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LIBE 477 Final Project - Virtual Makerspace - a next-level take on a great idea!


For my final project, I chose to create a Virtual Makerspace, an online arena to launch students into deep creativity and unique productions. As I researched the Makerspace concept throughout this course, I began to realize some key areas with which educators struggle with Makerspace: price. A functional Makerspace can be quite costly in terms of time, money and physical space. Purchasing coding/tinkering/construction/crafting/3D printing supplies is only part of the process; a well-stocked Makerspace also requires extensive planning, preparation time and energy from the creator/supervisor. Maintaining the Makerspace can also require significant time. Replacing used or broken items, restocking and weeding are constant efforts. Finally, a quality Makerspace requires physical space, something which many schools and classrooms simply do not have to spare. I have become increasingly convinced of the usefulness of a Virtual Makerspace.

In my research on Makerspace, I was quickly drawn to David Loertscher and his research on the creative spectrum and Makerspace. I was interested to discover his development of the Makerspace concept in his article TheVirtual Makerspace: A New Possibility?. Loertscher describes a Virtual Makerspace as a “virtual environment” (2015) where users can “create, build and invent…and where learning passions can develop” (2015) as learners engage ideas with others – a virtual space for tinkering, collaborating, experimenting and making, and an arena for 21st Century Literacy development, if I’ve ever seen one! So I set out to create my own version of a Virtual Makerspace. 

Early in my process I realized that I needed to focus the scope of my selections – I wanted this to primarily be for students. It became increasingly important to me that my Virtual Makerspace was a place where students could quickly engage the creative process. I wanted my links to be easy for learners to immediately grasp and I wanted as many links as possible to be free to use without a subscription. There are also many formats for displaying the Virtual Makerspace, but I chose to use the application with which I’d had previous experience – Symbaloo.  

Symbaloo was a great app to work with! It was easy to learn, easy to use, and I could quickly create impressive webmixes exploring their search bar of previously created Symbaloo mixes. Symbaloo also answered my scope problem – the app allows users to create new of tabs along varying themes so I could create tabs for teachers, for general student use and for more specific topics. 

To share my Symbaloo webmixes I have created a screencast describing both the app I used and the Virtual Makerspace itself. Screencasting may be new to me, but this is something my gaming friends have extensive experience with. I was advised to use Game Bar. Game Bar is a Windows 10 secret weapon designed to capture screen activity – already on my computer, it was a timely find for this project.  

Enjoy the presentation below and have fun exploring the links in my Virtual Makerspace. I trust that they are sources of inspiration and challenge for you, as they have been for me!





 Virtual Makerspace



Minecraft Makerspace


Teacher Resources




 

Resources

Loertscher, David V. The Virtual Makerspace: A New Possibility? Teacher Librarian; Bowie Vol. 43, Iss. 1, (Oct 2015): 50-51,67. 

Loertscher, David V; Preddy, Leslie; Derry, Bill. Makerspaces in the School Library Learning Commons and the uTEC MakerModel. Teacher Librarian; Bowie Vol. 41, Iss. 2,  (Dec 2013): 48-51,67. 

NCTE Definition of 21st Century literacies Retrieved from:  http://www2.ncte.org/statement/21stcentdefinition/

 

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