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Learning in the Making

The DIT Makerspace Webkit

Learning Module

  • Creator(s): William Cope
  • Publisher: Learning in the Making NSF Project

Abstract

Makers are people who imagine things and make the things that they imagine—gadgets, electrical circuits, software, games, artworks, videos, robots, musical instruments, designs for buildings and a thousand other useful or beautiful objects. Makers are also learners. They learn in order to make. And they learn from their making. This Learning Module steps makers and their makershop co-ordinators through the process of documenting their learning so they can present the fruits of their learning—the wonderful things they have made—to the world. We call it a DIT guide, because it also steps makers and their co-ordinators through processes of peer feedback, so the final results are not just DIY (do-it-yourself) but DIT (do-it-together).

Keywords

Creativity, Innovation, Invention, Learning-by-doing, Maker, Makerspace,

Why this Webkit?

For the Maker

Welcome to Learning in the Making, a DIT webspace for documenting and sharing your maker projects.

You've probably heard of DIY, or do-it-yourself, where instead of purchasing something readymade in a store or getting a professional to do something for you, you work out how do it for yourself. The result is something that is cheaper, or better, or different. DIT is DIY with a difference. DIT stands for "do-it-together".

In this webspace, you are going to document your making and learning. Along the way, you will be getting a lot of useful feedback from others. You will also learn a lot by giving feedback to others. So, by the end, you really will have done things together!

Welcome also to Scholar. We call Scholar a "social knowledge" technology. You'll notice that Scholar is a bit like Facebook, Twitter, a blog and LinkedIn. But it is also different from all of them because it is specifically designed for collaborative knowledge work and social learning.

In Scholar, you will have discussions with other members of your maker group's Community space. You will write your pitch or document your maker project in Scholar's Creator space. Then, in the same space, you will provide others with feedback on their work. Finally, after you have taken on board the feedback, your revised work will be published out into the publications area of your own, personal webpage in Community.

Comment: Tell other members of your maker group about a time when DIT, rather than DIY, worked for you. Respond to others' comments by starting your comment with @Name.

Makers, Doing-it-Together

For the Makershop Co-ordinator

This update introduces participants to the idea of collaborative work, and the Scholar platform. When you activate the 'Post Student Content to a Community' button, you will be able to select any community which you admin, and post content on the left side of this screen to all members of the group.

You may also like to post the optional supplementary update from the Getting Started in Scholar Learning Module, to be found in Scholar => Bookstore:

  • Getting Started in the Community Space

We have also created an introductory survey for members of your group. If you activate the "Distribute Survey" button, all members of your community will receive a request in their Scholar activity stream to take this survey. You can see what is in the survey by selecting the 'Preview Survey' button.

All the activities presented in this Learning Module are optional. Nothing happens until you "Post Left Side Content to a Community", "Start Project" or "Distribute a Survey" - you can do any or all of these things at an time, and in any order that makes sense to you as the makershop co-ordinator. When you "Post Left Side Content to a Community", you can edit that content until the first person makes a comment, or stars the update.

If you want some baseline information about your makers before a project starts, you might like to distribute this survey to your maker group.

What are You Envisioning?

For the Maker

Tell the others in your maker group what you are envisioning. What do you imagine you might make?

Brainstorming is a method for coming up with ideas quickly. It is a way of throwing around initial ideas. When you brainstorm, you just say what comes immediately to mind, even if it seems that the idea does not quite work (because you never know, with some DIT feedback, iit might!). Don’t worry if your ideas sound crazy ... think outside of the box.

Comment: As initial ideas come through in Scholar, give your reactions. So it is clear which maker you are speaking to, start each comment with @ followed by that person's name.

Giving each other feedback

For the Makershop Co-ordinator

This is a short optional update you can make for your maker community where you ask them what they are envisoning. You may use this as a supplement to the Scholar project, "Making a Pitch", or as a simpler alternative to full peer review of the pitch.

Also, at any time you can make an update yourself (news, a question, an idea), just by pulling down the menu behind the yellw bar with the community's name and selecting updates.

Adding an Update

There are two ways you, as an admin, can organize your community in Scholar. You can allow any community member to add an update (Community => Settings => Unrestricted). The advantage of this is that any community member can make an update, with full multimedia capacities, and everyone in the community can then comment on it. Alternatively, if your community has restricted content, all that members can do is comment on this update - but that can only happen in words. Depending on your settings, tell your makers whether they are to make their own updates, or comment on this update.

Making a Pitch

For the Maker

Before you start making, it is often a good idea to have a pitch. A pitch is a short presentation where you try to convince others that your idea is a good one, and worth doing. In this project, you are going to create a pitch, get feedback on this pitch from peers, and revise your pitch based on feedback. Your admin may then choose to publish your revised pitch into your personal Community page.

You are going to write your pitch in the Creator space of Scholar. When the project is about to start, you will receive a notification in the top bar - take this live link so you write your pitch in the right place for peer review. Before you start writing, look at the rubric that other members of your maker group will use to evaluate your work. This will give you an idea of how to develop an excellent pitch.

Developing Ideas for a Pitch

Comment: What's the reason for making a pitch? Are there times you have made a pitch? What has it been like?

For the Makershop Co-ordinator

In this Learning Module, we offer two possible works that the makers in your group might create.

  1. Make a Pitch - in which makers clarify their ideas, attempt to convince other members of their group that their project is worthwhile, and get feedback on the project before they start.
  2. Showcase Your Maker Project - in which makers document their maker project.

You may chose to activate either or both of these options by taking the "Start Project" button. The button below will start the first of these projects, the "Make a Pitch" project. You will be directed to a project setup where you will need to step through the project wizard, adding deadlines for your project. The default is random selection of feedback contributors, who will be asked to provide reviews, annotations and publication recommendations. Creators and reviewers will be anonymous. However, if people in your group already know what each other is thinking of doing, it may be sensible to change this default setting in the Advanced Settings area of the Feedback phase. In any event, do check that all the default settings suit you before you commence the project.

Following is the review rubric for the "Make a Pitch" project. As the admin, you can edit this rubric before you start the project (though not after it has been started):

 

If you want to have a single work project, or one that advances manually from step to step, or one that spaces phases by durations rather than fixed dates, you will need to create a new project. You will still be able to use the rubric "Review of a Maker Pitch".

If your maker participants have not used Scholar before, you may wish to post these updates from the Getting Started in Scholar Learning Module. The best time to make these posts is when the group is about to move into each phase of the project.

  • Starting a Work in Scholar
  • Working in Scholar's Creator Space
  • Giving Feedback in Scholar
  • Revising in Scholar
  • Writing a Self-Review
  • Getting Published in Scholar

How are You Doing?

For the Maker

So, how are you doing? Give your maker community an update.

  • Successes?
  • Challenges?
  • Possibilities?
  • Help me!

Comment: Give other makers feedback, make suggestions, offer help. So everyone knows who you are speaking to, start with an @, followed by the maker's name.

Telling others how you are doing

For the Makershop Co-ordinator

This is an optional update that you might make a number of times during a maker project. You might even use it as a less formal alternative to more detailed peer review of the Scholar documentation project, "Showcasing your Maker Project". And don't forget you can make updates that you have created yourself!

Showcasing Your Maker Project

For the Maker

In order to get DIT (do-it-together) feedback, you need to document or record your making processes.

It is one thing to do the making, and another thing to document it. Documenting can serve many useful purposes:

  • To help clarify your objectives
  • To plan the resources required: materials, tools, including their availability for free or at a cost
  • To define and co-ordinate roles when the project involves more than one person
  • To anticipate the research, support from experts and learning you will require to meet your making objectives
  • To describe in words or illustrate the underlying science, technologies, techniques or designs
  • To list the steps in the making process
  • To develop a timeframe
  • To describe the object and user testing processes
  • To describe the ways in which user feedback will be collected
  • To discuss the challenges expected before starting and actually encountered
  • To evaluate the outcomes of the project
  • To tell the world about what you have made

We are going to go through two drafts of your documentation for the Maker Project Showcase.

  • Draft 1: Before you start making
  • Draft 2: When your making is done (at least for the time being!)

You will send out your second draft for peer review, before revising and publication in Scholar's Community space by your admin.

To create your first version, hover over the Save button, and you will see 'Save as a new version' appear. Some important tips: 1) Only do this once, when you have completed your first draft at the beginning of the project. Important - do not submit this version for peer feedback. 2) Write your second version when the project is finished, updating your thinking based on your actual experience of the project. When you are finished, submit for peer feedback. Important - be sure you are ready to submit, because you can only submit once. You cannot unsubmit!

Comment: Give an example of documention in a particular jobs, or particular place of research or learning. What's the point of documentation?

For the Makershop Co-ordinator

If the makers you are co-ordinating have not already used the Creator space in Scholar to write and review a pitch, you may wish to post these updates from the Getting Started in Scholar Learning Module. The best time to make these posts is when the group is about to move into the next phase of the project.

  • Starting a Work in Scholar
  • Working in Scholar's Creator Space
  • Giving Feedback in Scholar
  • Revising in Scholar
  • Writing a Self-Review
  • Getting Published in Scholar

We recommend that the participants make two drafts of their work, one at the beginning of their maker project, and a second when they have completed the project. This way, they (and you) have a record of how their thinking and work has evolved. Very important: you can only submit for peer feedback once and that should be when Draft 2 is completed.

Following is the rubric for the Maker Showcase review:

How was It?

For the Maker

Now we're near the end of our maker project, how was it?

  • What were your triumphs?
  • ... and your disasters?
  • How would you do things differently next time?
  • And what about your next maker project - what will it be?

Comment: Discuss each other's experiences and future plans.

Looking back at a project, and looking ahead ...

For the Makershop Co-ordinator

This is another optional post, which you may wish to make in addition to, or instead of, the full, peer-reviewed "Showcasing Your Maker Project".

You may also wish to distribute a survey, asking your maker group about their experience, as well as getting their feedback on how they found Scholar as a community building and publishing space.