Sara Tinney

Module 11 gave us the opportunity to experience Maker Day. An area was devoted to booths showcasing different technologies and educational applications of the Maker Movement.

There are many people linked to the Maker Movement and its presence both outside of and within education. For example, Seymour Papert and Dale Dougherty are both significant to the Maker Movement.    

The Maker Movement is linked to DIY and constructivism. In relation to education, the Maker Movement strives for classrooms and lessons that are student-centered, with hands-on learning experiences. Shifting the focus of education from traditional ideas (i.e. behaviorism, teacher-centered, lecture-based, memorization, drill and practice…) to more modern ideas (constructivism, connectivism, student-centered, hands-on, experience-based, flexible…) supports Maker Education. Maker Education enables learning-through-doing, supporting a deeper connection to the lesson as students are not memorizing information, they are interacting with it.

I believe constructivism and the Maker Movement are crucial to education as allowing students to learn through meaningful, hands-on, exploratory, and creative projects leads to higher order learning. Maker Education leads to students who are engaged, problem-solving, thinking critically and collaborating. Active classrooms are engaged classrooms, and the Maker Movement is all about being actively involved in technology as well as, collaboration, creativity, innovation, exploration, critical thinking and problem solving.

Maker Day introduced me to many technologies that can be used in education. Aurasma is one of the technologies showcased during Maker Day and is a technology that I plan to use in my classroom. Aurasma is an Augmented Reality platform, which allows users to augment images/objects in the real world with audio, video or visuals. Aurasma is free to download, so anyone can create an account, which allows them to create their own Auras or follow others to access their content. I have created an Aurasma account so my students can download Aurasma and use their Apple or Android mobile devices to access the Auras I have created in relation to specific lessons and/or assignments. Students could also create their own Auras. For example, I could have students create posters with various components acting as “triggers” for additional content. There are other Augmented Reality platforms that could be used in the classroom.

Scroll down to watch my screencast video. 

Or click here to see my screencast on YouYube.

Click the attachment beside my embedded video below to access the PowerPoint I used in my screencast video.

Or click here to access the PowerPoint through GoogleDrive.

Click here to see my Pinterest pinboard about the maker movement.