Tag: MakerSpace

Episode 213 – Feel the Flex

Patrick CauleyLeave a comment

Tony and Patrick are back to talk about their great weather, some delicious drinks and much more. Check out the talking points below and be sure to subscribe to us with your favorite podcasting app.

  1. How’s the weather?
  2. What am I drinking?
    1. Bell’s Oberon Ale – https://bellsbeer.com/beers/oberon-ale/
    2. Samuel Adams Summer Ale – https://www.samueladams.com/our-beers/limited-release/american-wheat-ale/summer-ale 
  3. Chrome OS Flex
    1. https://chromeenterprise.google/os/chromeosflex/
    2. https://itbabble.com/2022/04/20/chrome-os-flex/ 
  4. Samsung Chromebooks – rant by Patrick
  5. Holograms. Only $50,000.00
    1. Like Iron Man – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddk9ci6geSs 
  6. Build a STEM Lab in a normal room; don’t sweat the big stuff
  • 4 – 3D printers , Sindoh, Dremel, MakerBot
  • 1 – GlowForge Pro Laser Cutter with Air Cleaner
  • 2- Dremel hand saws
  • 1 – large general tool box with common tools
  • Shelves for storing models, materials, etc
  • Robotic Kits – 2 per table 
  • Tables –
  • Art Room Style Tables; more square the better; you need depth
  • 4- self healing large sized mats per table
  • 2- Dremel sets per table (get the most comprehensive kit you can afford)
  •  safety gear per table
  •  2- professional quality glue guns per table
  • 1- heat gun per table
  • Sets of sand paper per table
  • 1- metal meter stick per table
  • 4- small vices per table
  • 5- 8 strong magnets per table

The Maker Portfolio and University Admissions

Tony DePratoLeave a comment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato

I am always focused on the end-game. The end-game for students is the next level after they leave K-12. Preparing students to compete and succeed is difficult. There is always a huge debate over where time should be allocated, what subjects are more important, and what skills will be required ten years after graduation.

I do believe there are always trends, and finding those trends can be difficult. Most of the data we gravitate towards, is data that we are directed to look at. The trick to finding trends, is to find new questions to ask. In order to find those questions, I try and look at data through a variety of lenses.

College Admissions Data

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) publishes a report called the State of College Admission. I decided to research the 2014 and 2016 reports (data range from 2006-2015) after being very intrigued by a 2007 article titled, Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard. 

The author, Michael Winerip, is an interviewer for Harvard applicants. He made a few profound comments. Here is the excerpt that made me take pause:

Of course, evolution is not the same as progress. These kids have an AP history textbook that has been specially created to match the content of the AP test, as well as review books and tutors for those tests. We had no AP textbook; many of our readings came from primary documents, and there was no Princeton Review then. I was never tutored in anything and walked into the SATs without having seen a sample SAT question.

As for my bean sprouts project, as bad it was, I did it alone. I interview kids who describe how their schools provide a statistician to analyze their science project data.

I started to wonder, aside from academics, are university admission processes valuing all the extracurricular work students are doing, and all the stress and time involved in this competitive process. Many extracurricular options involve technology, and require significant investment in time and money.

The data from NACAC was interesting. There are four common summary columns: Considerable Importance, Moderate Importance, Limited Importance, No Importance.

I decided only to review the change of “importance” in the No Importance category. The first three categories are variable. No Importance is not variable, it is absolute, and reflects a definitive negative statement.

Read More @ The International Educator

Predictions and FabLabs with Neil Gershenfeld

Tony DePratoLeave a comment

Anyone interested in STEM/STEAM spaces and equipment should watch this video. It is older, but worth a revisit. He says we need 20 years to make this feasible and affordable. I think we might be moving a bit faster. He compares the evolution of Fablabs (and personal fabrication) to the original development of UNIX which was done on a PDP-7.

I think the most interesting aspect is we can “go back in time” with his prediction, look at the current state of development, and confirm what direction the technology and pricing are heading.

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato

Are You Planning a Maker Space?

Tony DePrato5 Comments

makerspace

I was having a conversation with a tech director from another school , and we were discussing budgets and resources.

The amounts were fairly staggering for bandwidth, subscriptions, and network support for content management and VPN. Shortly after the conversation, I started to question my priorities. What was driving my budget? Where was the demand coming from?

I started to realize the main force behind the budget was access to online subscriptions. Subscriptions that allow students to consume and use, but not to create. At this point I decided to make some changes. I decided to focus on rapidly developing the spaces required for students to build and create.

On each of the campuses I have the pleasure of working at, I identified an area which would suit robotics, 3D printing, working with computer hardware, and generally support a huge mess.

I considered the long view of robotics, which is not Lego. The next generation will be robots made of strong flexible material. The robot will be large and powerful compared to their Mindstorm’s counterparts. Research VEX for more on this topic.

This means the maker spaces need to be rugged areas where metal can be manipulated, 3D printers can run all night, and occasional chaos will be the norm. What is often referred to as “hard fun” will be the culture of these environments.

I firmly believe with the adoption of more and more BYOD programs,  schools need to stop filling curriculum gaps with subscriptions, Apps designed for consumption and expensive network management tools. BYOD allows students to use, damage, and alter their gear. Therefore budget planning should focus on allowing students to connect to technology designed for teaching and rewarding creation over consumption.

Maker spaces can also be for art, music, and media. Ideally they are simple and practical spaces with some flexibility mixed with organization. In 2015, with the cost of 3D printing falling and the availability of Arduino, money needs to shift, and infrastructure should he designed or redesigned to accommodate maker spaces.

If you haven’t already done so, start these conversations, and start empowering and enabling creation. Move away from staring at pointless Apps running on over priced watches, and move toward real ideas that teach students how to shape their world instead of just participating in it.

Tony Deprato

www.tonydeprato.com