Genius Hour is an enquiry-based learning process.  As a student-directed learning model, it is intended to give students the opportunity to explore their own interests while developing their knowledge, skills and understanding.  The idea for Genius Hour was originally started by Google, in which it allowed its engineers to spend 20% of their work time on their own passion projects.  Many of Google’s services such as Gmail and Google News are thanks to its policy of having Genius Hour.

By allowing time for students to study topics they are curious about, Genius Hour can be seen to encourage students’ creativity and motivation, while paving the way for them to become lifelong learners.  The workshop style of Genius Hour, in which collaboration is encouraged, should also benefit students’ social skills and confidence. 

As shown in the images below, Makerspaces can provide particularly conducive environments for Genius Hour projects.

This video provides a good summary about Genius Hour for teachers and students:

There are five key steps for students to follow:

1.  Students pick a topic.

2.  Develop an enquiry question.

3.  Students do research based on their enquiry question.

4.  Presentation from students about what has been learnt.

5. Reflection.

I have put together this presentation and accompanying resources (planning and reflection templates) below, which can be used to introduce and guide students through their Genius Hour learning process.

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One of the key jobs of our digital leaders last term was to help design and create a makerspace room, which I’m pleased to say is finally available for students and staff to use this term.  We have now got all the resources we need and the walls have been painted with unique designs to celebrate what this room stands for!

So, what is a makerspace?  A makerspace room is a multipurpose learning environment that both encourages and enables children to make things.  In the process of making things, they learn.  It is very relevant to many of the activities that we currently do in school such as STEAM, the IPC and  enquiry-based learning.  You can find out some more information about how to plan and design a makerspace here.

As a well-resourced school, we can use the makerspace to both store and use these resources.  Having now put the makerspace on our school booking system, this means that when teachers book the room, they also book all the resources available in that room.

Using our Samsung 360 Gear camera, I took a photo of the room earlier today.  You can now take a 360° panoramic  tour, to see what our makerspace looks like below:

To help students and teachers get the most out of our makerspace, our digital leaders have also helped to design a makerspace web page, which is accessible from our Classroom Flipped website.

One of the key features from our makerspace web page is the Tools option.  From here, students and teachers can see all of the resources that they have access to inside the makerspace room.  For many of these resources, I have attached  self-directed activity sheets, which can be downloaded.  The ‘Coding’ option, for example, provides information and prompts to help learners design and program their own computer game.  All of these self-directed activities are designed to be adaptable to whatever theme or topic the students are learning about.

You can find the complete collection of these self-directed activities below:

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[embeddoc url=”https://technologyforlearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Activity_Coding-.docx”]

[embeddoc url=”https://technologyforlearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Activity_Digital_Art1.docx”]

[embeddoc url=”https://technologyforlearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Activity_Makey_Makey.docx”]

[embeddoc url=”https://technologyforlearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Activity_Minecraft1.docx”]

[embeddoc url=”https://technologyforlearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Activity_Movie_Making.docx”]

[embeddoc url=”https://technologyforlearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Activity_Photo_Editing1.docx”]

[embeddoc url=”https://technologyforlearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Activity_Picoboard.docx”]

[embeddoc url=”https://technologyforlearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Activity_Raspberry_Pi.docx”]

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Having discussed with the digital leaders what we could use the room for, we decided to make an acronym out of the word!  We then came up with the following statements to describe what can be achieved in our Makerspace:

M stands for Movie-Making.  Making videos provides rich opportunities to create something original. Easy to use, iPads and smartphones, for example, allow learners to produce tutorial videos, presentations, stop-motion animations and short movies. Green screens, along with apps for special effects, make the whole process of movie-making much more collaborative and engaging.

A stands for Awesome Activities. Makerspaces are hubs for awesome activities, which allow tinkering, play and open-ended exploration. The only thing that is required is sufficient space and appropriate materials, to encourage learners to make.

K stands for Kinetic. Whether it is a making an animation, designing a computer game, programming a robot, building a balloon rocket, controlling a mini-drone, and much more besides, makerspace activities have one thing in common – they get things moving!

E stands for Enquiry-Based Learning.  As making itself is part of the learning journey, the makerspace naturally facilitates enquiry-based learning, placing students’ questions, ideas and observations at the centre of their learning experience. Educators simply ask essential questions in order to frame this learning journey. Learners are then more likely to make enquiry-driven discoveries during their making process.

R stands for Relevant.  As making itself is part of the learning journey, the makerspace naturally facilitates enquiry-based learning, placing students’ questions, ideas and observations at the centre of their learning experience. Educators simply ask essential questions in order to frame this learning journey. Learners are then more likely to make enquiry-driven discoveries during their making process.

S stands for STEAM.  The makerspace learning environment lends itself well to STEAM. As an acronym, STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths. As an educational approach, STEAM is about facilitating learning experiences across these five subject areas, which promote collaboration, enquiry-based learning and fun!  You can find some links to excellent STEAM activities, by the way, from our STEAM web page.

Over the last several weeks, our digital leaders and I have been working together to plan for and create a makerspace in school.  We have already selected a room that will be the makerspace – the current Reading Room.

We just need to move the books out of this room and into our Staff Development Office, then finally, move the necessary materials and resources in!  Before getting started with this endeavour, I’m sharing my notes here about what a makerspace is, why they exist and how to create them:

What is a Makerspace?

A makerspace is a unique, multipurpose learning environment that encourages tinkering, play and open-ended exploration.  Such activities demand an enquiry-based approach, and they epitomise what progressive education is all about.  The central idea to a makerspace is that children learn by doing.

The only thing that is required of a makerspace is a room with appropriate materials and resources, to encourage learners to make.  From the outset, it is important not to limit students to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Maths) projects alone.  The idea that a Makerspace is just for STEAM classes is a common misconception.  Making can be anything to anyone.  I particularly like, for example, the slogan from littleBits: “Make something that does something.”

Why use a Makerspace?

Pedagogically speaking, the whole maker movement is underpinned by the idea of “constructionism”, which has been coined by Seymour Papert, and it’s a similar-sounding term to constructivism.  Where constructivism is a well-established theory of learning indicating that people actively construct new knowledge by combining their experiences with what they already know, constructionism takes things a step further.  Although the learning happens inside the learner’s head, Papert’s constructionism states that this happens most reliably when the learner is engaged in a personally meaningful activity outside of their head that makes the learning real and shareable.

According to Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager (2013), authors of Invent to Learn:

‘This shareable activity may take the form of a robot, musical composition, poem, conversation, or new hypothesis… This is much more than “hands-on” learning.  The meaningful part of constructionism is not just touchy-feely new age language.  It acknowledges that the power of making something comes from a question or an impulse that the learner has, and is not imposed from the outside… We seek to liberate learners from their dependency on being taught.’    

By creating a makerspace, students are given the opportunity to take ownership of their own learning as they explore their own passions.  Nevertheless, it is still possible to teach basic skills, then flip your makerspace, so that students can innovate and build on what they have learnt.  In this way, makerspaces are a fantastic way to bring creativity into learning and support deeper learning.  Makerspaces are also the perfect environments in which to challenge students, to try to solve problems in new ways.  These challenges can be created by either teachers or students.  What is particularly exciting about makerspaces, is how they can impact lessons, as teachers can become more innovative owing to the new tools available.

How do we Plan for a Makerspace?

Simon Sinek’s book, Start With Why, talks about the importance of knowing your why: the purpose, cause or belief that inspires you to do what you do.  This is as important to keep in mind when designing a makerspace as just about any other venture.  According to Laura Fleming, author of The Kickstart Guide to Making Great Makerspaces, great makerspaces begin with a vision for driving their space.  Providing our digital leaders with post-its, I asked them to first begin writing down what core values our makerspace should have:

After much discussion, we settled on:

– Learning, Resilience & Teamwork

To keep things simple and child-friendly, these makerspace core values also form our overarching vision statement.  Watch this space – more to come in Part 2!

In the meantime, Laura Fleming notes the following free apps, which are great to use for BYOD as a portable digital toolbox for students:

– iHandy Level

– Ruler App + Photo Ruler

– Protractor

– PadCAD Lite

STEAM is both an acronym and an educational approach.  As an acronym, STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths.  As an educational approach, STEAM is about facilitating learning experiences across these five subject areas, which promote collaboration, enquiry-based learning and fun!

Since the late 1990s there has been an increasing global focus on the need to better prepare students for the 21st century workforce by equipping them with the skills and knowledge in STEAM subjects.  After all, the most in-demand jobs globally fall into one or more of these five subject areas.

According to the Rhode Island School of Design, which adds the arts to the original STEM framework, “The goal (of STEAM) is to foster the true innovation that comes with combining the mind of a scientist or technologist with that of an artist or designer.”  All technology begins and ends with some form of art.  In fact, the arts and sciences are a natural match when students have sufficient time for project development, reflection and revision.  For example, arts are used in website and user interface design, advertising and the design of literally any product imaginable.

Many schools around the world, my own included, have made inroads in teaching STEAM through various initiatives, including (but not limited to):

• using Computing & ICT to permeate across the whole school curriculum, thereby linking these five disciplines
• after-school makerspace clubs or programs
• holistic, thematic curricula such as the IPC or PYP, where projects using STEAM practices are embedded
• BYOD initiatives (bring your own device)
• staff training to encourage hands-on exploration within each of these disciplines
• robotics programs

The STEAM approach is intended to be holistic, bringing these five disciplines together.  The key to STEAM’s success though, is to ensure that an enquiry-based learning model is followed:

“Studies comparing learning outcomes for students taught via project-based learning versus traditional instruction show that when implemented well, problem-based learning (PBL) increases long-term retention of content, helps students perform as well or as better than traditional learners in high-stakes tests, improves problem-solving and collaboration skills, and improves students’ attitudes towards learning.” (Vega, 2012)

Introducing littleBits…

For this reason, I’ve been happy to get my hands on the littleBits STEAM set below:

littleBits are small, simple, intuitive blocks that make working with electronics a matter of snapping small magnets together with no experience required. The littleBits STEAM Student set is the easiest and fastest way to create imaginative electronic devices and solutions to everyday challenges.  Thanks to this colour coding system, no prior knowledge of electronics or circuitry is required, making the kit open to learners of all ages.

I had a go at creating an art machine using the STEAM Student Set, and I was pleased with the results:

Activities like this are a great example of what STEAM learning is all about.  It’s clear that children need to be engaged in learning, and learn in ways that can hold their attention, much the same way that social media, and internet sites like Youtube do.  Making learning fun and meaningful is the necessary challenge all educators must take on.

In order to further facilitate teaching and learning of STEAM, we are currently building a website, Classroom Flipped, to bring together an online suite of web apps, videos and sites, which have been mapped to our school curriculum. The name, Classroom Flipped, comes from the educational approach known as flipped learning, whereby students interact with educational content outside the classroom to better support their learning inside the classroom.  The website includes a section specifically for STEAM, with links to the best resources on the Web, including relevant high quality, age-appropriate educational videos, games, articles and interactive quizzes.

STEAM is not just about using digital technologies though; STEAM activities can be as simple as just using a piece of paper.  For example, below is one of the activities we gave our staff was to do when introducing what STEAM is all about:

STEAM Challenge

• Build the highest possible tower you can that holds a book at least 16 cm above the ground for a minimum of  3 seconds (the book must rest on top of the tower)
• The tower must  be free-standing, which means no taping or holding to the floor.

Time: 20 minutes (including testing)

Materials: 10 sheets of newspaper and
50 cm of tape,

Group Size: Maximum of 4 people

Success Criteria – The tallest tower wins as long as….

• Tower is free-standing
• Tower is able to hold the weight of a book for a minimum of 3 seconds
• Book must be resting a minimum of 16cm above the ground
• Tower is constructed solely of newspaper and masking tape

Concluding thoughts…

By engaging students around the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) through practical projects, we can spark an interest and lifelong love of the arts and sciences in children from an early age.  The littleBits STEAM set is a great place to start, but activities can just be as simple as using paper!  The important point is that it is only by teaching relevant, in-demand skills, that we will better prepare our students to become innovators in an changing world.