[p2p-research] "School for Hackers: The do-it-yourself movement revives learning by doing."

[Michel Bauwens]

via paul fernhout at o-m

From:
"School for Hackers: The do-it-yourself movement revives learning by doing."
by Mark Frauenfelder (Editor-in-chief of Make Magazine)
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/10/school-for-hackers/8218
"""
Imagine a school where kids could do the following: clone jellyfish DNA;
build gadgets to measure the electrical impulses of cockroach neurons; make
robotic blackjack dealers; design machines that can distinguish between
glass, plastic, and aluminum beverage containers and sort them into separate

bins; and convert gasoline-burning cars to run on electric power.
No such school exists, but in August I went to Detroit and met the kids
who did all these things, and more. They—along with 22,000 other people—had
come from all over the United States and Canada to demo their creations at
Maker Faire, a two-day festival of do-it-yourselfers, crafters, musicians,
urban homesteaders, kit makers, scientists, engineers, and curious visitors
who congregated to present projects, give performances, and swap ideas.
Having attended eight Maker Faire events since 2006 (they’re put on by the
same company that owns the magazine I edit), I’ve become convinced of two
things about children and education: (1) making things is a terrific way to
learn, and (2) schools are failing to teach kids to learn with their hands.
The ideal educational environment for kids, observes Peter Gray, a
professor of psychology at Boston College who studies the way children
learn, is one that includes “the opportunity to mess around with objects of
all sorts, and to try to build things.” Countless experiments have shown
that young children are far more interested in objects they can control than

in those they cannot control—a behavioral tendency that persists. In her
review of research on project-based learning (a hands-on, experience-based
approach to education), Diane McGrath, former editor of the Journal of
Computer Science Education, reports that project-based students do as well
as (and sometimes better than) traditionally educated students on
standardized tests, and that they “learn research skills, understand the
subject matter at a deeper level than do their traditional counterparts, and

are more deeply engaged in their work.” In The Upside of Irrationality, Dan
Ariely, a behavioral psychologist at Duke University, recounts his
experiments with students about DIY’s effect on well-being and concludes
that creating more of the things we use in daily life measurably increases
our “feelings of pride and ownership.” In the long run, it also changes for
the better our patterns of thinking and learning.
Unfortunately, says Gray, our schools don’t teach kids how to make
things, but instead train them to become scholars, “in the narrowest sense
of the word, meaning someone who spends their time reading and writing. Of
course, most people are not scholars. We survive by doing things.”
So it makes sense that members of the DIY movement see education itself
as a field that’s ripe for hands-on improvement. Instead of taking on the
dull job of petitioning schools to change their obstinate ways, DIYers are
building their own versions of schools, in the form of summer camps,
workshops, clubs, and Web sites. Tinkering School in Northern California
helps kids build go-karts, watchtowers, and hang gliders (that the kids fly
in). Competitions like FIRST Robotics (founded by Segway inventor Dean
Kamen) bring children and engineers together to design and build
sophisticated robotics. “Unschooler” parents are letting their kids design
their own curricula. Hacker spaces like NYC Resistor in Brooklyn and Crash
Space in Los Angeles offer shop tools and workshops for making anything from

iPad cases to jet packs. Kids in the Young Makers Program (just launched by
Maker Media, Disney-Pixar, the Exploratorium, and TechShop) have built a
seven-foot animatronic fire-breathing dragon, a stop-motion camera rig, a
tool to lift roofing supplies, and new skateboard hardware.
When a kid builds a model rocket, or a kite, or a birdhouse, she not only
picks up math, physics, and chemistry along the way, she also develops her
creativity, resourcefulness, planning abilities, curiosity, and engagement
with the world around her. But since these things can’t be measured on a
standardized test, schools no longer focus on them. As our public
educational institutions continue down this grim road, they’ll lose value as

places of learning. That may seem like a shame, but to the members of the
growing DIY schooling movement, it’s an irresistible opportunity to roll up
their sleeves.
"""

Also, related to that, is a five minute video about Mark Frauenfelder's
journey into making more of his own stuff, including how when you make
things yourself they have stories, and linking this to a change in our
culture after WWII and losing an important part of human existence as tool
makers and tool users as a human need:
"Boing Boing Co-Founder Mark Frauenfelder on Maker Education"

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/09/boing-boing-co-founder-mark-frauenfelder-on-maker-education/63017/

As Mark Frauenfelder suggests, from the fossil record, we've had opposable
thumbs useful to make things longer than we've been labeled "human". So,
making stuff (and using it), is, as he suggests, an important fundamental
human need.

-- 
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