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= = =Welcome to the new MVS Makerspace Wiki!= Our makerspace at MVS, located in the Lange Library, is (and will continue to be) a work-in-progress. This site is intended to be an informational guide for and by anyone using the makerspace. (It's a wiki, meaning anyone can update it.) Soon we will be adding general instructions, how-tos, rules, maybe a virtual tour, etc., and hopefully you will be adding information about your own projects.

If you are working on a project in the makerspace, you will be asked to document your project here, so other people can see what you are working on and what kinds of things you are learning, your mistakes //and// your successes. Take pictures as you go along, write a little something each time you spend time on the project. It doesn't need to be super-detailed, just a way for others to follow what sorts of things are happening, so we can learn from each other.

Navigate around this wiki using the sidebar at the left (or by the links found on each page).

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What is a makerspace?
Our makerspace is a community workshop and creative area for project-based learning, experimentation, curiosity, and technology education. "Makerspace" is not our original term; makerspaces exist around the country and around the world, sometimes called hackerspaces or fablabs (short for fabrication laboratory), sometimes in libraries, schools, universities, or as independent organizations.
 * "To describe them simply, makerspaces are community centers with tools. Makerspaces combine manufacturing equipment, community, and education for the purposes of enabling community members to design, prototype and create manufactured works that wouldn’t be possible to create with the resources available to individuals working alone. These spaces can take the form of loosely-organized individuals sharing space and tools, for-profit companies, non-profit corporations, organizations affiliated with or hosted within schools, universities or libraries, and more. All are united in the purpose of providing access to equipment, community, and education, and all are unique in exactly how they are arranged to fit the purposes of the community they serve. Makerspaces represent the democratization of design, engineering, fabrication and education. They are a fairly new phenomenon, but are beginning to produce projects with significant national impacts..." --from Artisan's Asylum

Why have a makerspace in the MVS library?
Makerspaces are [|kind of] a [|trendy] [|concept] in [|libraries] right now. But that isn't the reason we decided to put one in our school library-- it's more like our excuse. As the Technology Planning Committee met in 2012-13, a lot of conversations took place about how to make technology more a part of our school curriculum. Alongside that, with major schedule changes in the upper school starting in the 2013-14 school year, even more conversations have been taking place related to project-based learning. Meanwhile, library media specialist Ms. Case is has been hunting for ways to make the space in the library more relevant, appealing, and useful to students, since many library resources have gone untouched for quite a long time. The makerspace is one experimental convergence of these discussions and efforts. This initiative has been a partnership between the libraries (Ms. Case), the tech department (Mr. Lakatos), and the upper school (Ms. Moulton), but is intended to be used by and to benefit the entire school and local community. **General resources with information about makerspaces: **
 * Wikipedia on hackerspaces: @http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackerspace
 * Maker Education Initiative: @http://makered.org/
 * Edutopia on Makerspaces in Schools: @http://www.edutopia.org/blog/creating-makerspaces-in-schools-mary-beth-hertz
 * School Library Journal's Digital Shift on Makerspaces in Libraries: @http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/10/public-services/the-makings-of-maker-spaces-part-1-space-for-creation-not-just-consumption/