My Final Vision Project and Learner Considerations

Image Credit:  Alexandra A life without animals is not worth living

My final vision project has changed since my last post. Previously I wanted to show staff at my school a presentation made in PowerPoint on what makerspaces are, why they may want to use them with students and some resources that could support staff in getting started. Our makerspace is small with its own dedicated room and is relatively new.  However, as I began working on the presentation Tuesday evening, I just couldn't make it work.

I had 2 problems:  

1) When I began to look for ways to present materials on makerspaces, I realized that a static presentation would not allow for additional information to be added and distributed easily.  This is a problem because makerspaces are relatively new with new research surfacing all the time. Plus the scope of this project would not allow me to go over many of the other materials we have in the makerspace such as looms and the 3D printer. I needed to be able to add information and distribute it to staff more easily.

2) I felt like an imposter.  I am not an expert on makerspaces and this is my first TL course.   I have never used the makerspace myself and, due to being in the BC covid hot spot, I don't feel like I can take my students to a smaller and less structured space.  Therefore, what I know about makerspaces has to come from the experiences of others who have written about them online.

So, at this point I began to rethink my plan:

1)  Instead of a static presentation I decided to create a website, using Wix. I have never built a website or used Wix before so there is bound to be a bit of a learning curve.  I decided to use Wix since I have heard a lot about how easy it is to use.  Also I did a bit of research and found that Wix sites can include embedded items such as Padlet and a blog which are dynamic components.  Pages and information can be added and added to as I learn more or as research is published.  I can still share my project with staff easily.  A link to the website could be shared in our weekly memo or during our virtual staff meetings. 

2)  To feel less like an imposter I thought that I would create a website with the idea that I am a TL starting out on my learning journey.  This will be reflected in the title of my website.  

Learner Considerations

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

As I began to explore Wix, I wondered about accessibility.  At a young age my mom was diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy and as time went on she had trouble with seeing if the contrast between colours was low or if fonts were too fancy or small.  I was happy to see that Wix had a guide for making sites more accessible and that they automatically enable some features (more information is found here).  As I go about making pages, I will keep in mind some of the items found in the guide such as using clear fonts and using alt text to describe the images I use.  Alt text is needed so that text readers can be used on my website to 'read' images. Being accessible as possible for your audience, I believe, is important.

Colleagues:  

My website will serve the staff at my school.   Teachers at my school have never had professional development on makerspaces, so this is one reason it is not being used. Teachers need information on what makerspaces are, research based reasons on how makerspaces benefit students and some activities.  The activities I include will be low prep and use materials specific to our school's makerspace.  This means the activities will involve blocks of various types, other building materials (lego, kinex, wooden blocks, pattern blocks) and arts and crafts materials found in our art room.  I hope that by including low prep and readily available materials, staff at our school will be more likely to give makerspaces a try.  As I wrote about in an earlier post,  Howard (et al 2015) found that teachers who are reluctant to use technology (perhaps this extends to makerspaces too) in the classroom do so often because they are not confident that they can trouble shoot if the need arises. Building on to this, Kristen Daniels speaks about how differentiating and supporting teachers using technology empowers them.  I hope that the website I create will build some confidence in school staff that while I am still learning about makerspaces, I can offer some support to them if they wish to use the makerspace with students.    

I also think that my website could be helpful to other TLs who are beginning the learning journey, like myself.  My website will be made live and public at then end of this class.

Parents:

This website could be a resource for my school parent community and also in the future when I have my own LLC.  My website will serve as an additional source of information for parents that they can easily be directed to.  There they could learn more about makerspaces.  The school I currently work at holds the traditional model of schooling in high regard.  New ways of teaching and learning, such as project based learning are questioned and I feel like there will be questions regarding the use of makerspaces as an educational tool as well.

Myself: 

This website will also serve me as a virtual record of ideas which can be added to as I continue on my TL journey.  Through creating the website I would be learning more about website building, accessibility, Padlet and makerspaces. 

Summary

The topic of this assigned post was appreciated.  I think that I have a clearer idea of what I will be doing and how I will meet the needs of staff and others who may find my website. While it took me awhile to get going on this project, I am now on my way. I feel like this website will be something that I will keep up with beyond this course.  I would like to add further information regarding makerspaces to provide more choice and options to my staff but I would also like to add further topics in the future as well.

Works Cited

 Daniels, K. (2013, November) Empowering the teacher technophobe. [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puiNcIFJTCU

Howard, Sarah Katherine and Mozejko, Adrian, "Teachers: technology, change and resistance" (2015). Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers. 1830. https://ro.uow.edu.au/sspapers/1830