10: Future-casting with Makerspace

The practice that I will take with me after this course was all the information I learned about MakerSpaces.  I have felt skeptical about makerspaces for a couple years now and I really doubted a makerspace's place in the school library.  For example, if I am working with a class of reluctant readers, giving them a bunch of Duplo blocks and telling them to make something isn't going to influence their interest in reading.  How would parents respond to their child building on an epic Lego wall in the school library?  It's a library. Get a book.

Now, I understand the power of makerspaces and I appreciate how the hands-on nature of makerspaces counters all the screen time students experience during the school day. I will continue to use digital curation to promote makerspaces.  We are starting makerspaces in January and I predict more than a few eyebrows will be raised as parents, teachers, and administrators pass by the library as they walk down the halls.  The digital curation I have about makerspace resources will be a good justification and introduction to makerspaces for education stakeholders who are unfamiliar with makerspace. 

I also find the BEST applications of makerspace materials tied in with curriculum via Twitter.  I will continue to scour Twitter for makerspace ideas and to hopefully share our own makerspace creations someday. I agree with Laura Gardner in the Horizon report when she said that "No one is anti-library, but libraries do have a marketing problem." That statement galvanizes me to continue to tweet about JBE library and all we are doing, reading, and creating.

Sullivan, B. (2016, December 29). Librarians share their predictions for education trends in 2017. Retrieved December 02, 2018, from http://oomscholasticblog.com/post/librarians-share-their-predictions-education-trends-2017