MakerEd envisions a world where every child is given access to be a maker.
In the past 10 years, The Maker Education Initiative has provided training, support, and resources to individuals, institutions and communities who are integrating maker education into their learning environments. Utilizing a blend of online and in person opportunities for engagement, we offered:
- In-person & virtual workshops and trainings
- Freely available online resources and publications
- Cultivated a network of educators on local, regional, and national levels
As of 2022, MakerEd has closed down its programatic efforts (read more).
This site will remain up and running to provide useful resources for educators.
We hope you can stay tuned with other educators through this site and our new publication, as we look forward to an exciting new chapter in maker education.
Why is maker education important?
The impact of maker education is undeniable. When students are engaged in making, they embrace creativity, innovation, and discovery, and have meaningful opportunities to collaborate, solve problems, and imagine a vibrant future. When adults are developing and implementing maker education, they are more collaborative, engaged, excited by student work, and willing to try new things.
When students and adults are collaborating to build the future together, there is a ripple effect of excitement that engages parents, shifts the culture of learning, and builds more connected communities.
At MakerEd, we believe it is a critical moment for youth. The rapidly shifting terrain of technology, global economic systems, climate change, and culture has galvanized an opening for massive institutional and cultural change has the potential to transform how children are prepared to navigate their futures. No longer will skills-based education with narrow tracking and rating assessments provide youth with the tools they need. We are presented with the opportunity to shift learning to a balanced eco-system that provides multiple pathways for learners to develop their own agency and problem-solving dispositions, and to collaborate and learn from each other.
At MakerEd, we do this work because we believe maker-centered learning has the power to transform the educational experience for every child, and we imagine a future in which all children—regardless of class, gender, race, ability, or geography—have equitable access to learning experiences that support the development of their own agency and problem solving dispositions as they become lifelong change-makers.
We do this work because we know that making has the power to transform teaching and learning to be equitable, inclusive, relevant, and responsive to learners’ lived realities and needs.