Learning Spaces

Students in intermediate grades have grown up in environments immersed with technology. Providing learning experiences that utilize familiar forms of technology can facilitate unique creative opportunities. 

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Another way technology can be integrated with a makerspace learning environment is through the creation of virtual makerspaces. The goal is to create “a virtual environment where students and adults can create, build, and invent and where all the other creative, informal, educational self-directed learning passions can develop” (Loertscher, 2015, p. 1). Provided schools have access to requisite technology, the cost and space requirements typical of setting up a physical Makerspace can be reduced. The accessibility of technologies that allow for creativity, design and construction has increased in recent years. Many platforms offer “a plethora of such apps, tools, or experiences—whatever you want to call them—begging for an audience of children, teens, and adult users. Best of all, many are free or low cost” (p. 2). Various online hosting platforms such as social media, blogs, wikis, etc. allow for students to share their work with wider audiences. Furthermore, the availability of online participatory cultures dedicated to new media can provide access to informal forms of mentorship allowing students to pursue a wide range of creative experiences while receiving support beyond what classrooms have traditionally offered.