangible to reflect their learning. After the maze is done, they will need to make a small circuit using conductive copper tape, coin operated batteries and LED’s that will light up when the ‘marble’ reaches the end. The process of designing, problem solving, painting, questioning, cutting, pasting and presenting their final product makes this project engaging and relevant for the child.

I feel that UNIS is unique in that it provides scheduled time for grade levels to meet, collaborate and develop maker projects that are connected to the core curriculum.

I am interested in being part of the conversation that asks: what is the impact on learning from projects made in makerspaces? What is the prior knowledge that should come to a particular maker project, if any? How can we assess student work and do we want to? What are the take-always and reflections / wonderings that can be shared by the students? Can our students learn to see themselves as “experience creators” ready for the technological world around them in order to promote critical thinking and problem solving skills?

What wonderful questions! We hope you will ponder them with us, and share your thoughts in the comments below. I will certainly be sharing these questions with our Maker Corps Members at some point during the Spring Development Camp. -Steve

Make-To-Learn Symposium, and an opportunity for Young Makers

By AnnMarie Thomas

Earlier this month, the Maker Education Initiative was a proud partner in the Make-to-Learn symposium, part of the Make-to-Learn thematic initiative of the Digital Media and Learning Hub at the University of California, Irvine and supported by the MacArthur Foundation. It was a wonderful day aimed at educators, researchers, and makers to talk about the role of making in educational practice! Additionally, as it was held the day before Digital Media and Learning (DML) conference, there was a wide range of attendees.

A highlight of the day for many attendees was the chance to meet other maker educators and share ideas and challenges. Attendees also got a chance to try hands-on activities that have been used in maker programs. Here’s a fantastic time-lapse video of the Make-to-Learn Makerstations where participants (including many teachers from the Chicago area) had a chance to make! In the afternoon, panels discussed topics such as using badges in maker programs and involving families in making. As a moderator, I had the chance to chat with many of the participants, and left truly inspired. Throughout the day, there were many discussions about the questions posed by the Make-to-Learn effort:

What are key learning outcomes of making and engagement in DIY culture?

What specific activities, tools, and environments help realize and enhance the learning potential of making?
How can we create DIY activities that appeal to a broad diversity of people, from many different backgrounds, and many different learning styles?
How has making and DIY culture been effectively integrated into educational institutions and practice?
What further research is needed to effectively advocate for the educational value of making?

I invite you to share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below!

The evening keynote speaker was Dale Dougherty, Maker Ed’s founder. Dale spoke about the role of making in education, and some of the opportunities and challenges faced as we explore making and learning.

Calling Young Makers: An exciting aspect of the Make-to-Learn efforts in the announcement of the Make-To-Learn contest for youth. In collaboration with Instructables, this competition gives young makers a chance to show off the great things that they make, and to tell the world a bit about how you made it.

Details:

“If you’re a maker between the ages of 13 and 18, this contest is for you. Share any project and answer four questions about what you learned over the course of the build. That’s it. Whether you’re making a pinewood derby car, a short movie, a videogame, a painting, a garden, a sweater, a science fair project, a school assignment, or practically anything else that required you to make something, you’re encouraged to enter it into the contest!”

Prizes include iPads, gift cards, and the chance to be in a documentary.

Maker Ed & Makers at EdVenture in Columbia, SC

By Steve Davee

Last week Maker Ed, represented by AnnMarrie Thomas and me, had the great privilege of visiting EdVenture, the largest children’s museum in the South, for a few days of exploring and experiencing making with EdVenture Staff, visiting educators, and the public.

Events included a monthly meeting of the STEM Conversations: Making Connections series, as part of the Hands-On, Minds-On! Summer Institute.

EdVenture, with support from the South Carolina Mathematics and Science Partnership grant, is currently conducting its eighth year of Hands-On, Minds-On! Institute for Teachers. The Hands-On, Minds-On! experience offers elementary classroom teachers professional development designed to build their confidence about science and mathematics and cultivate their students’ curiosity, while providing tools for understanding the concepts of curriculum integration.

There’s no better way to discuss and explore ideas about making than making itself, so the majority of the time was spent in making connections through conversations, and by building and making things.

AnnMarie and I came equipped with presentations and for explorations with Squishy circuits and LED paper crafts, but the staff of EdVenture were the true stars. They put together wonderful additional offerings in soldering, art robotics, cardboard construction, bead work and jewelry making, music making via multiple iPads, wind creations, and Makey Makey music and games.

The following pictures should help convey the joy of making shared and experienced by all, as we learned together about making by making.

AnnMarie introducing Squishy Circuits

Ms. Shamaka, showing her LED paper craft lighthouse (and her beautiful birch and wire earrings that she made,) both indicative of her warmth and brilliance as a lighthouse of inspiration and caring as an educator.

I’d like to personally thank all of the stellar EdVenture staff for being such fantastic hosts, all of the participants for being so talented, enthusiastic and engaging, and the beautiful city of Columbia, for among many things, introducing me to some excellent true Southern food (how did I not know what a hush puppies were before? And mustard based BBQ sauce? Yes, please.) Columbia also has a top- notch art museum that allowed me to spend hours with such revolutionary makers as Monet, Matisse, Renoir, Degas, and Boudin, and a growing, revitalized downtown being largely driven by artists, creative folks, and makers of things. The point is, the local economy is being energized by makers and doers, as it is in so many communities.

I’d like to also thank my colleague and friend Dr. AnnMarie Thomas, for being such a joy to work with. We both were both made to feel so welcome, and each of us gained great inspiration from the EdVenture staff and event participants.

The best news is, I get to return in June. I am prepared for some humidity, and looking forward to the fireflies, as well as much more hands-on exploration of making, education, and creativity.

Note that EdVenture is a Maker Corps Host Site. Applications are still being accepted through tomorrow, March 15.

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