Makerspace Unplugged: Old Methods, New Ideas

Sometimes our excitement about new technology has us so focused on how great it's going to be that we forget how challenging, foreign, difficult, and off-putting it actually is. And therein lies the trap: new technologies can be a barrier to design and innovation—and a hurdle to engagement that's too high for many students. In this session, we'll explore ways to reduce those challenges and eliminate those hurdles. By recognizing that sometimes the old ways are best, we'll start with a discussion of pedagogical goals and then follow with "unplugged" alternatives for helping students make and create.

Outcomes: Challenge assumptions about the use of new technology in classrooms, makerspaces, and innovation labs * Suggest alternative ways of making and prototyping that are more accessible and inviting to students * Explore specific aspects of design thinking and human-centered design practices that support low-tech and old-tech ways of approaching challenges