I've been digging down with makerspaces lately and it was a surprise to me to find out that it was an international trend. This week I did a little reading about the Fryslan Netherlands mobile fab lab or Frysklab for primary and secondary students. It is a particularly interesting project because one of its goals is to bring 21st century skills "to find solutions for local socio-economic challenges".
Obviously in the United States we can use "solutions for local socio-economic challenges" and I am beginning to hope that makerspaces could provide some leveling of the playing field among the haves and the have nots..... or could it? In this political environment where the gaps between the haves and the have nots continues to be in our faces and public money threatens to be diverted to private and even for profit schools, what chance to we have the that the divide wont become greater?
Student empowerment is at the heart of the educational maker movement and equitable access is part of what we in libraries provide. But we know that equitable access is aspirational. We know some schools are better equipped than others, how do we keep the maker movement alive and thriving despite socio-economic challenges? The mobile makerspace like the Frysklab could be the answer. Makerspace mobile on the Gulf Coast seems to be trying to provide opportunities to a range of people. A school district in Knoxville, TN with the help of a $50,000. grant seems to have figured out a system of mobile carts which rotate among schools and docking stations which stay at the schools.
I hope that the maker movement will continue to empower students of all socio-economic groups.
Resources
Sargrad, Scott (2017). An Attack on America's Schools:Trump's Budget Lays Bare His administrations Total Disregard for Public Education. Editorial US News and World Report. https://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2017-05-23/donald-trump-and-betsy-devos-budget-would-destroy-public-schools
New Media Consortium (2015) New Media Consortium Horizon Report k-12 “http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2015-nmc-horizon-report-k12-EN.pdf
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