The STEAM Revolution
I flew to Pittsburgh not too long
ago to attend the opening of a new makerspace
at Montour Elementary, a K–4 school
that sported a number of innovative learning
spaces, which included a Minecraft lab, a Google
Lab, a STEAM lab and an upcycling center, with
a Fab Lab in the works.
A number of things impressed me about this
school — and, for that matter, Pittsburgh itself, which boasts around
200 makerspaces in the immediate area. Among them: the support of
both parents and administrators for non-traditional learning spaces
and the forward-thinking way the school brought STEAM education
into the makerspace in a way that wasn’t so much about the technology
as it was about creating an environment in which the students
felt encouraged and inspired to explore. (STEAM stands for science,
technology, engineering, the arts and math, incidentally. It’s STEM
education with the arts mixed in.)
The school is a new construction, one that takes into account
new modalities in teaching and learning, with a special emphasis
on STEAM, and the makerspace was the latest manifestation of that
approach to design. This particular makerspace was themed on Lego
Education products and included a stop-motion animation studio, a
Lego building station and an augmented reality station, among other
areas. But again, while the technology and tools were certainly prominent,
they weren’t the story.
As Fanning Howey’s John Gladden and Brandon Biniker point out
in this month’s Building Blueprints department on makerspaces, “Effective
makerspaces aren’t necessarily those with the most technology
or digital devices. They are instead spaces where students feel socially
and emotionally connected to their peers and can collaboratively or
independently explore at their own pace. Technology enhances this
experience, but doesn’t drive it.” Their piece starts on page 19.
In other news, I’m very pleased to announce the hire of our new
senior editor, Yvonne Marquez. Yvonne comes to us with six years of
experience crafting beautiful articles for other publications. You’ve
probably already noticed her byline on our site (webspm.com). She’s
also involved in our magazine, webinars, podcasts and live events. Take
a moment to greet her (and pitch her your story ideas) when you get a
chance. She can be reached at ymarquez@1105mdia.com.
This article originally appeared in the School Planning & Management September 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.