Do you know what maker culture is? Before answering this question, let's think about the following situations. Suppose those books you bought are there, all messed up, needing a good shelf to put them in order. What do you do? Do you go to the store and buy it or do you decide to make a very creative one, with pallets and paint?
If your answer was the second option, you are more adept at maker culture than you think! The movement is considered as an extension of the “Do it yourself” or Do It Yourself philosophy. The idea is that anyone is capable of fixing, modifying and building their own objects.
see more
Understand how children's behavior can indicate suffering in…
How to make reflective records in pedagogical practice?
This culture has moved the world for decades and, as one of its brilliant consequences is the creation of home computers. To give you an idea, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak presented the Apple I for the first time at Homebrew Computer, or, the Homemade Computers Club. Remember how it all started in a garage? So it is!
The maker culture, deep down, brought a new way of being an inventor. Appropriating modern tools such as 3D printers, Arduino board, laser cutters and robotics, made it possible for ordinary people, like you and me, to become creators of machines as well genius.
One of the bases of the maker movement is the sharing of technology and information. Thanks to the internet, videos and experience manuals are widely disseminated, popularizing the culture. In Brazil, some well-known events promote the meeting of inventors from various corners of the country.
This is the case of Campus Party, Arduino Day and Flisol. An itinerant edition of Maker Faire, the world's largest maker event originating in China, has already taken place in Rio de Janeiro. In addition, two large portals disseminate educational content here, collaboratively and free of charge. They are Fazedores and FilipeFlop.
The exchange of knowledge between makers does not only happen at major events. They often gather in collaborative spaces that bring researchers and enthusiasts together. These places are equipped with machines and electronic and digital equipment that allow the creation of prototypes in a much cheaper way.
Obviously, so much invention needs to be associated with knowledge. Therefore, the laboratories are being installed in schools all over Brazil. Something that values experimentation makes learning much more meaningful, in addition to developing very important skills, such as creativity, autonomy and empathy.
The maker culture has caused many educational environments to replace part of the theoretical classes with experimental products developed in laboratories. Thus, they promote interdisciplinarity, making the student understand everything that involves a creation process. It's called hands-on education.
In fact, many educators see, in the maker culture, a way to solve serious problems faced by Education. Among them, lack of motivation, use of old-fashioned techniques, as well as little relationship between what is learned in theory and the real world. Therefore, it is more than urgent to remove the stigma that the classroom is a monotonous environment.
The great advantage of maker culture is having strategies that can be used from elementary to higher education. Especially with children, it is possible to create a collaborative environment in which one helps the other in the learning process. But, the advantages go further and reach the preparation of the student for the job market.
Skills such as entrepreneurship, leadership and teamwork are increasingly demanded by companies, right? Do you want activity that exercises them more than building a robot? Or, even less, than putting together that cool model for the Science Fair? There, another example of the benefit of the maker culture!
Technology brings us a wide range of resources, such as software, robotic kits and 3D drawings. However, we know that the reality of the vast majority of schools in Brazil is not quite like that! This does not prevent the maker culture from being inserted in the educational environment. A single computer can make a huge difference!
And maker culture is not just directed at technological creations! As in the example above, a simple shelf using leftover Ceasa crates is a way of “doing it yourself”. More examples? Plant a vegetable garden at the back of the school, paint the walls with graffiti or assemble structures with wood and cardboard.
Did he see how the maker culture, in fact, is already applied in schools? The truth is that, with few resources, it is possible to insert the student in this philosophy, providing a greater degree of learning, among many other benefits! After all, who said the classroom has to be boring and unproductive?