Presentation about the history of digital fabrication spaces, the philosophy behind them and examples of their implementations in learning environments.

1. Nancy Otero
nancy@beamcenter.org
@LeSheepo

2. Oldest !
human!
artifacts!
40,000 BC

3. Making in the hands of
everyone

4. “It was never about toys,
it’s always about what happens
when toys are applied to society”

5. “Dream… there will be stumbling blocks
in your journey. Things will go awry,
and people will come and go. If you hold
on to that vision, the people and funds
will appear.
The people sharing this vision are the
fuel for the fire.”

8. 36 covers: 85% males, 0% African
Americans
MAKE Editorial board: 87% males, 0%
African Americans
512 Articles: 85% male authors
Electronics, vehicles and robots: ~90%
(source: Leah Bueckey’s keynote at
FabLearn 2013)

9. At the heart of the FabLabs is
the belief that the most
sustainable way to bring the
deepest results of the digital
revolution to communities is
to enable them to participate
in creating their own
technological tools for
finding solutions to their own
problemsA

10. Innovation and collaborative problem-solving
are core skills for virtually any career, and yet
those are the very elements that have been
pushed out of schools by the mandates of
standardized testing.
Most high school students will graduate without
the experience of having ever designed a
solution and built a working prototype.
-- PAULO BLIKSTEIN

12. SPACE MATTERS. WE READ OUR PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENT LIKE WE READ A HUMAN FACE.
–DAVID KELLEY, FOUNDER OF IDEO

13. NEVER HELP A CHILD WITH A TASK AT
WHICH HE FEELS HE CAN SUCCEED
- MARIA MONTESSORI

14. Child Direct
Let students choose, be curious and lead
Risk Friendly
Encourage successful failures
Emotionally Attuned
Praise process rather than person
Active
Judge activities by tinkerability and playfulness
Time Flexible
Help students find and stay in flow
Exploratory
Ask open-ended questions

15. Review by Barron & Darling-Hammond, 2008
§ Students learn more deeply when they can
apply classroom-gathered knowledge to
real-world problems.
§ Active-learning practices have a more
significant impact on student performance
than any other variable, including student
background and prior achievement.
§ Students are most successful when they are
taught how to learn as well as what to learn.

16. It seems relatively
obvious, but this is
the first objective
evidence of the
neural basis that if
you have the building
blocks of certain
behaviors, it is easier
to learn tasks versus
more novel tasks.
-Stephen Ryu-

17. Schneider, Blikstein & McKay (2012)
0
9.6
12.5
0
6.4
9.1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Pre-test Mid-test Post-test
LearningScore
Table → Text
Text → Table

18. Video professor
A B

19. Schneider & Blikstein 2015

24. 1980s
1900s
2000s
to
blink
forever
[
a,
on
wait
10
a,
off
wait
10
]
end
‘{$STAMP
BS2}
‘{$PBASIC
2.5}
OUTPUT
14
DO
HIGH
14
PAUSE
1000
LOW
14
PAUSE
1000
LOOP
int
ledPin
=
13;
void
setup()
{
pinMode
(ledPin,
OUTPUT);
void
loop()
digitalWrite(letPin,
HIGH);
delay(1000);
digitalWrite(ledPin
,
LOW);
delay(1000);
}

27. “The question is not what the
computer
will do to us. The question is what
we will make with the computer”

28. Idea
Power-­‐Papert
• Par[cipants
will
be
able
to
use
the
idea
to
solve
a
real
problem
that
had
come
directly
out
of
a
personal
project.
Powerful
in
the
use.
• Use
made
of
the
idea
is
directly
connected
with
other
situa[ons
in
the
world.
It
leads
to
the
understanding
of
a
large
class
of
phenomena.
Powerful
in
its
connec[ons.
• Syntonic.
Has
roots
in
intui[ve
knowledge
the
par[cipant
has
internalized
over
a
long
[me.
Powerful
in
its
roots

31. Internet

32. EXAMPLES

34. hap://fablabcatapult.weebly.com/
fablabulus-­‐experiences.html
Middle
School
Da
Vinci
+
Simple
Machines
Mul[disciplinary
Ac[vity

35. hap://fablab-­‐pd.weebly.com/dpm-­‐-­‐
ac[vity.html
Brooklyn
Interna[onal
High
School
Project.
English
+
Electromagne[cs
+
Programming

36. ntense
project
in
Mexico.
Digital
Fabrica[on
+
Design
Thinking
haps://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=kQayN86RVB0

37. Barcelona:
Mul[disciplinary
Project
Music
+
English
+
History
+
Math
+
Art
+
Technology
.

39. Nancy Otero
nancy@beamcenter.org
@LeSheepo