Our friends at Design Squad Maker and GBH Boston PBS have an amazing new project we want to promote: their new Design Squad Maker tool-kit and app! Tailored for youth aged 8-11 and their caregivers, this offering arrives at the perfect time–ready for the summer vacation season. Read more about these organizations, their work, and […]
How to Assemble & Distribute Home Make Kits
This is the fifth in a series of blog posts focused on how hands-on learning can be made accessible at home. To date, kits have been distributed to 750 families in Oakland through Oakland Unified School District’s “Grab and Go” food distribution sites, drive-through graduations, and delivered to families’ homes. This work would not have […]
Pandemic Proof: Four Stories of Youth Making and Activism
This is the fourth in a series of blog posts focused on how hands-on learning can be made accessible at home. This post is by contributing writer Dion Evans. To date, kits have been distributed to 750 families in Oakland through Oakland Unified School District’s “Grab and Go” food distribution sites, drive-through graduations, and delivered […]
Pandemic Proof: An Interview with After School Educator Meisha Marshall
The advent of COVID-19 has forever altered life as we know it, and the lives and learning of students all across America.
However, it is during times like these that heroes and heroines are born, those willing to serve and support others despite general communal fear. These are the people that sacrifice their own health and safety for the protection and safety of others.
Today’s Maker Education Initiative interview consists of a casual conversation with such a person, Meisha Marshall. Meisha is an advocate for youth in East Oakland needing alternative ways of learning, and she explores cutting-edge ways of ensuring they have access to tools that support their mental and physical health and development. Read more…
Pandemic Proof: The Resilience of Aaliyah Coleman
To understand the power of a positive response to a pandemic, one must first understand an individual’s potential. On Saturday, March 3, 2020, Aaliyah Coleman, 5th-grade East Oakland Student, had just won the Silver Medal at a Youth Track Meet. She competed in the long jump against fourteen other 11- and 12-year-old girls and was one of two who cleared over 13 feet. After her impressive opening meet, she looked forward to competing again the following week, this time for gold. Read more…
Supporting Oakland Youth with Hands-On Learning Through Home Maker Kits
The response to the spread of COVID-19 has resulted in many sudden changes to schools and learning environments across the country, and the Bay Area is no different. Local schools’ capacities have been stretched thin by a rapid switch to distance learning. To continue to support our mission in this new learning environment, Maker Ed has creatively partnered with after school programs in Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) to ensure more students have access to hands-on learning while school buildings are closed. Read on for details about how we approached this project and what we’ve learned so far! Read more…
Building a Culture of Repair in Maker Education
Over the past few months Agency by Design Oakland and Maker Ed have partnered with The Culture of Repair Project to consider how to ignite an interest in repair within maker-centered learning and the broader K-12 landscape. Our working group recently had the opportunity to present our repair research at the annual Maker Ed Convening. Read more…
2017 Highlights: Helping Our Partners Succeed Through Customized Training
Throughout 2017, Maker Ed has been providing support to Verizon Innovative Learning’s teacher grantees through customized training, workshops, and virtual meetups.
Fulfilling the Maker Promise: Year One
As this year’s Week of Making comes to a close, we are excited to publish our first annual Maker Promise report, which shares what we have learned about the state of making in schools and how this is shaping our efforts.
Grass Valley + Maker VISTA: Accelerating Making and Impact
Grass Valley was committed to integrating more making into students’ day-to-day learning, but needed a jolt of energy and effort to propel their small staff over initial starting speed bumps. Maker VISTA members, through Maker Ed’s Maker VISTa program, provided that accelerating boost. Read More…