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Makerspace: A current Trend in Educational Technology

When addressing makerspaces as a current trend in educational technology, first it is important to

understand what is a makerspace? According to the Oxford dictionary a makerspace is “A place in which

people with shared interests can gather to work on projects while sharing ideas, equipment, and

knowledge”. This usually occurs within the STEAM field (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and

Mathematics). (Barniskis, 2014)

Where did makerspaces originate from?

It would be challenging to pinpoint exactly when Makerspaces originated since people have been

creating and tinkering since the beginning of time. (Gorbatai & Dioun, 2015) mention that the digital

makerspace is a result of hackers and programmers in the 1990’s in Germany which evolved to Fablabs

and hackerspaces in the early 2000’s which spread in Europe and North America. (Burke, 2014) argues

that the makerspace movement was influenced due to the launch of Make: magazine in 2005.

(Dougherty, 2012) adds that this makerspace movement expanded due to the magazines “maker faires”

a year later in 2006 which presented a venue for the makers to showcase their creations.

(Daughtry, 2012) mentions that “Since the first Maker Faire held in San Mateo, California, we have held

Faires in Austin, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; and New York City. The most recent New York City event, the

World Maker Faire, attracted over 100,000 attendees. In response to requests from fans, we have begun

to hold mini-Maker Faires in cities around North America.” This indicates how the movements’

popularity escalated in a short period of time from an area in California to many areas across the United

States.

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This movement was further endorsed by former President Obama in 2009 in his “educate to innovate”

campaign mentioning that the young should “be makers of things, not just consumers of things”. This

was taken a step further in 2014 when the Whitehouse hosted a maker faire, he also declared June 18 to

be “national day of making” (Bevan et al., 2014). This surely influenced schools among other institutions

to adopt makerspaces for learning purposes.

Current state of Makerspaces

Not only has this trend emerged in the U.S, but has spread worldwide where there has been a drastic

growth as (Davee et al., 2015) mentions that “Google Trends shows the search term “makerspace” has

quadrupled in the past two years and is currently in its highest rate of growth in search frequency”.

(Peek, 2016) explains that “Over the past decade, makerspaces have exploded in popularity all over the

globe—user-reported numbers show nearly 1,400 active spaces, 14 times as many as in 2006.” They can

be present in many locations for several purposes offering various resources. Harvard’s (Agency by

Design, 2015) initiative emphasizes that the rise of the maker movement in many areas including

schools suggests a new kind of hands-on pedagogy—a responsive and flexible pedagogy that encourages

community and collaboration.”

Learning environments in which it is currently being used

According to (Kurti et al., 2014) a successful makerspace project “begins with an idea, observe and plan,

jump straight into trying things, and tinker with it until it works well”. This strategy can be implemented

across all learning environments where makerspaces are commonly found. These include schools,

universities, companies, libraries and some are mobile and used at a temporary basis. Although anyone

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can technically use a Makerspace, they tend to mostly be used for the purpose of learning and testing.

(Daughtry, 2012) implies that they can also be used in companies by employees for inventing new

products. He also mentions that companies can source talents to hire in their companies by keeping an

eye on some of the creators in makerspaces.

Public Library Makerspace

(Nichols et al., 2016) attempt to use a public library makerspace to help bring the underprivileged youth

in the area into STEM education. Therefore, an event was held at a Public library aimed to address the

issue of underrepresentation of African Americans in STEM professions. This event was a step forward

to help those with interests in the STEM arena to get involved and feel included. The event hosted

activities such as tennis shoe engineering and automata design to engage the youth which were drawn

from a public housing area to the library. As a result of this event, tennis shoe engineering has led to

youth making comic-strip shoes, 3D printing shoe lacers and latex samples among other outcomes. This

could inspire the underprivileged youth to pursue careers in the STEM direction by being exposed to the

activities.

Mobile Makerspace

This example shows that Makerspaces are not always stationary, sometimes they are mobile and

temporary. (Gierdowski & Reis ,2015) The pop up makerspace was put up aiming to give students in a

residential hall access to maker tools and technologies. Technologies such as 3D printing, crafting tools,

and a variety of electronics were available for the students to use in the Makespace. This initiative was

both successful and unsuccessful. It was successful because there was a positive attitude towards the

Makerspace since “conversations that were generated about the need and demand for a dedicated

makerspace open to the entire campus community”. However, it was also unsuccessful because

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“greater mobility was sacrificed to achieve greater security via locked doors and compartments that

added weight to the cart. While the goal of increased student access to maker tools and technologies

was met, the level of access was often restricted due to staffing limitations.” Since the technologies in

the makerspace are expensive, security measures must be taken which will affect the mobility of the

Makerspace since it would be more heavy due to the locks and compartments added. (Gierdowski &

Reis ,2015)

Makerspace in companies

Many companies such as The Technological Institute in Denmark, Autodesk, iKuben and MKP use

makerspace’s affordances to their advantage. Most common tools available in companies are 3D printer,

Laser cutter, Mechatronics, CNC mill and Vinyl cutter all of which are present in at least 9 out of 13

companies with makerspaces in a study conducted by (Jensen et al., 2016). Companies such as

TechShop offer a makerspace which work in partnerships with educational institutions and companies

such as Ford, Fujistu and others. ProtoMore is a makerspace developed by iKuben and MKP. They use

this makerspace in order to “test equipment to test the prototypes" Autodesk for example is a private

company leading in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software ("Autodesk | 3D Design,

Engineering & Entertainment Software", 2018). The workshop at Autodesk in San Francisco entails a

makerspace inside the company. The makerspace proved to be successful since they were able to and

continue “to test how Autodesk’s main product - 3D-modelling software - supported the actual

prototyping machines when the employees of AutoDesk built their projects. Also, another advantage of

the makerspace is that “it was used as a (impressive) showcase for visitors.” (Jensen et al., 2016)

Makerspace for Engineering students

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A makerspace educational activity with 44 engineering students from La Laguna University was designed

in order to increase creative competence in engineering students. (Saorín et al., 2017) Tools such as

digital scanners were used in order to capture reality and transform it to a 3D digital file. 3D printers

were also used to allow the formation of objects. It was clear that the attempt was successful since “The

results show that activities with digital editing tools and three-dimensional printing are valid for the

development of creative competence: participants who performed the activity improved their creativity

ability in 24,04 points. The perception of students about the impact of these activities on their creativity

is high, with values above 3.5 out of 5.” (Saorín et al., 2017) .

Makerspace in schools

Schools such Indian Trace Elementary School in Broward County in Florida use makerspace so that

“Students are learning without turning to the front of the room for directions or receiving steps from the

teacher at the center. They are the ones directing the action.” (Gohl, 2017) The makerspace materials

range from “a mixed bag of art supplies, erector sets, paper mache, 3-D printers, green screens, drones,

and more” (Gohl, 2017). At this school, students are expected to be responsible for their own learning

through collaboration, trial & error and creatively finding solutions to problems they face. For example

at a grade 4 class, the students were expected to program and test a robot. The school found that the

makerspace utilization is a success since they generally had positive attitude to this form of learning. As

a student involved in the mentioned learning activity emphasizes that “It doesn’t feel like school work. It

feels like I’m playing.” (Gohl, 2017) mentions that the students are learning skills that will help them

even beyond the classroom walls where they will be able to formulate creative solutions to challenges

they face.

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Issues related to the makerspace trend

There can be many challenges faced regarding makerspaces, the obvious being funding, purchasing

resources and construction (Sheehy, 2017). (Bagley, 2014) discusses difficulty of operating on a tight

budget and concerns of making financial commitments such as purchasing, maintaining, repairing and

updating costs involved especially since technology is always being updated therefore existing ones

outdated. Perhaps this is the reason why TechShop (mentioned earlier) filed for bankruptcy recently.

(Bagley, 2014) offers suggestions to overcome these challenges, but they remain an integral concern.

A common challenge regarding makerspace is when failure occurs. Failure in this context means when

the maker does not achieve his desired outcome. This is common in makerspaces since many times the

maker must keep trying to reach his goal. A study was done about the impacts of failure in makerspaces

when making. The study showed that this causes frustration, however it is critical that the makers are

pushed to keep trying and guiding them to learn from their mistakes. They should view these failure as

an opportunity for creativity (Maltese et al., 2018).

Another study showed that demographics played a role when discussing concerns. The study showed

that females were not as active participants as males in many areas since 41% of females prototyped,

on the other hand all males did. 12% of males alleged that they do not perceive themselves as a maker,

while 20% of women did not. All of the males stated that they used engineering and software, whereas

only 33% of females did. The only area the females excelled over the men was in robotics. Here 52% of

the females used them in contrast to 50% of males which is a close call anyway. (Jensen et al., 2016)

Also there seems to be a demographic imbalance regarding makerspace participants in terms of race

and ethnic backgrounds as recent study by (Peppler et al., 2017) shows that “Across all makerspaces

surveyed, 45.5% of program participants were White, 21.6% were Black/African-American, 8% were

Asian, 0.3% were Native American, 1% were of Hawaiian or Pacific Islander descent, 6.7% were of more

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than two races, and 16.8% didn’t fall in the given categories. Of all participants, 18.9% were

Hispanic/Latino(a).”

(Santo et al., 2015 ) states that the 3D printers within a school makerspace were used by students to

download models files which caused long ques of students waiting in line to do so without really

learning much from doing so. This also results in “logistical challenges” for others to use the tool for

more meaningful purposes. It was also mentioned that some referred to the makerspace as “a place

where the 3D printers are” (Santo et al., 2015 ). This shows that the makerspace is not being used to its

full capacity using tools meaningfully and it also shows that there is a negative side in giving the students

a high degree of autonomy.

According to (Santo et al., 2015 ), an issue faced regarding makerspaces was in managing the space and

keeping everything tidy. This was especially a challenge when the users are irregular and do not work in

the space on a regular basis. (Santo et al., 2015 ) identified that there was a case where the makerspace

got very untidy which resulted in closing the makerspace and figuring out a way to organize instead of

using this time to make and learn. This issue is exemplified when there is limited storage space. “Several

spaces had plastic boxes of various sizes they offered to frequent users for personal storage. The

companies of iKuben also expressed their need of having lockable storage for projects with intellectual

property concerns.”. (Jensen et al., 2016)

Conclusion

Overall, makerspaces can be of added value to learning experiences when used in meaningful ways.

Surly, the is a negative side to implementing them but when the challenges are tackled strategically,

one can overcome concerns. Makerspaces give learners the opportunity to experiment and tackle

challenges with a hands on approach which promote 21 st century ISTE standards. These include being a

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knowledge constructor, innovative designer, computational thinker, creative communicator and global

communicator. The affordances of makerspaces allow for these standards to be met if executed

purposefully.

Links to Makerspace examples:

1. Public library
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gss/2016/2016/38

2. Mobile makerspace
Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-06-2015-0067

3. Companies
Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212827116305261

4. Engineering students
Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871187116300487

5. Schools
Retrieved from:http://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/11/the-case-for-school-
makerspaces-according-to-those-who-use-them/

References

Agency by Design (2015). Maker-centered learning and the development of self

(white paper). Project Zero. Harvard Graduate School of Education. Retrieved from
http://www.agencybydesign.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Maker-Centered-
Learning-and-the-Development-of-Self_AbD_Jan-2015.pdf

Agency by Design | Project Zero. (2018). Retrieved from

http://www.pz.harvard.edu/projects/agency-by-design

Autodesk | 3D Design, Engineering & Entertainment Software. (2018). Retrieved

from https://www.autodesk.com/

Bagley, C. (2014). Makerspaces. Chicago: American Library Associations.

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Barniskis, S. C. (2014). STEAM: Science and Art Meet in Rural Library Makerspaces.
In iConference 2014 Proceedings (p. 834 - 837). doi:10.9776/14158

Bevan, B., Gutwill, J., Petrich, M., & Wilkson, K. (2014). Learning Through STEM-Rich
Tinkering: Findings From a Jointly Negotiated Research Project Taken Up in Practice.
Science Education, 99(1), 98-120. doi: 10.1002/sce.21151

Burke, John. (2014). Makerspaces: A Practical Guide for Librarians. Washington,

D.C.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Davee, S., Regalla, L., & Chang, S. (2015). Retrieved from https://makered.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/08/Makerspace-Lit-Review-5B.pdf

Dougherty, D. (2012). The Maker Movement. Innovations, 7(3), 11-14.

doi:10.1162/INOV_a_00135

Gierdowski, D., & Reis, D., (2015) "The MobileMaker: an experiment with a Mobile
Makerspace", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 33 Issue: 4, pp.480-496,
https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-06-2015-0067

Gohl, E. (2017). The Case for School Makerspaces, According to Those Who Use
Them. Retrieved from http://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/11/the-case-for-school-
makerspaces-according-to-those-who-use-them/

Gorbatai, A., & Dioun, C. (2015). Enchanting Fields: Collective Events and Emotion
as Value-Amplifiers during the Emergence and Institutionalization of the Maker
Movement. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2477194

International Society for Technology in Education. (2000). ISTE national educational

technology standards (NETS). Eugene, OR :International Society for Technology in
Education,

Jensen, M., Semb, C., Vindal, S., & Steinert, M. (2016). State of the Art of
Makerspaces - Success Criteria When Designing Makerspaces for Norwegian
Industrial Companies. Procedia CIRP, 54, 65-70. doi: 10.1016/j.procir.2016.05.069

Jensen, M., Semb, C., Vindal, S., & Steinert, M. (2016). State of the Art of
Makerspaces - Success Criteria When Designing Makerspaces for Norwegian
Industrial Companies. Procedia CIRP, 54, 65-70. doi: 10.1016/j.procir.2016.05.069

Kurti, S., Kurti, D., & Fleming, L. (2014). Practical Implementation of an Educational
Makerspace. Retrieved from http://www.teacherlibrarian.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/12/Kurti-3-for-tl-website.pdf

Lou, N., & Peek, K. (2016). Consent Form | Popular Science. Retrieved from
https://www.popsci.com/rise-makerspace-by-numbers

Maltese, A., Simpson, A., & Anderson, A. (2018). Failing to learn: The impact of
failures during making activities. Thinking Skills And Creativity. doi:
10.1016/j.tsc.2018.01.003

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Nichols, S., Schuster, T., & Ball, M. (2016) "Using a Public Library Makerspace to
Bring STEM Education to Low-Income Youth". Gulf South Summit on Service-
Learning. 38.

Peppler, K., Keune, A., Xia, F., & Chang, S. (2017). SURVEY OF ASSESSMENT IN
MAKERSPACES  (Issue brief). Retrieved from https://makered.org/wp-
content/uploads/2018/02/MakerEdOPP_RB17_Survey-of-Assessments-in-
Makerspaces.pdf

Santo, R., Peppler K., Ching, D., & Hoadley, C., (2015). Maybe a Maker Space?
Organizational Learning about Maker Education within a Regional Out-of-School
Network.

Saorín, J., Melian-Díaz, D., Bonnet, A., Carbonell Carrera, C., Meier, C., & De La
Torre-Cantero, J. (2017). Makerspace teaching-learning environment to enhance
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Sheehy, C. (2017). Help! Our Makerspace is Broken!. Retrieved from

https://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/univ_reports_library/8/

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