Why the Maker Movement Matters to Educators
By Sylvia Libow Martinez & Gary Stager
Glossary Terms
e-textiles, “smart” materials, wearable computing
Quotes
“We are smarter than me should be a lesson for educators. Collaboration on projects of intense personal interest drive the need to share lessons learned, not external incentive like grades.” (Libow Martinez, Stager, 2013)
The quote above and below are ideas and discussion that I have been involved in over the past year during my teacher education classes. The first topic is that of grades and effective incentives for learning for students. External incentives while they are motivational for some students they are not the most effective way to encourage “real” in depth learning that engages the students mind and has them wanting to learn more. Intrinsic motivation is the far more effective and meaningful way to approach learning but it is often not to format of our education system, with teacher having to “teach for the test”. The following quote goes hand-in-hand with the concept of intrinsic motivation, if we believe that learning is most effective if the student is engaged in what they are learning then it stands to reason that they feel that they need to find value in what they are learning. To take ownership they must find value in the learning and they must have control over what they are learning to find value in it.
“Educators often talk about how learners should own their own learning, but if the learners doesn’t have control, they can’t own it.” (Libow Martinez, Stager, 2013)
References
Libow Martinez, Sylvia; Stager, Gary. (2013) Why the Makers Movement matters to educators. SmartBlog on Education. Retrieved November 20, 2013 from http://smartblogs.com/education/2013/08/20/why-the-maker-movement-matters
e-textiles, “smart” materials, wearable computing
Quotes
“We are smarter than me should be a lesson for educators. Collaboration on projects of intense personal interest drive the need to share lessons learned, not external incentive like grades.” (Libow Martinez, Stager, 2013)
The quote above and below are ideas and discussion that I have been involved in over the past year during my teacher education classes. The first topic is that of grades and effective incentives for learning for students. External incentives while they are motivational for some students they are not the most effective way to encourage “real” in depth learning that engages the students mind and has them wanting to learn more. Intrinsic motivation is the far more effective and meaningful way to approach learning but it is often not to format of our education system, with teacher having to “teach for the test”. The following quote goes hand-in-hand with the concept of intrinsic motivation, if we believe that learning is most effective if the student is engaged in what they are learning then it stands to reason that they feel that they need to find value in what they are learning. To take ownership they must find value in the learning and they must have control over what they are learning to find value in it.
“Educators often talk about how learners should own their own learning, but if the learners doesn’t have control, they can’t own it.” (Libow Martinez, Stager, 2013)
References
Libow Martinez, Sylvia; Stager, Gary. (2013) Why the Makers Movement matters to educators. SmartBlog on Education. Retrieved November 20, 2013 from http://smartblogs.com/education/2013/08/20/why-the-maker-movement-matters