Earlier this month in Teacher’s Corner, we explored the 21^st Century Skills, which encourage student creativity, problem solving, and collaboration as an approach to teaching and learning. In a traditional classroom space, it can be hard to give students the freedom to engage in these types of skills. As a result, there has been an increasing trend in education for schools to develop physical spaces in a school where students can have more open space to engage in project-based activities.  These are called makerspaces. The projects can be entirely decided by the students or centered on a theme such as environmentally-friendly projects or projects that must serve the students’ locally community.

However, a makerspace is not just a physical space for learning. Makerspaces bring with them a hands-on learning approach. In a makerspace environment, students are expected to engage in project-based learning and are encouraged to be self-directed in their learning. This learning approach pushes the students to become makers. Makers create new ideas and new products by exploring, experimenting, and learning by doing. This learning should be guided by the students’ own natural creativity and problem-solving skills. To encourage students to make and build, makerspaces are built on five basic ideas:

1. Everyone is a maker – makerspace projects can be as simple as painting a picture to as complex as building a robot. What is important is making, even if what you make is messy and not perfect.
2. Our world is what we make it – makerspaces encourage students to be more than consumers. These spaces encourage them to reuse and recycle to make new things. Being environmentally friendly is at the heart of the makerspace movement.
3. If you can imagine it, you can make it – makerspaces use students’ natural curiosity and imagination. If students can imagine it, they can build with enough energy, time, and support from teachers.
4. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have – a makerspace does not need to be technology-focused. A makerspace can be as simple as a table or room with paper, cardboard, and markers.
5. We share what we make, and help each other make what we share – makerspaces are collaborative and students are encouraged to learn from one another. Teachers and students are equal partners in the makerspace.

Building a makerspace begins with the learning space. These spaces look more like workshops than classrooms. These spaces tend to have long rows of tables with only enough chairs for each student to have one. By working at long rows of tables, students can see the work being done by others and communicate freely. Also, keeping the number of chairs to a minimum helps by giving students room to get up and move around. In makerspaces, it is critical for students to be able to move freely around the room, so teachers should avoid requiring students to stay in their seats for long periods of time. If your school doesn’t have a room to build a makerspace, a classroom can still be used; just move unnecessary tables and chairs into the hallway during makerspace times. Many makerspaces begin as an after-school club that meets once or twice a week. These less formal after-school clubs can be a great way to discover what makerspace ideas work best for your teaching context. If you provide the space, students will provide the creativity.

Next, a makerspace needs tools for students to build and create. These tools can be physical or digital. It is important to have materials that are widely available to you and your students. Some examples of materials to include in a makerspace are:

Physical Materials

• Paper and Cardboard – cheap and easy to find, these two materials should be in every makerspace. Students can use these two products to begin rapid prototyping. In rapid prototyping, the goal is to go from idea to product quickly. The first build can be messy and rough, but it should help students focus their ideas. Paper and cardboard are great for this.
• Two liter bottles – plastic bottles are another great makerspace resource. They can be used to make bottle gardens, or the plastic can be used to make new projects.
• Glue, string, and tape – makerspaces always need basic tools to help students build their projects. When starting a makerspace, don’t forget basic tools that can help students combine cardboard, paper, and plastic.

Digital Materials

• Audio Recording – If you have musical students, have them use the makerspace to write and record their own songs. Students looking to make music can use tools such as Audacity, an open-source audio recording and editing tool. Open-source tools are software that can be downloaded and installed for free by users. Users of open-source tools can then change the software code to make changes or improvements to the original software. For more on using Audacity, check out the September 2015 Teacher’s Corner.
• Game Design Tools – Encourage students who love video games to stop playing them and start making them. A variety of online tools can teach students how to make their own video games. In your makerspace, include such tools as Gamestar Mechanic, Kodu, and Scratch.
• Programming – The 21^st Century Skills are designed to prepare students for the jobs of the future and many of those jobs will require coding skills. Students can learn the basics of computer coding through a variety of websites such as Code.org, Hour of Code, and App Inventor.

Makerspaces give students an opportunity to build and create. In the process of building and creating, students develop an ownership of their created materials and generate something they can talk about. This ownership of the materials invests students into the projects and can lead them to communicate more because they want to share their ideas with the makerspace community. As instructors, we can use this desire to share by creating opportunities for the students to use English. Makerspace activities in English can include:

• Project Instructions – Students can create written instructions on how to use their creation. For example, the makerspace could have as its focus student teams building a device or project that helps the environment. Once they complete their project, the teams must write instructions in English on how to use their device.
• Advertisements – For a fun writing and speaking activity, teams of students can create commercial advertisements for their project. The advertisements must show what their project is and how it can be used. These advertisements can then be shown in class for a student-created listening activity.
• Project Show-and-Tell – During the creation process students can share their progress in show-and-tell progress reports. In these presentations, teams of students can present their ideas to the other makerspace teams. The teams can discuss their successes and failures in developing their project and provide suggestions to other teams.
• Teacher Instructions – Another way to introduce English into the makerspace is to provide students with instructions entirely in English.

Using some, or all, of the ideas listed above can help get your makerspace started. As a makerspace instructor, it is important to create an atmosphere that encourages students to learn by doing, to communicate and collaborate with their classmates, and to learn from one another. So have fun and make something!

Want to learn more about makerspaces? Check out these resources:

Create to Communicate - This book provides ideas on how to use art to encourage students to use the English language. Many of the ideas presented can fit directly into a language-focused makerspace.  The book can be downloaded by section or as a whole.

Make it yourself – Casa Thomas Jefferson opens Makerspace - Learn more about how a makerspace is being used for English education.

Makered.org - Maker Ed is home to the makerspace for education movement. On this website you can find materials on using makerspaces for learning.

Makerspace Playbook School Edition - This downloadable book can help you get started in creating a makerspace at your school.

Youth Makerspace Playbook – This is similar to the Makerspace Playbook listed above but with a focus on makerspaces for younger learners.

Just make it! How makers are changing everything - This article provides a brief overview of makerspaces and how people are using them to create new ideas and products.

US College Libraries in the Digital Age – Read this Voice of America article about how the digital age is changing libraries from a focus on books to a focus on creating.

Will Technology Benefit Very Young Children? - This is a Voice of America article on how even young learners are using makerspaces to interact with the digital world.

Students love to play video games, but many teachers may have doubts about how they can be used for learning. Teachers who do not play video games often see them as a distraction that students spend too much time playing. Taking a closer look at video games shows us that these games are more than entertainment for our students. They are also platforms where students can create and share stories with other fans of these games.

Teachers who do not play video games can still take advantage of these games and their affinity spaces in the language classroom. Affinity spaces are both real and Internet-based spaces where people with similar interests can gather together to interact and learn from one another. In the case of video games, these affinity spaces are often English speaking and our students can often be motivated to learn English so they can interact with others who share their love of a particular game.

In this week’s Teacher’s Corner, we will explore ways we can take advantage of video games for the language classroom even when we do not play video games ourselves.

The use of video games in the classroom, or Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL), is one of the major trends in education today. The question for many non-video gaming teachers is: why? Here are some of the leading facts for the use of games in the classroom:

Video games are the new media literacy – We are all familiar with the traditional forms of media: music, books, movies, and television. For many of us, these ‘big four’ media have existed our whole lives. As a result, we understand them and use them frequently for relaxation, entertainment, and learning. Video games are now the fifth major literacy (Squire, 2008). Teachers use each of the other four media in the classroom and now that video games have joined the list of major media literacies, it is time we use them too.

Video games are the first interactive literacy – What makes games a powerful media is their interactivity. Music, books, movies, and television are all ‘one-directional’ literacy; we can consume them but not change them. Our students love video games because unlike traditional literacies, games are interactive. Video games respond to the choices we make as a player, and the story changes as a result of these decisions. This ability to make decisions and see the results is engaging and motivating for our students. When students play games, they have an experience that they can then share and discuss in the language classroom.

Video games are big business – The video game industry is now the largest media industry in the world, making more money each year than either the movie or music industry. For teachers, this is important, as we should recognize that our students may want to work in this industry. The video game business is a global business with games being made in countries around the world by globalized teams. Many of these positions require fluency in English. If you have students who dream of making games in the future, take time to remind them that working in the video game business means knowing and using English.

Video games can take our students to America – The fastest growing area of video games is e-sports. In e-sports, teams of players compete in organized competitions across the world. This year’s DOTA II International e-sports competition saw teams of players compete for USD $20 million in prize money. These teams are international teams that all use English to communicate. Even American universities are developing e-sports teams. This year the Pacific Area Conference (PAC 12) made up of universities in the western part of the United States will begin hosting and organizing e-sport competitions. A student’s video game playing could get them a scholarship to the University of California Los Angeles, Arizona State University, Oregon State University, and many other universities.

If you do not spend time playing video games it may be hard to know how to use them in class. A great place to start using games in the class is by taking advantage of the affinity spaces around games and incorporating these into the classroom. This helps us in two different ways: students can bring their love of video games into the classroom, and we as teachers can learn about the games our students play through their homework assignments.

Game Reviews – Besides video games as software, there is a large industry around video games. Entire websites are devoted to reviewing games, reporting video game news, and watching e-sports. Students can use these websites for reading practice and learning about genre writing. Students can visit game review websites to learn the structure and organization of game reviews, which provides reading practice within a context. They can also study the structure and organization of the video game review and write their own review as homework. Students can get language practice, and you can learn about their favorite game.

Podcasts – For students in need of listening practice, video game podcasts can be a great resource. Many podcasts such as Kotaku’s Splitscreen discuss video game news and reviews, while others such as Designer Notes interview game developers and teach the art of making games. These podcasts can be an effective way for our students to develop their listening skills in context. Even better, encourage your students to make their own video game podcasts to share with you and their fellow students. For more on podcasts, see our American English Webinar Series webinar on Podcasting for the Classroom.

Fanfiction – Fanfiction is the taking of characters from our favorite media and creating new stories that use these characters. For example, students may read or watch The Hunger Games and then write their own story using the characters of Katniss and her friends. They can do the same with video games. If students have a game they play often, allow them to use a writing homework assignment to introduce you to their favorite character. Students can describe their adventures in the video game or use their character in a completely new story. Remember, your students may have many things to write or discuss about a video game character, but they will not bring those ideas to class until they have been given a space to do so.

Machinima – Machinima, which is the act of making movies using games, uses video games much like a theater stage, and players use the game as a background to tell their own stories. When making machinima, players write dialogue scripts, plan background sets, and then record their performances. These videos are then edited and posted online for others to share. Making Machinima may seem too complicated for the classroom. However, the students can take care of the technology, so do not worry if you are not familiar with the tools. Instead, focus on providing the students the opportunities to work on such projects as part of your class homework. The students are and can even teach you how to use them, which is an excellent example of 21^st century skills.

When considering how to use video games in the classroom, consider how they are another form of media. We can encourage our students to discuss their favorite music, books, movies, and television shows in the classroom as part of conversation practice. Now it is time to add video games to that list. If students are provided the space and opportunity to bring their knowledge to the classroom about video games, they can be a rich source of communication and a useful tool for learning English.

If you want to bring specific games or game-related activities to your classroom, check out the September 2015 Teacher’s Corner to learn more.

Reference

Squire, K. (2008). Video-game literacy: A literacy of expertise. In D. Leu, J. Coiro, M. Knobel, & C. Lankshear(Eds.), Handbook of research on new literacies (635-670). New York, N.Y.: Lawrence.

This webinar, "Multi-Modal Writing: Promoting Digital Literacy in the English Language Classroom," discusses how multi-modal writing uses more than just words to communicate–it encourages students to use audio, video, photographs, and drawings to supplement their writing in meaningful ways. Because of this, multi-modal assignments can help students develop visual and digital literacy. By assigning multimodal projects, we prepare our students to communicate effectively in modern writing contexts. This webinar presents ways to create effective writing assignments using blogs, collages, video/audio essays, and storyboards. We will also discuss how to evaluate multi-modal assignments fairly, using rubrics designed especially for these assignments. 

In this interview, Lilac talks about her part-time job, being on the swim team, and buying a car.