This post discusses some of the challenges and proposed solutions for implementing maker education activities into a learning setting. Several trends drive this post: The Play Deficit - diminishin...
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Traci Selby's curator insight,
March 24, 2013 9:48 AM
What child does not like legos or some type of building blocks? Recently there was a discussion on linked-in about this very subject and it has gotten a lot of responses. In my opinion PLAY is a necessity to child's development.....and if you haven't gotten to play with a child lately, take the time you will learn from them too! |
Jackie Gerstein discusses how we can bring maker education activities into our schools beginning with a look at three current trends:
* The Play Deficit - for many children time to play is minimal as they lead very scheduled lives
* "Lack of creativity and play in children's lives and toys"
* The Maker Movement as in Maker Education
The first two trends are also apparent in our education system. In many schools playtime has decreased with the rollout of Common Core curriculum. Students in pre-school and Kindergarten have specific benchmarks that they need to hit to move on, and it often comes with a decrease in play time.
And many toys we find on the market today do not promote creativity. We often think of Legos as a toy to promote creativity. Gerstein shares her thoughts on this, noting buckets that contain freeform Legos that promote free play are often in the back of the store while the packages of Legos that come with directions on how to build a Star Wars character or a Harry Potter character are in the front.
At the end of this section Gerstein concludes that the literature shows that (quoting from the post):
The final section of the piece explores how the Maker Movement may impact the two issues noted above and provides a look at six areas that we as educators need to consider if we are going to become a part of the Maker Education.