Workshops

Making Genius, Centering Joy (2022): We designed and led a six week course with an international cohort of 22 educators where we created culturally responsive, anti-racist maker-centered learning curricula. This blended learning experience included a series of six asynchronous self-paced learning modules and four synchronous two-hour workshops. Learn more. 

Virtual Workshops (2021): We offered a series of two-hour virtual workshops modeling maker-centered learning rooted in culturally responsive pedagogies including: Rehumanizing Math through Maker Education, Exploring Identity through Literature, and a Cultivating Genius Book Club. Each event was attended by between 10-40 people.

Summer Institute (2019): This week-long learning experience supported teams of educators to build a community of practice centered on designing maker-centered programs for equity and sustainability. We were joined by 30 people from 14 organizations at our then-new community studio in Berkeley, CA. Read our reflections in our blog posts.

Approaches to Maker Education (2019-2021): This multi-day workshop focused on supporting educators to integrate our foundational approaches to maker education into their practice. We facilitated this workshop a total of 8 times: in person three times at our studio in Berkeley, once in Hawaii, once in Texas, and three times virtually. We worked with 116 educators to design a liberatory and culturally responsive maker-centered curriculum. Learn More.

Documenting for Assessment (2019): This two-day hands-on workshop focused on assessment practices. This workshop supported educators to practice different ways to make learning visible and, in capturing our work, our process, and our thinking, we will broaden our notion of what is accessible. We ran this workshop twice, engaging 12 educators from 10 organizations.

Designing Learning Progressions (2019): This two day workshop supported educators to plan units or progressions of learning activities that build off one another. We ran this workshop one time for 10 educators from 7 organizations.

Contracted Workshops around Designing Making Experiences (2018): Throughout 2018 we designed and facilitated variations on maker-centered learning pedagogy.  Throughout this time we ran five workshops for 110 educators from 25 different organizations.

Mapping Making: Charting a Path for Your Maker Educator Practice (2016): Facilitated online course with 20 educators from around the world. The course covered both big picture and on-the-ground topics, such as: Why make? Who makes up your maker community? What are your goals for your community? What tools and materials are needed to support making? How can you ensure equitable and sustainable practices? The course’s cohort model allowed educators from K-16 to learn from each other as they mapped challenges and opportunities for meaningful making.

Collaborative Events

National Forum: Assessment and Evaluation Tools for Makerspaces (2022)
The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Maker Ed brought together around 30 leaders in evaluating maker-centered learning to review and distill current research and create a collection of evaluation tools for maker-centered learning.

Making as Healing (2022)
Maker Ed and Agency by Design Oakland held this day-long workshop where we created a space for 15 educators to come together to practice individual and collective healing processes through making, and center community, care, and connection. Learn More.

NASA Makes! (2021)
We partnered with NASA STEM Engagement, NASA Educator Professional Development Collaborative (EPDC) and NASA Next Gen STEM to host a two-day mini-institute. We offered multiple workshops, presentations, and a keynote on culturally responsive STEM teaching for 73 educators nationwide.

National Forum: Research and Assessment in Library Makerspaces (2019)
The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Maker Ed brought together about 40 leaders in maker-centered learning to review and distill current research relevant to maker-based learning experiences in libraries, identify gaps, and communicate the research in a way to be useful for library practice. This one and a half-day event resulted in a white paper “Opportunities and Vignettes for Library Makerspaces”

Maker Educator Convening (2015 – 2020)
Maker Ed’s annual Convening offers practitioners of maker education an opportunity to connect and share knowledge with each other through hands-on workshops, panels, presentations, and keynote speakers. We hosted a total of six Maker Educator Convenings:

1. 2015 The first Maker Educator Convening was a day-long event that brought together a diverse set of facilitators and advocates of maker education. The themes across 7 sessions with 14 presenters were community, access, and inclusivity.
2. 2016: 175 educators, keynote by Dr. Nichole Pinkard, 34 presenters at 7 sessions, 10 ignite talks, 16 demonstrations, and a screening of the film Most Likely to Succeed. 1.5 days held at the Crucible.
3. 2017: 270 educators from 25 states, keynote by Brent Jackson and Dr. Ben Ford, 65 presenters led 20 workshops and 20 demonstrations, 1.5 days at Galvanize and Autodesk.
4. 2018: 270 attendees from 7 countries and 23 states, including 93 presenters from the wider community who led 35 sessions, Keynote by Paula Mitchell. Two days at The Tech Museum
5. 2019: 241 attendees from 3 countries and 31 states, including  117 presenters leading 61 sessions, including workshops, keynotes, presentations, Ignite Talks, and a phenomenal finale at the PLAYnary, the 2-day agenda in Pittsburgh was our most robust to-date.
6. 2020: 233 (virtual) attendees from 12 countries and 31 states, 70 presenters, keynotes by Dr. Gholdy Muhammad and Dr. Nettrice Gaskins

Making Possibilities (2014) This event brought together 100 educators for a day-long event hosted at Intel in Silicon Valley, keynote from Dale & Sylvia Martinez, breakout sessions that enable participants to dive deep into specific topics; and a “Possibility Faire” of resources for educators.

Maker Educator Meetups (2014-2020)
Maker Educator Meetups are a great way to expand your professional learning network and to dive deeper into maker-based topics, pedagogies, ideas, and insights that can support your community’s needs. Meetups provide a welcoming environment to share successes, get feedback on upcoming projects, troubleshoot ongoing issues, and mingle outside of our respective organizations. This playbook describes the evolution of the Bay Area Maker Educator Meetups since they started in 2014, and shares the goals, outcomes, inspirations, and nuanced details of organizing, convening, and supporting our local MEMs.