PRESS RELEASE
Maker Ed Announces Launch of New “Professional Development” Category in Online Resource Library
This offering of free resources, both curated and original, aims to fill the growing needs of maker educators seeking opportunities for further professional enrichment.
Oakland, CA, October 31, 2016
Maker Ed’s online Resource Library, originally launched in 2014, serves as a curated repository and tool for maker educators across the country and internationally. Regularly updated with new resources, it has also expanded its categories over the past few years, adding the “Spaces and Places” category in 2015, for instance.
We’re now delighted to announce the launch of our new “Professional Development” category, generously supported by Chevron. From considerable outreach to maker educators, we know that there is a high need and demand for resources that will help them successfully bring making to the youth they work with in their learning spaces.
In response to this need, Maker Ed has included in our Professional Development category a growing set of modules and activities centered around major topics and areas, from stories exploring “Why Making Matters”, to concrete information on “Learning Approaches” and “Tools & Materials”.
These free resources are designed and selected to address some of the biggest questions and needs maker educators have. Included are materials that help spark and orient educators new to making, as well as those that enable reflection and development for more experienced educators.
In addition to being organized into both self-paced, bite-size activities and more detailed modules of deeper professional training, the category continues to link to Maker Ed and other maker education resources that support more sustained reflection on learning practices, new ideas, and concrete examples of how making is being implemented in a diverse array of K-12 spaces and environments.
Maker Ed maintains an active role in updating our Resource Library, and, as with the other categories, the Professional Development category will continue to grow in content and activities. Check back regularly to see what professional development opportunities have been added!
In addition, Maker Ed is in the midst of offering a 6-week online PD course entitled “Mapping Making: Charting Your Path for Your Maker Educator Practice“. We hope to be able to offer these fee-based courses on a regular basis, alongside the free and open resources that we continue to maintain and grow.
About Maker Ed
Maker Ed is a national nonprofit organization that provides educators with the training, resources, and community of support they need to facilitate engaging learning experiences with youth through maker education—a hands-on, youth-driven, and open-ended learning approach. Through this work, Maker Ed plays a national leadership role in both broadening access to and deepening the impact of maker education for youth. Maker Ed is a project of the Tides Center, a registered 501(c)3 non-profit public charity. For more information, visit the Maker Ed website and follow @MakerEdOrg on Twitter.
Contact
Keyana Stevens
Communications Manager, Maker Ed
(510) 655-1935 | Keyana@MakerEd.Org
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