In past issues, we have written about makerspaces and maker learning, and about why we feel that it can be an important part of the curriculum. After helping many schools around the world to develop and facilitate makerspaces, our Vice President of Education and makerspace expert, Mark Barnett shares his 3 key elements for successful maker learning.

After starting my own makerspace in 2013, a mobile makerspace in 2015 and helping dozens of schools all over the world design, use and teach in makerspaces, I have learned quite a bit about what works, what doesn’t and why. With a growing interest in maker learning, schools have made great strides in adding makerspaces to their schools and curriculum. Some of these schools have done a remarkable job and others have been left wondering what the hype is all about.

The way that I see it, is that maker learning is just one of many education interventions that a school can elect to facilitate. Other education interventions include social-emotional learning, project-based learning, or even curricular products for math and literature. To implement any of these strategies or interventions successfully, there are usually 3 main factors that contribute to the success or failure of implementation. Each of these factors requires thorough commitment, and even if only one area lacks in commitment, the whole intervention is likely to fail. 

Here are the 3 key elements of commitment required for maker learning (or any educational intervention):

1. Commitment to the tool or technology
2. Commitment to the pedagogy that supports the use of the tool or technology
3. Institutional commitment to the success of the tools, technology and pedagogy

Commitment to the tool or technology

For the case of maker learning, this means that the school must commit to tools, technologies and materials that support maker learning. Commitment in this element looks like:

• Acquiring the tools and technologies needed in a makerspace
• Providing the proper use and training of the tools and technologies
• Ongoing support and maintenance of the tools and technologies
• Continued training and development of staff using the tools and technologies

Commitment to the pedagogy

Most educational interventions have an accompanying pedagogy that is best suited to support the intervention and maker learning certainly has its own pedagogy that includes tinkering, play, design thinking and constructionism. Commitment to the pedagogy looks like:

• Providing training, support and professional development to teachers
• Creating work-groups or cohorts of teachers who can spread the pedagogy and help pass along knowledge and training to other staff
• Sending staff to conferences to attend and present shared knowledge on best practices and strategies
• Provide access to educational research in the field of the pedagogy to stay current with the evolving understandings and to learn from others

Institutional Commitment

This final element is the most important one and from my experience, the one element that makes or breaks the success of a maker learning program (or any intervention)

• Creating a core team of champions who are charged with the success of implementation and are accountable for success
• A strong team of leadership who truly believes that the intervention has merit and is dedicated to the hard work required to see the success
• Financial commitment to all of the above mentioned points 

It really is a simple formula to follow and it is easy to implement once you have thought through each key element. Typically when I work with new schools, we discuss all 3 key elements before deciding to do any work together to make sure that the school is prepared to commit to all 3 areas before any work is done.

Use these 3 keys to help guide you on the successful implementation of any educational intervention, and if you would like more information or have specific questions about maker learning and makerspaces, please feel free to reach out to me on twitter or email.

Written by Eva Yeung, BSD Education

At BSD Education, we are always exploring new ideas to help boost students’ engagement in the classroom. It is important to boost engagement levels because engaged students are more curious and motivated in any given subject matter. With a growing sense of curiosity and motivation, this can greatly elevate and improve their overall learning achievements and experiences. 

Can we boost student engagement with technology initiatives at schools and districts – for example, with increased computer lab time, 1:1 device programs, etc.? Just by introducing tech tools like smart screens, online quizzes and games will only boost engagement for a little while. What we want is to establish sustainable engagement that has a meaningful impact. 

Technology in the classroom doesn’t have to be a  distraction and burden for teachers. Let’s explore ways to take advantage of our students’ interest in technology as a vehicle for better student engagement. Here are 3 of our favorite ways in boosting student engagement:

• “What’s in it for me (as a student)?”

Our students want to know how and why the content they are presented with is relevant to them. This concept is not new and has long been associated with social psychology (Frymier and Shulman). As educators, we are on the lookout to connect with students to ensure that their learning is relevant to them. Consider introducing a simple tech project where students can gain practical skills in digital design and coding through online learning projects, such as creating a reading blog, or creating a dynamic adventure game to showcase their understanding instead of a traditional book report. Students will feel accomplished with a new skill that they have practiced and are able to apply in other areas of study.

• Change it up

When students get familiar and in a routine in your classroom, you might feel that you have your classroom management secured and that your classroom is running like clockwork, but it is also important to try something different from time to time to keep your students interested. You can pique your students’ interests if you introduce a new concept through an interactive tech project (that they can also code and build) instead of a more traditional approach, such as showing them a documentary.

• Give them choice

Allow students to make a choice in the projects that they do and how they want to learn. When students are given the opportunity to have an active role in their learning, they will feel more compelled to listen, engage themselves and take ownership in their learning. Technology projects may not be suitable or interesting to all students,  but we shouldn’t take away the opportunity for other students to thrive through tech projects. Promote student agency in your classroom by giving tech projects as an option of creative learning and output.

As educators, we should also ensure the content and learning objectives are presented clearly so that the chosen tech activities are meaningful and have immediate value to your students. When it is done right, technology can enhance student interest and understanding, as well as open opportunities for student agency and creativity.  

What strategies do you use to spark your students’ engagement and interest in their learning? Let us know by tagging us at @educationbsd on Twitter or find us on Linkedin.

Written by Mike Dixon, BSD Education

If you were to visit any high school selected at random during the 2019-20 school year, you’d almost certainly stumble upon a conversation about career-ready technology skills for students. After speaking with hundreds of teachers, administrators and employers, we’re convinced that combining technology projects with real world outcomes and career ready skills is one of the most important emerging trends in education.

As educators, we understand that real world application is a key factor for engaging students with any course material. We can also observe that students who are able to demonstrate critical thinking and technical skills through real world outcomes are more likely to succeed when applying to higher education or to an upper entry-level role within the workforce. 

So how can schools deliver real world experiences to students in a classroom setting? Let’s take a look at some of the ways BSD’s partner schools are achieving this today.

Students as In-House Tech Support

This academic year, several of our school partners have shared that a portion of their IT needs are currently being serviced by student-led teams. Take Barringer STEAM Academy for example where a cohort of high school seniors (the self-proclaimed “Geek Squad”) spend designated class periods updating printer drivers, troubleshooting Smart Boards and administering tablets. These students are gaining real world experience while freeing up the school’s IT staff to focus on critical services.

Another school we spoke with went as far as to create a student-monitored online ticketing system for school staff to request assistance and reduce the load on their IT department. The BSD team is working closely with two additional schools now to help their students design online ticketing systems using the BSD Online platform. These projects empower students to use the technology skills that they learn in class to solve real problems for others.

Business Partnerships

Another approach to this trend that has been gaining momentum is developing partnerships between schools and local businesses. These relationships can vary from school to school but we’ve seen success in a couple of specific forms:

One method is for the company to provide resources to the students with the ultimate goal of identifying and acquiring new talent for internship and full time positions. We recommend speaking with nearby medium to large technology companies to see if they offer a community service program for their staff.  Mentoring can be a great way for employees to give back to their community while providing invaluable insight for high school students who may be unaware of local career opportunities.

Another example of authentic collaboration between students and local businesses comes from a BSD partner school that is connecting students with local small businesses to offer basic digital services. For example, teams of students are helping to build and maintain basic websites for small businesses that would otherwise not have the resources to reach customers online. Not only are they solving a real problem for small businesses but students are also building a portfolio of work that will benefit them beyond high school.

Students in Leadership Roles

When a partnership with real local businesses feels out of reach, there are ways to provide leadership opportunities within the school environment. Two of BSD’s partner schools, String Theory Schools and the Pathway School, operate student-run cafes where students participate in every part of the business, from customer service, to handling payment, to sourcing the raw material, and managing the online presence.

At Downey High School in California, teachers have found a different way of providing leadership experience to their high school seniors. This year, they’ve launched a new enrichment program where a team of seniors are empowered to teach coding skills to younger students through a Video Game Development course. This format put students in the teacher’s role and was a  great way to build confidence and communication skills that will prepare them for life.

Directly Transferable Technology Skills

Finally, there is one guaranteed way to prepare students for career opportunities: teach technology skills that are directly transferable to the workplace. At BSD, our curriculum is based on the same text-based coding languages used by professionals from website developers and software engineers to data scientists and app designers. The projects that our students build are rooted in real world context and their outcomes are directly transferable to solving real world problems.

If you are a teacher or school administrator and would like to insure that your students have the technology skills they need to be college and career ready, feel free to reach out to BSD Education. We can help you prepare your students for the ever-changing challenges of tomorrow and help them build digital portfolios that will follow them into their future ambitions.

Written by Mo Qureshi, BSD Education

At the end of every year,  our Education team dedicates time to research new developments and trends in education and technology, to ensure we create cutting edge, sustainable and up-to-date roadmaps for our future curriculum.

In 2019, the world of technology saw a wave of many new releases and updates, some of which can directly impact and transform Education. 

Here’s a list of trends we found that you should also stay updated on:

1. Digital Citizenship:
Although digitalisation has increased student and teacher access to information, there is no guarantee that information online and associated search results are accurate and factually correct. Due to the ubiquity and variety of social media platforms, it has become much easier to disseminate false and inaccurate information. To counter this, we’ve seen schools and education program providers create activities and lessons to teach about digital citizenship, with specifics around fact checking, countering misinformation, having civil dialogues online and general good online behavior. 

ISTE Student standards define Digital Citizenship as students having the ability to “recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical”.

For example, a school in France has begun teaching lessons on which information to trust on social media platforms like Twitter. The International Baccalaureate (IB) has also announced a new course called Digital Societies which will teach about fake news, social media algorithms, and privacy.

2. Genius Hour:
Genius Hour – “is a movement that allows students to explore their own passions and encourages creativity in the classroom.  It provides students a choice in what they learn during a set period of time during school”.

The last few years have seen a growth in teachers giving their students more control over their learning. Teachers are playing the role of a facilitator of learning or a learning coach, and students select, define and lead their learning. One strategy is to introduce Genius Hour in the school timetable.

3. Teaching Empathy:
In an ever changing world with growing global connections, being empathetic will help students become more understanding, compassionate leaders and solve problems with  sustainable, human centric approaches. Lauren Owen states these 3 benefits of empathy in education: 

• Empathy builds positive classroom culture. 
• Empathy strengthens community. 
• Empathy prepares your students to be leaders in their community.
  

Want to introduce empathy in your classrooms? Read guide by the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

4. Managing Screen Time:
After investing in devices for each student or shared devices in a classroom, teachers, parents and schools have been trying to balance how their children use these devices. It is essential to find a happy medium between a child’s offline and online time, as they also  need to play outdoors, interact with real people, navigate the world around them as well as use digital devices to learn important digital skills like communication, learning, collaboration and planning. This happy medium can be found by asking if the use of the device is appropriate, meaningful and empowering. Here’s a handy set of strategies by Common Sense Media to help you manage your students’ screen time effectively.

5. Maker Education:
We’ve seen Makerspaces or plans of creating one emerge at almost all the schools we work with. Some schools are creating special spaces for Maker Education, while others are modifying their Libraries, Art Rooms or Science Labs to include a Makerspace.

Maker Education allows students to develop a wide range of knowledge and skills and the opportunity to innovate, create real-world applications for classroom concepts and to learn from failure.

Planning on starting your own Makerspace? Here are 5 things we learned from running our own.

What exciting trends in education and technology did you come across this year? I’d love to hear from you! Share it with me at mq@bsd.education or tweet to me at @msaifq.