Makerspaces in Libraries: Technology as catalyst for better learning, better teaching. Presentation at UNESCO-UNIR 2016 Latam Congress
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Across disciplines, the practice of education continues to evolve; supporting organizations such as the library are responding by reworking existing and developing new practices. With roots grounded deeply in constructivist learning theory, the emerging practice of makerspaces in libraries is proving an effective step in that evolution. Examples of associated active learning activity at one such library, an early adopter and first mover among academic libraries in adopting and integrating makerspace in libraries, are presented. The product of leveraging technology as catalyst for active learning and engagement within and beyond the physical commons of the library, a blending of formal and informal learning, accented by increased innovation and entrepreneurship across disciplinary and organizational boundaries, appears a natural result.
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Makerspaces in Libraries: Technology as catalyst for better learning, better teaching. Presentation at UNESCO-UNIR 2016 Latam Congress
- 1. Makerspaces in Libraries: Technology as Catalyst for Better Learning, Better Teaching Presentation June 23, 2016 at the UNESCO UNIR ICT & Education Latam Congress 2016 Patrick “Tod” Colegrove, Ph.D., MSLIS University of Nevada, Reno – United States of America
- 2. University of Nevada, Reno: Founded: 1874 Student Enrollment: 20,898 – 17,295 undergraduates Major schools/flagship programs include: Earth Sciences & Engineering, High Energy Density Science (NTF), Nevada Seismological Lab, Earthquake & Structural Engineering Top-Ranked Part-Time MBA program
- 3. away from the “transmission-style of teaching and learning, which were teacher focused, to a variety of constructivist perspectives which focus on how the learner constructs meaning through active and social learning and personal context [emphasis added].” The Practice of Education is Evolving… Ellis, J., Phillips, A.: Re-defining the service experience: forging collaboration between librarians and students. In: Library Management, Volume 34, 603 – 618, (2013)
- 4. Image credit: falconproducts.com blog, Active Learning Infographic
- 9. Technology has always been a catalyst for learning in the library.
- 20. Image credit: retrieved 2/2013 from http://www.utc.edu/Outreach/SCEA/Transdisciplinary-StemtoSteam.php Something else happens in the library:
- 27. Makerspace in the Library: Better Learning, Better Teaching.
- 28. Questions?
Editor's Notes
- Good afternoon – y Beunas Tardes a todos! I’m profoundly honored to be with you today – special thanks to the organizers of this event for convening this important conversation. In particular, thank you Vice-Chancellor and Director Burgos and Adriana Maritza Montejo and staff of the Universidad Cooperativa for the logistics support that has enabled my participation here in Bogota. Allow me to introduce myself. I am an experimental physicist, professor with 14 years of experience in private industry and over 8 years teaching physics and honors coursework at the University. Ten years ago I joined forces with University Libraries; earlier Professor Khoroshilov quoted Steve Jobs: “Creativity is just about connecting things” – and that is precisely what libraries are about. In 2010 I was named Head of the DeLMare Science & Engineering Library at the University of Nevada, Reno.
- The University is located on the border of the Great Basin and the Sierra Nevada mountains on the western edge of the state, and is ranked in the top tier of best colleges in the United States. From 2009 to 2015 enrollments have grown by 24%; you’re looking at a view of the campus that highlights several of the new buildings built to accommodate that growth. The building in the center of the photograph: the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center, opened in 2008 – a building of over 27,400 square meters built to house the library. Note the name “knowledge center” – knowledge is something we create within ourselves, and is not contained between the pages of a book. It is something that is created when we engage: with one another, with technology, and with traditional learning materials. It is a place where the integration of formal and informal learning can happen naturally.
- How can we better support that creation of knowledge? In a word, “learning”? In this presentation we’ll explore how libraries are deliberately provisioning access to an increasingly broad range of technology as a catalyst: blending traditional roles of content provision with support of active and collaborative learning. So-called “Makerspace”, its rapid adoption and growth in libraries a relatively recent phenomenon; I’ll share several examples from DeLaMare Library, itself a nationally recognized makerspace.
- Think of this infographic as a framework. In order for the practice of education to be effective, we need to consider the full range of learning activity. If all we’re relying on is classroom lecture, assigned readings, and homework, the best we can hope for is 50% of what we teach. Reflected in learning theory from the Constructivism of Dewey and Piaget through Papert’s Constructionism, it’s not rocket science: To better support deeper levels of learning, we need to enable opportunities for the active doing of the subject being taught. If you’re teaching physics, that support might range from simply providing whiteboards and hands-on demos to support for prototyping of experimental apparatus. If a language, opportunities for the active use and practice of the language – including study abroad in a foreign country.
- The DeLaMare Library, located in the Mackay Mines building – one of the first buildings of the campus, with the library tracing its roots to the very first graduating class of the University.
- Technology has always been a catalyst in the library. Consider the book itself, or “codex”, which achieved parity with the scroll around AD 300. Recent ICT including copy machines, computer workstations and printers. In 2010, one of the newest technologies introduced at the DeLaMare Library was simple whiteboards and markers. An obvious thing to support collaborative learning, ad-hoc study groups began to form spontaneously around the whiteboards. Our initial purchase of 2 rolling whiteboards quickly grew to 6 – withsuch heavy use, moving throughout the library, there were simply not enough to be able to keep up.
- We expanded the availability by applying whiteboard paint to selected walls throughout the library, further enabling the spontaneous and collaborative engagement around topics of classroom learning. In a library with nearly 2,100 square meters of floor space, we currently have on the order of 1900 square meters of whiteboard-writable surfaces – and at times it is still not enough.
- The library is alive with formal and informal learning behavior. Although predominantly student-driven, faculty occasionally leverage the space to hold office hours and review sessions with ready access to space in which they can encourage students to engage directly in moderated problem solving.
- The reality is that technology has always been a catalyst for learning in the library. Whiteboards and conversation areas are just particular types.
- Simultaneously, we grew the “traditional” ICT in the library – computer workstations, printers, and scanners, by more than four times: it is now as common for students to collaboratively engage around a computer workstation as around a whiteboard… note the proximity of the KNEX toys; ideal for catalyzing conversations around budding engineers. ;-)
- Consider that I used the word “traditional” to describe the laser printer ICT available in the library. It fuses a two-dimensional layer of toner onto a sheet of paper.
- Why not a 3D printer? Similar to the laser printer, it prints a 2 dimensional layer – and then repeats, printing subsequent layers to create an extended 3D object.
- With a launch in early-mid 2012, DeLaMare Library was the first academic library in the United States to offer 3D printing and scanning as a library service. Examples here include the protein snippet responsible for making jellyfish glow – something that labs around the world have grafted into life forms ranging from plants to earthworms and rabbits. Self-directed learning at its finest, the Master’s student pictured in the center was so curious that he taught himself – using library resources – how to create a 3D printable model from the protein database file of the protein.
- Or consider the fully articulated working model of an internal combustion V8 engine – 3D printed and working, rendering understanding of how the motor works on a deeper level. There’s something about being able to handle an extended object in the real world that enables understanding on a deeper level…
- A hybrid of support: electronics coupled with 3D printing, a computer sciences student who 3D printed the structure of an android arm, with servos operated by the robot through the circuit prototype on the breadboard held in his right hand
- Bringing us to the need for a printed circuit board printer: a CNC mill that “prints” up to a 6-layer circuit board by removing the copper and layers from a blank board. Consider the depth of learning that access to such technology enables, particularly in disciplines such as engineering and the sciences!
- Even laser cutters are just another type of printer in the library. Seen here cutting pieces from a sheet of plywood.
- A common use of the laser cutter is in support of student coursework: consider the depth of learning encouraged in a Statics course when the instructor incorporates a challenge for students to build a physical model of a truss bridge out of balsa wood – that needs to hold at least 100 kg. Students often leverage the ability to precision cut their designs using the laser cutter. Pictured here are students collaboratively working on exactly such a project – and I’ve seen designs that have held as much as 900 kg; the kind of depth of learning we want to see.
- Similarly, first year engineering students are required to build autonomous robotic hovercraft driven by LEGO Mindstorms; pictured here is a student team working on their design with parts recently laser cut from a sheet of Styrofoam using the laser cutter.
- You see, the library offers a special kind of magic. Disciplinary boundaries fade – students and faculty cross paths, forming spontaneous collaborations. Named “creative abrasion” by John Seely Brown, the resulting creative soup is a potent environment…
- For example a few weeks ago we hosted three hackathons at once in the library – something on the order of 150 individuals from disciplines that ranged from Computer Sciences to Journalism engaged with members from the public to create real-world applications over the compressed timeframe of 24-36 hours. Think they learned anything that they wouldn’t have learned in a classroom?
- Similarly, a design team that designed and prototyped a bicycle lock whose key is an individual’s unique grip…
- Or other examples with students collaborating directly with individuals from the greater community…
- Marry a stethoscope with a holder for your Apple earbuds/microphone, with a supporting application… and you have the hummingdoc. Expectant parents can listen to/record the sounds of their baby’s heartbeat; aging parents can share their lung and heartbeat sounds in real time with remote medical professionals, or concerned family members. A real-world product.
- Similarly, the FLEXROUTE cable guide – designed and prototyped (rapid prototyping, 3D printing in ABS plastic) with support of students of the library
- By all accounts, the product is a great success. And the students are learning things on a deeper level than they ever could in the classroom.
- In closing, it bears mention that values such as “inclusive and equitable quality” and ”lifelong learning” – mentioned several times today – are core values of the library. As we move toward a post-Industrial age practice of education, the commons of the library can serve as a powerful vehicle, enabling learning driven by curiosity and engagement on the part of the end-user. There is much that we can accomplish – together.
- Thank you for your attention. If there’s time, I’d be delighted to field questions – if not, by all means reach out to me via email or social media.