All over the world, the maker movement and maker concept have become very popular in recent years. This has an impact on more and more educational institutes. To motivate their students, to improve their STEM* education, many schools organise tours to the nearest Fab Lab, promote project activities there or set-up their own Fab Lab embedded in their school. In fact, it is a new trend in social constructivism (Libow Martinez & Slager, 2013).

1. Making and
gaming; exploring
the relation
between gaming,
maker spaces and
Fab Labs
Pieter van der Hijden msc
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2. www.sofos.nl
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3. Agenda
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4. Background
 Pieter van der Hijden
 Sofos Consultancy (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
 Consultant Fab Lab, Gaming/Simulation,
eLearning
 Fab Lab Paramaribo (Suriname) –
http://fablab.vicepresident.gov.sr
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5. 1. Overview
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6. 1. Overview - history
Year Phenomenon Community Assumed impact
on education
1950 Radio /
electronics
Hobby club School events
1970 Personal
computers
Computer
club
Improved learning
thanks to ict
1990 Video games LANfest,
MORPG
Learning through
gaming/simulation
2010 Digital fabrication
tools
Maker
movement,
maker faire
Tinkering as social
constructivist
learning
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7. 1. Overview - worldmap
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 Worldwide
 Loosely connected
 From layman to prof
 Mix of technologies
 Ict in design,
production and
products
 Making, sharing,
learning
 Open design, open
software, open
hardware
Number of Fab Labs
worldwide doubles every 1.5
years, now 250+;
http://bit.ly/1fXPQEm

8. 1. Overview - concepts
Fab Lab Maker Space TechShop
Origin MIT Center for Bits and
Atoms (Neil Gershenfeld)
Make magazine Commercial
initiative
Inventory Limited set of digital
production machines
Not defined Extended set of
machines & tools
Target
audience
Everybody Everybody Everybody
Legal Independent foundations
or embedded in institutes
Community based Holding with
subsidiaries
Set-up costs 50-100,000 USD 5-20,000 USD 1-2,000,000 USD
Entry fee Free (at some days of
week)
Free Subscription100
USD monthly
Number 250+ Unknown 5
Geographical Worldwide USA, Europe, Asia,
Egypt
USA, plans to go
Europe
Mission Learning, sharing Making (for the
maker faire)
Making/ earning
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9. 1. Overview – a typical fab lab
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 3D scanner
 3D printer
 Laser cutter
 Milling machine(s)
 Vinyl cutter
 Electronics
 Computers
 Teleconference set
 Etc.
At the top a CNC milling machine
(behind safety glass), in the centre a
3D mobile scanner plus laptop, at
the bottom a laser cutter / engraver.
Source: Fab Lab Paramaribo

10. 1. Overview – a typical fab lab
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 One time visitors
 Regular visitors,
tinkerers, students
 Special project
teams
 Designing
 Making
Source: Fab Lab Paramaribo

11. 1. Overview – new education
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 Motivation
 Learning outcomes
 Social learning
 Learning by making
 Side effects
 Informed citizen
 Economy (more
STEM)
 Meet other
disciplines
 Meet the world
 Lab for teachers

12. 1. Overview – examples
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Timothy Rifano, SPI, Fab Lab
Paramaribo, Suriname
Ateneu de Fabricació de Les
Corts, Barcelona, Spain
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13. 1. Overview – FAB10
 http://bit.ly/fab10-samples
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14. 2. Try-out
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15. 2. Try-out – Raspberri Pi
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 EUR 30 computer
 Linux
 LAN
 5V power
Raspberry Pi -
http://www.raspberrypi.org/
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16. 2. Try-out - Arduino
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 Programmable
microprocessor
 Digital inputs
(switches)
 Analog inputs
(sensors)
 Digital outputs
(LEDs)
 Analog outputs
(speaker,
servomotor)
Arduino Uno – http://arduino.cc
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17. 2. Try-out – Makey Makey
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 Keyboard emulator
 Reacting on
electrical current
 E.g. Via organic
material  YOU!
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18. 3. Making for gaming
What can “making” contribute to “gaming”?
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19. 3. Making for gaming
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 Access to people
 Co-design
 Test
 Access to methods
 Open design
 Programming
 Access to machines
 Paraphernalia
 Electronics
(wearable)
 Game board
 Programming
 Packaging

20. 4. Gaming for making
What can “gaming” contribute to “making”?
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21. 4. Gaming for making
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 Access to people
 Educators
 Clients
 Access to methods
 Game
development
 User experience
 Access to products
 Learning by visitors
 Learning by staff

22. References
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23. References
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 Digital Fabrication and ‘Making’ in Education:
The Democratization of Invention; Paulo
Blikstein; in: In J. Walter-Herrmann & C. Büching
(Eds.), FabLabs: Of Machines, Makers and
Inventors; Bielefeld: Transcript Publishers; 2013;
http://stanford.io/1cMLRdL
 Fab Lab At School; website;
https://tltl.stanford.edu/projects/fablabschool
 Fab: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop--
from Personal Computers to Personal
Fabrication; Neil Gershenfeld; Basic Books,
2007; http://amzn.to/1fXMb9p
 Four in balance monitor 2013; Kennisnet, The
Netherlands, 2013; http://bit.ly/1lLN9hc
 Getting Started with Arduino; Massimo Banzi;
Maker Media, 2011; http://bit.ly/1i1Bgkk
 Getting Started with Raspberry Pi; Matt
Richardson; Maker Media, 2012;
http://bit.ly/1i1BtUw
 Instructables; website;
http://www.instructables.com
 Invent to learn; making, tinkering, and
engineering in the classroom; Sylvia L.
Martinez, Gary Stager; Constructing Modern
Knowledge Press; 2013;
http://www.inventtolearn.com/
 Maker space playbook; 2013;
http://bit.ly/1lLMMTT
 Making, living, sharing; movie; a Fab Lab world
documentary; Jens Dyvik; http://bit.ly/MZ4Uup
Constructing modern knowledge
press: book cover

24. Thank you for your attention!
Pieter van der Hijden
pvdh@sofos.nl
24
2014 Pieter van der Hijden, Sofos Consultancy – 2014 - This work
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
License.
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