Creya STEAM Lab & Design Studio
Meeting the Maker Space guidelines
by MIT, The world’s leader in Creativity, Technology and Maker Education
by MIT, The world’s leader in Creativity, Technology and Maker Education
MIT is the leading institution when it comes to inventions, innovation, cutting edge STEM, Making and Creating the new and for path breaking educational programs. Here is brief on how Creya STEAM Lab, Design Studio & Makerspace aligns with the suggestions from MIT Edgerton Centre for an Ideal Makerspace.
The points in black are suggestions for an Ideal Maker Space while blue indicates how Creya meets the requirements.
Disclaimer: This is our own assessment and in no way implies and suggests and endorsement by MIT or its associates.
Fundamentally, a maker space is a space with different kinds of fabrication tools often both low tech and high tech where people can go to make things and explore ideas
In a Creya STEM Lab, Design Studio & Maker Space, you have tools focussed on the High Tech like Robotics, IoT, 3D Printers and the Laser Cutter & Engraver as well as the Digital Media. The the low tech things like Carpentry tool kit or a Manual Lathe Machine are usually not included as most schools in India usually cite a lack of time, space, safety concerns or patience to use these tools. However for schools that are interested, we do some include compact low tech tool kits (shop-floor tool kit).
Simply giving students a space with all the tools and materials won’t actually teach them how to use these things meaningfully
Creya understands that buying kits alone is not enough and hence the focus on pedagogy that provides for introductory bootcamps and guidance on how to use the technologies before challenging them to use them to solve for self-directed, open ended design and prototype solutions.
Maker spaces that are successful are not just one giant room, with all the tools and all the things to do everything at once. You need defined spaces/areas – formal space versus informal space, clean vs dirty, noisy vs quiet, flexible vs fixed, independent vs supervised. Maker space is not just one space it can be distributed throughout a campus
This inviting ambience of a Creya Studio along with the collaborative seating arrangement and the kind of projects encourage students to be experience the noisy ideation, collaboration and discussion as well as the quite reflection and journaling. The idea that Creya Studio is just a starting point that seamless melds itself into extending the making culture across the school.
The key to success is program – you must have a strong program. Program is the foundation. Understanding your program is needed to design a space with the right tools and staff to then support. Pedagogical focus
Program includes: the pedagogical point of view, the overarching theme for the space, the curriculum and activities that are run in that space Every program approaches hands-on learning from a different perspective
The Creya Program has been built on strong pedagogical foundations of hands-on learning as well as the tools to train and support the teachers of the school to run the program as well as strong community of maker facilitators across all the schools implementing the Creya Studio.
People are critical. The staff who run the space must deeply understand the pedagogy, the program and be able to use and teach others use of the tools.
If possible, create an opportunity for the community/industries in the area to bring something of what they’re doing and having this maker space
The Creya Team is a set of passionate Makers with experience to train and support any willing enthusiast teacher from any discipline to be able to facilitate a makerspace activity.
Edgerton’s goal is “helping people integrate a maker mindset and tools into the regular academic curriculum” so that you can reach all students
It has as much to do with teacher’s practices, as it has to do with the tools and space. It’s making connections to STEM and 21st-century skills like collaboration, creativity, technological literacy, problem-solving, etc.
The Creya program is designed to not only get students to practice and manifest the connections between classroom learning, hands-on STEM and 21st Century skills but also to be able to assess them through a rubric that includes self, peer and facilitator ratings using observations, journals, design briefs and interviews.
Work with teacher to develop strategies that enable them to move from being a teacher to a facilitator
The Creya program provides well defined resources and templates along with a continuous professional development program to enable and empower an ordinary any subject teacher to unlearn and learn and become a facilitator.
You Know it’s working when students are discovering, coming up with their own ideas, creating it and iterating – iterating is critical and for is learning from mistakes
Each of the Creya Modules have an Open-ended capstone allows the application of the Design Thinking Cycle which helps them iterate through the steps mentioned above
Empowering your students with the maker mindset
Maker methodology comes from saying what are things I can do so? work with teachers on design which needs the brainstorm and iteration parts
it’s about getting kids engaged in what they’re doing and empowered to learn it on their own
Work on problems that are current and relevant – don’t have to solve the problem – can also do things that are expressive
Immersing the campus in the maker experience, rather than having an immersive maker experience.
The Creya Implementation methodology across the years understands that schools need be moved from exploratory stages to involved to immersive beginning with making as a small project and maybe in one room of the school with fewer disciplines involved and slowly but surely moves to every classroom and the whole campus and cutting across all disciplines. Making a solid start that stays on and grows is important for a sustainable maker culture.
List of tools and pedagogies and practices of the MIT Edgerton Maker Centre as a reference for an ideal Maker Space: http://k12maker.mit.edu/maker-tools.html
and how Creya STEAM lab, Design Studio & Makerspace provides for same or similar tools.
Under Digital-Fabrication Software and Technology Resources, they have listed:
• 3D Printers
• 3D Design Software
• Laser Cutters
• Vinyl Craft Cutters
• 2D Design Software
Our well designed 3D Design & Print modules that start from Grade 1 and progress until Grade 10 covers all aspects of the Design (Tinkercad) and Prototype/print (Flashforge/similar). For schools that are keen on the makerspace philosophy we have SNAPMAKER 3 in 1 3D Printer or similar which is #3D Printer & Laser Engraver & CNC Cutting Combo as part of the Creya Lab equipment.
Under Electronics, Computers and Other Maker Tools:
Electronics
• Circuit Basics
• Circuit Components
• Multimeter
• Wire Stripping
Our Electronics Kit that has bread boards, wires, resistors, LEDs, Measuring equipment and the curriculum around it for students of Grade 4 – 10 includes all the above and much more to give students a wide range to design any circuit related project.
Physical Computing
• Arduino
• Microbit
Our IoT Kit built around BolT IoT Platform coupled with our kit of various sensors provides a real-world true IoT applications with Bubble.js for User interface design and Integromat for workflow/scenario design allowing designing and prototyping of complex home automation and smart IoT Solutions for a range of scenarios for students of Grade 6 – 10
Photo & Video
• Adobe
• Gimp
Our Digital Media module with courseware built on GIMP, PicsArt, Adobe Spark and Video Editing with Filmora coupled with our curriculum from grade 1 – 10 on storyboarding, scripting, interview techniques, picture and video taking, editing through projects on news reports, interviews, documentaries, advertisements and many more make students realize the potential of digital media and communication.
Under Hand Fabrication (shop) Tools
• Rubber Mallets
• Screw Drivers
• Hand-saw
• Electric Drills
• Cutting pliers
• Wrench
• Allen Key
• ………
• ………
The above can be provided using a standard tool box kit from a provider like
IKEA and these are tools that students can use on a need a basis under supervision.
In addition to above, Creya provides below as part of STEM Lab / Maker space:
• Robotic Kits from the German Company https://www.fischertechnik.de ) with Construction and Coding with Robotic Controllers along with an easy to use GUI for programming and many sensors and LEDs that can be used to design and build powerful robotic applications to be built for Grades 4 – 10
• Engineering Design: A full range Construction kit of gears, axles, wheels, trusses, motors and up to 100+ part categories from the German Company https://www.fischertechnik.de ) allow any conceivable design to be quickly built with precision for students of grades 2 – 10
• Coding, AI, App Development & Python: Apart from all the above mentioned hands-on physical computing and build modules, Creya has a well-defined projects curriculum around and most of them around tools that have come out the stable of MIT itself.
o MIT Scratch Jr & Tynker : Block Coding for Grades 1–10
o MIT App Inventor : App Development Modules for Grades 1–10
o MIT Media Labs Cognimates: AI Curriculum modules for grades 1–6
o Python: Programming Module for Grades 4–10
SO CREYA IS YOUR ONE-STOP SOLUTION FOR STEM LAB< DESIGN STUDIO< MAKER SPACE AND CODING / AI PROGRAMS WITH EQUIPMENT, CURRICULUM AND TRAINING AND SUPPORT AND ABOVE ALL PROVEN RESULTS AND SATISFIED SCHOOL LEADERS IN INDIA AND UAE.