PLAY MAKE LEARN CONFERENCE, DAY 2

 

 

Keynote by Cassidy Puckett:

 

The stereotype is you are born a geek, but that’s not true, everyone can learn. What does it mean to be good at technology?

Five habits key to learning:

·         Being willing to fail- celebrate failure loudly and use it to get better

·         Being able to manage frustration

·         Using other people as models

·         Understanding design logic

·         Creating efficiencies- understanding that there are short and long pathways and figuring out shortcuts--e.g., keyboard commands

 

These habits exist in every group but are not being recognized. Black and female computer pioneers are forgotten. Telling people that they are good with tech can help. We need everyone’s ideas in these trying times.

 

Escape Rooms for Education:

Kari Kozak of University of Iowa created a virtual escape room called “Capture the Creature” to teach undergrads about Library of Congress. It was presented as a live event on Zoom.

 

Escape room creation:

·         Made a storyboard

·         Set up clues and hints in a virtual world

·         Used Wordpress for the web site

·         Used VYOND for video creation

·         Used Libanswers to answer chat questions

·         Hired a voice actor for the voiceover from the theater department

·         Created a fake library record and put it on Google Sites

·         Pre-trained three helpers for breakout rooms- sometimes hard to get people who don’t know each other to work together

·         Had an exit survey

 

They will do it in person next time with a fake physical book.

 

Improving Equity in Makerspaces:

 

Abigail Phillips, UW-Milwaukee, former public librarian, received a grant from IMLS to improve accessibility in makerspaces.

 

Key takeaways:

·         Disabilities can be visible or invisible

·         Reading off the slides for a presentation is more accessible

·         Libraries need to hear from the disability community

·         Offer ASL interpreters and speech-to-text

·         Create a focus group

·         Have a variety of desks and chair options- stools do not accommodate all bodies

·         Create new relationships- once word is out in the community, more and more will come

·         Vet the library web site for accessibility

·         Think of different events for different communities-e.g. pottery for the visually impaired.

 

We can use making as a way toward social inclusion--disabled patrons are often isolated. It is about welcoming them to the space, not giving them a “ticket” to the dominant culture.

 

Social Emotional Learning in Maker Education:

 

BitSpace is a youth-only makerspace in Chicago that uses the CASEL framework for learning.

 

CASEL principles:

·         Use setbacks as part of learning

·         Help students increase frustration tolerance

·         Focus on the experience with your questions, not results

·         Create random pairings

·         Give groups social structure - e.g., engineer, designer, draftsman, observer/notetaker, etc.

·         Create space for appreciation and acknowledgments at the end