Connecting With Multiple Stakeholders to Create School Makerspaces

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: School, University, and Community Collaborations as Network Improvement Communities

Abstract

In this qualitative, design-based research study, we examine how a partnership between university researchers, school-based research partners, a Ministry of Education, and a Council of Directors of Education, along with relevant community stakeholders, resulted in the creation and implementation of 20 different makerspaces in 20 different school districts. Our specific objectives were: (i) To build, implement and evaluate an effective model for a school program that increases teachers’ capacity, experience and specific fluency and expertise with technologies supporting active STEAM learning and digital literacies through maker pedagogies; and (ii) To utilize our extensive experience with online educational engagement to extend access to system-wide teacher professional development, particularly to schools distant from a physically accessible university.

Authors

• Janette Michelle Hughes, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

• Laura Morrison, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

• Stephanie Thompson, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

• Laura Dobos, University of Ontario Institute of Technology