MAET’s Challenge: Host a Maker Faire in One Week
“All of us our makers. We are born makers.” (Dougherty 2011). If you have not heard already, there is a movement of making, which embraces Dougherty’s ideas that as individuals, we can all MAKE. As part of my EdTech class (MAET), we were challenged to join the Maker Movement and put on our very own Maker Faire in one week, at Michigan State University’s (MSU) campus library. As a team, we accepted the challenge and hit the ground running to learn, collaborate, and design our way to a successful Maker Faire.
In this short timeframe, my class teammates and I needed to step out of our teacher roles and begin to think and act like designers. We focused our learning and thinking around Stanford University Institute of Design, design thinking process. As a class, we constructed our thoughts to define Maker, Make, Maker space, and Maker Faire. Once our knowledge of the Maker Movement was evolving we began to plan our booth idea, establish how the Maker Faire would run, and collaborate on materials to promote the event.
The planning process was hectic but, overall went smoothly. All of our efforts paid off and we successfully accomplished our Maker Faire Challenge. At the faire, we hosted over 200 individuals (Ages 1-80+). The seven events featured at the faire were interactive, fun, and inspired new or old makers to create and explore. “The Power to Conduct” is the booth I created with the help of my partner, Kelsey.
My Booth: The Power to Conduct
- Created by K. Masserant using Piktochart
In collaboration with Kelsey, we created the Power to Conduct booth allowing Makers to explore conductors and insulators using a tool called, Makey Makey. Our activity came about as the two of us brainstormed different ideas. As Kelsey and I began to discuss the tools we were exposed to in class, we agreed the Makey Makey’s were fun to use. From there, we expanded on our idea and developed our plan starting with the learning and making objectives.
Learning Objective: Participants will apply knowledge of completing circuits to explore conductors and insulators. They will learn what a circuit needs to function including how to place the materials. By the end of the lesson, they will know which materials are conductors and which are insulators. They will also understand how to operate a Makey Makey and how to play Tetris, PacMan, Mario Kart, Panik, Frogger, and online instruments.
Making Objective: The maker will choose proper conducting materials that complete a circuit using a Makey Makey. This activity supports exploration, play, and teamwork. The maker is participating in the last three parts of the maker movement model: ideate, prototype, and test.
These foundational objectives supported the overall #Got The Power Plan, constructed for our Maker Faire booth. If you are interested in recreating this activity here are a few suggestions to improve on:
- Make sure games do not have excessive advertisements
- Find alligator clips that are easy to operate without adult support
- Have at least two extra computers available
Reflection on Maker Faire
The entire Maker Faire experience was eye opening and inspiring. In one short week, the concept of making went from an unknown to a successful Maker Faire event. I should stress, the success of the event was due to the effort of 14 individuals working for a common goal. During the planning process, there were moments of confusion and tension due to many “unknown” factors. However, our strong and committed team was able to overcome the obstacles. In this process, I learned to approach an idea by asking and documenting many questions. This “Question Formulation Technique” is part of a process that can help formulate new and different approaches to problems (Berger 2014).
During the last week, I have been immersed in the maker movement and have learned many things. One main concept continuously emerged within articles, Warren Berger book, and even in a Skype interview (with Make Magazine editor Mike Senese) is the idea to fail forward. Within the Maker Movement, fails are not viewed negatively. Fails provide an opportunity to question, improve, and innovate. I value this approach to learning and making.
As I try to relate the Maker Movement to teaching, learning, and technology, I am having what Punya Mishra calls, véjà du. In short, véjà du is the idea of making the familiar strange (the reverse of déjà vu) (Mishra 2008). In my classroom, I am excited to approach teaching in a different (or strange) way. I plan to incorporate questions techniques and embrace failed successes with my students.
Overall, the Maker Faire Challenge was a wonderful and truly memorable experience. My advice to other interested in hosting a Maker Faire connect back to my big takeaways from this adventure: 1) Have a strong and committed team that can overcome obstacles 2) Ask lots of questions 3) Learn from failure. With some effort, lots of questions, and ultimately some failures it is possible to establish a role in the Maker Movement.
References
Berger, W. (2014). A More Beautiful Question. New York: Bloomsbury.
Dale Dougherty. (2011, January). We are makers [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/dale_dougherty_we_are_makers?language=en#t-16970
Mishra, P. (2008, August, 4). véjà du for the first time ever![Web log post]
Retrieved from http://punya.educ.msu.edu/2008/08/04/veja-du-for-the-first-time-ever/#more-278
Ms.Ciotta 