Tuesday, May 23, 2017

BVSD Mobile Maker Kits - Reflection

So I was one of the BETA-testers for the Mobile Maker Kits.  There were many opportunities for learning provided by these kits--including a chance to try out new and different components--yet one of my key findings was the leveraging the power of the classroom teacher for increasing student access.

The Challenge

Upon my first introduction of Maker Kits to the school--I started a Maker Club and held open maker times in the library during lunch.  This brought in interested students, yet I was underwhelmed with total numbers.  I connected with rough forty to fifty students during those initial months and only had twelve to fifteen consistently attending the Makers Club.  A good start but not as large a group as I had initially hoped.

First Steps with the New Components

 I started by just putting out some of the Maker Kits on a table that was viewable from the checkout desk.  Curious students started expirementing with KEVA planks or trying out the Ozobots with no prompting.  This captured a few students.

The Big Question

Then I had a key learning:  In order to capture more students, I had to involve teachers.  The question remained though: How do I engage teachers who already feel stretched in their classroom duties to involve them in making?   



Curiosity drives us to learn.  Curiosity sparks new ideas.  Curiosity is the gateway to trying something new. 

I sparked curiosity by setting out a few OSMO stations before a faculty meeting and had a few teachers try them out.  Then during a Teacher Share Fair organized by our professional development committee.  This was a rotation of teacher led activities or lessons that teachers could attend.  I put out a number of stations for teachers to try.  Minimal instructions and just had teachers explore and play.  Teachers immediately were engaged and started asking questions about the kits and how they could use them.

SCIENCE SUCCESS!!

From this event, I enlisted two 6th grade science teachers that rotated the kits through their roughly 200 students.  After seeing this success I approached 7th Grade Science teachers to see if they would want a day of Makerspace rotation.  I was then able to enlist one day for the entire seventh grade--check another 150 students.  

It was exciting to see the students' faces light up when they walked into their science classes and saw all of the kits spread out for them to try out.  Some students had some experience with some of the kits but at least every one found one they had not seen or used.


The key was this wasn't difficult for myself nor the teachers.  I just had to make sure I had enough stations for students to rotate through--seven or eight and also make sure the components were charged.  I actually brought in a charging strip so I could charge on the fly and also had four ipads ready for the Osmo station--so we could switch them out when they ran out battery life.

I would highly encourage this strategy to any teachers/librarians who would like to get the kits into students' hands.