Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

What is a Makerspace?

  • By Bryan Shark
  • 11/01/17

Makerspaces are “DIY” social spaces where students meet to create, design, share ideas and learn. They may contain a variety of resources — craft, hardware supplies, 3D printers, electronics, etc.

Why should we start a makerspace?

Makerspaces are popular because they incubate STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills, marketable proficiencies for students in the 21st-century economy. Aside from STEM, makerspaces promote collaboration, critical thinking and creativity — skills students use in college and career.

What does it look like?

A makerspace can be as high-tech or low-tech as desired. The important factor is to provide a safe, collaborative environment.

Furniture and equipment should be flexible and durable, enabling student-teacher movement and task-transitioning. Furnishings should also allow for enhanced organization of various objects (e.g. peg boards for hanging tools). If your makerspace is high-tech, furnishings should provide options to charge tools and devices.

In many schools, media centers facilitate problem-solving and design-thinking projects in varied dynamic makerspaces. Areas of discovery include robotics, iMovie making, gaming, circuitry, music production and construction while utilizing high-tech tools such as 3D printers and graphic design programs.

What are some ideas?

Great makerspace projects are mashups from all disciplines. For example, circuitry combined with paper can provide a new perspective on greeting cards or signs; water could be used to test floatable machines; etc.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

About the Author

Bryan Shark is the vice president of Sales – Furniture and Equipment at School Specialty, Inc., a leading distributor of products, services and solutions to the education marketplace.

Featured

  • University of Illinois Moves Forward with College Sports’ Largest Digital Scoreboard

    The University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill., recently announced a series of upgrades to Gies Memorial Stadium that will include the largest scoreboard in college sports, according to a news release.

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.

  • Illinois District Boosts Security at High-School Stadium

    Richmond-Burton Community High School in Richmond, Ill., recently announced that it has completed the redesigned entrance to its high school stadium with a new focus on school security and community engagement, according to a news release. The district partnered with Wold Architects and Engineers on the project as part of District #157’s year-long facilities master plan.

  • Photo credit: Elkus Manfredi Architects

    University of Virginia Selects Design-Build Team for New Residential Complex

    The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., recently announced that it has selected a design-build team for a new upper-class residential development on campus, according to a news release. Capstone Development Partners—in partnership with Elkus Manfredi Architects and the Hoar Construction/Hourigan construction team—will move forward with the three-building, 310,000-square-foot housing facility.