Resources for getting started
Here is the makerspace research going on at Tufts University.
Below are various links to help you get started in building your makerspace.
What is a makerspace?
There are many different definitions of what a makerspace is, but here at the CEEO we see makerspaces as a place to create and learn within a collaborative environment. Makerspaces are popping up in schools, libraries, and communities.
A makerspace is a collaborative work space inside a school, library or separate public/private facility for making, learning, exploring and sharing that uses high tech to no tech tools.
A makerspace is a place where students can gather to create, invent, tinker, explore and discover using a variety of tools and materials.
Makerspaces come in all shapes and sizes, but they all serve as a gathering point for tools, projects, mentors, and expertise. A collection of tools does not define a makerspace. Rather, we define it by what it enables: making.
Why makerspaces?
We think that makerspaces are a great place to learn by making. Learning this way uses a student’s internal motivation as a fuel source. Rather than be pulled forward by grades or the necessity to succeed, students push their own projects forward because making things is inherently fulfilling.
Here are some resources that talk about why we should be making makerspaces.
What goes into a makerspace?
Just as there are many definitions for what a makerspace is, different groups have different ideas of what kinds of materials and tools are found in a makerspace. Materials can include low tech craft materials or high tech equipment.
Here are some resources that provide ideas with what materials to start with. The MakerEd document includes tools with sample budgets.
What are your goals for a makerspace?
Even before you get started looking for materials and equipment for your makerspace, we have developed a card-sorting task to help you define your goals, interests and values.
How do you run a makerspace?
Here are some resources that talk about the sustainability of maintaining a makerspace.
Academic resources
Here are some academic papers that talk about different kinds of makerspaces: