The document discusses the intersection of Moodle and the maker movement in STEM education. It provides background on the presenter and outlines the agenda which includes discussing technologies and communities, the maker movement, typical Fab Labs, STEM education approaches, opportunities, and threats. The maker movement is characterized as worldwide, loosely connected communities engaging in digital fabrication and open design. Fab Labs provide tools for designing, making, and learning. STEM education can take class-centered or maker-centered approaches. Opportunities include increased motivation and learning through making, while threats include the need for further development of goals, materials, and teacher expertise.
The use of Moodle in STEM education, maker spaces and Fab Labs; Pieter van der Hijden; Moodlemoot, Edinburgh UK, 2014
1. The use of Moodle
in STEM education,
maker spaces and
Fab Labs
Presentation at Moodlemoot
Edinburgh UK, April 2014
Pieter van der Hijden msc
(pvdh@sofos.nl)
Centre of Expertise in Education & ICTs Suriname
www.ecoisonline.org
www.sofos.nl
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2. Background
Pieter van der Hijden
Consultant e-learning, Fab Lab, gaming/simulation
The Netherlands (Sofos) and Suriname (ECOIS)
The use of Moodle in STEM education, maker spaces
and Fab Labs
STE(A)M = Science, Technology, Engineering, (Arts),
Mathematics
Moodle and maker movement have much in
common!
How about their intersection / cross fertilization?
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5. 1. Technologies, communities
and schools
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. 2. Maker movement
Hype or trend?
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Gartner: Hype Cycle
for Emerging
Technologies, 2013
8. 2. Maker movement
Characteristics
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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
9. 2. Maker movement
Concepts
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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
10. 3. A typical Fab Lab
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11. 3. A typical Fab Lab
What do you see?
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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
12. 3. A typical Fab Lab
What is happening?
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One time visitors
Regular visitors,
tinkerers, students
Special project
teams
Designing
Making
Source: Fab Lab Paramaribo
13. 3. A typical Fab Lab
Which role for ICT?
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Ict in design
2D & 3D design
software
Ict in production
All machines are ict
driven
Ict in products
Intelligent products
Internet of things
Raspberry Pi
Arduino
Source: Fab Lab Paramaribo
18. 5. Opportunities
for STEM 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
19. 5. Opportunities
for Moodle
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Tradional
Support learning
Cheap, easy
Integrated
New
Support designing
Knowledge
management
New target groups
Hot
Moodle as system
component!
Datalogging, IO
Raspberry Pi
21. 6. Threats
for STEM education
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Still under
development!
Vision
goals and outcomes
Materials
projects, lesson plans
Expertise
facilitating in design
and manufacture
Infrastructure
no plug and play
Instructables:
http://bit.ly/1nnX7nx
22. 6. Threats
for Moodle
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Traditional
Culture clash
Hype sensitive
Reinvent the wheel
New
Handicaps
Mainly text oriented
No designs
No data
Hot
Competitor may find
the grail
23. 7. Welcome on board
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26. References
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
Gartner's 2013 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies Maps Out Evolving Relationship
Between Humans and Machines; http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2575515
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
International Fab Lab Association; website; http://www.fablabinternational.org
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
Science teaching with Moodle 2.0; Vincent L. Stocker; Packt Publishing, Birmingham UK,
2011; http://bit.ly/1lbQ8wm
Science teaching with Moodle 2.0; Vincent Stocker; Packt Publishing, Birmingham, UK, 2011;
http://bit.ly/1lbQ8wm
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27. Thank you for your attention!
Pieter van der Hijden msc (pvdh@sofos.nl)
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2014 – Pieter van der Hijden (pvdh@sofos.nl) – 2014 - This work is
licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
License.