Tag: makerspace

Learning Through Play: The Importance of Library Makerspaces

One of the many hats I wear in my role involves covering LabNEXT at the University of Calgary, the library’s Makerspace. A Makerspace, also referred to as a Maker Studio, Fab Lab, Tech Shop, or Hackerspace, is a dedicated space in the library for hands-on access to technologies for DIY making and collaboration. In our Makerspace, we offer technologies such as 3D Prusa printers, a Carvey, a Cricut, and sewing/embroidery machines. In addition to our Makerspace in LabNEXT we have a dedicated VR room, and a full-serve laser cutting service. It is a space open to students of all disciplines that enhances learning and encourages collaboration.

The University of Calgary’s Makerspace.

When you think of an academic library, technologies such as these may not come to mind. It’s not exactly a quiet and studious space, but that does not make it any less vital to the library ecosystem. A Makerspace environment fosters creative innovation; learning through play is a form of experiential learning! It allows students to engage with complex ideas in a low-stress environment where curiosity is rewarded. Designing and completing a project in the Makerspace is an exercise in problem-solving and adaptability, encouraging critical thinking skills in an untraditional learning space. It’s also not a requirement that students have to use the space for school projects only. The projects crafted have ranged from embroidering club logos, to carving a display for a small business, to 3D prints of Dwayne the Rock Johnson’s head on an octopus (a “Rocktopus” if you will). Amongst all the lectures and writing papers students have to sit through, practical, dynamic hands-on learning can be an excellent change of pace. 

Furthermore, the Makerspace is a zone of interdisciplinary collaboration. We have students who regularly come in and know the equipment better than I do. It is so rewarding to see students helping their peers brainstorming design ideas, or figuring out why their print failed, or encouraging their friends to try out a new VR game. My favourite messaging of the Makerspace is this: it’s okay to make learning fun.

Mental Health and the Makerspace: Running a Workshop

In November, I had the pleasure of running a Makerspace workshop as a part of UFlourish, the University’s mental health and well-being strategy. The name of the workshop was “Computer Cactus 3D Print & Paint” and had the following description:

Join the Taylor Family Digital Library in LabNEXT for a 3D Printing & Painting Workshop, where creativity meets technology! In this interactive session, you’ll learn the basics of 3D printing while painting your very own mini cacti—perfect for adding a touch of greenery to your workspace with a plant that will never die. After a brief presentation, you’ll get to bring 3D printed cacti to life with a splash of colour using paints provided at the workshop.

This workshop is a fantastic opportunity to explore the world of 3D printing, discover how technology in LabNEXT can be used creatively, and take home a unique piece of art that will brighten up your study space. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast or just looking for a creative break, this event is designed to help you flourish through play and interaction with technology right here in the library!

The workshop was inspired by Teresa Lewis, my former coworker at Mount Royal University and one of the most creative people I know. She gifted me a “computer cactus” as a parting gift from my old job, made with a 3D printer and beautifully painted by her. It currently sits on top of my office monitor:

“Computer Cactus” friend lives atop my work computer.

I could not get over how cute this little friend was, and how perfect something simple like this could be for a workshop. It was small enough to produce multiple prints, a great example of explaining how the 3D printing process works from start to finish, and a way to remind folks at the university that the Makerspace exists! Collaborating with UFlourish to conduct the workshop offered an excellent opportunity for students and faculty to take a break from midterms, prioritize their mental health, and engage in learning something new. 

I structured the workshop into three parts – teaching, demonstrating, and painting. I presented a brief powerpoint explaining the Makerspace, the different equipment offered, and the safety/ code of conduct. I then broke down the 3D printing process step-by-step (with screenshots!) and demonstrated how to start a cactus print. Since 3D prints take a fair amount of time, I pre-printed numerous cacti for folks to paint, but left the other printers open for a few eager folks to try printing something of their own. The remainder of the workshop left everyone mostly to their own devices to paint and play around with the printers, with me nearby to answer any questions.

I would call the workshop a success – we had an extensive waitlist and plan to run it again next semester. Half the attendees were students and the other half were faculty who told me they chose this workshop to be a team-building exercise. All but one attendee claimed to not have known the Makerspace existed, and were eager to return again to try out other technologies. 

Covering the Makerspace provides me with such a welcome change of pace from my other duties. It’s a way to flex the creative muscles, provide tangible assistance to patrons, and have fun at my job. I love seeing the wacky designs folks make and hear about how much they love the space. Makerspaces serve as a vibrant library resource, inspiring even more innovation and engagement within the University community – and they should be utilized more!

Supervising a Makerspace: Musings from the Fall

This semester, Stego Studio, our library’s makerspace, moved into the department I oversee. This makerspace opened up around the time I arrived at my institution (fall 2021) and I’ve watched, from a distance, as the studio has grown and evolved. I was excited but also slightly overwhelmed when I was asked to oversee this space (and supervise our makerspace coordinator). It has been a semester of learning and stretching and I’m excited for what’s to come. As we wrap up this year, I wanted to share some thoughts I’ve had this fall as the makerspace takes up more and more of my work brain.

My past experiences with makerspaces

Before Stego Studio, when I thought about makerspaces, I thought about my graduate work. During my first year in graduate school, I was part of a grant that focused on digital literacy in the local community. One of the partners on the grant was the local FabLab. I myself worked at a community space and would negotiate with the FabLab about technology the community space needed. As I got started on the grant, I spent some time in the FabLab, trying to learn more about their technologies and space. In particular, I had no knowledge of 3D printing and couldn’t quite wrap my mind around what you do with 3D printing. During those first visits, I felt excluded in the space. I didn’t have the expertise to join the conversations happening around me and I didn’t feel like my own making experience was valued. In the end, I stuck to more work around using the Cricut and using a laser cutter. This level of making ended up working best with the community center and students in that space.

Since that first experience with a FabLab, I’ve continued to make in my own way. I embroider and I make zines and I learned more about makerspaces that contained textile equipment like sewing machines and other paper crafts. I also learned more about 3D printing when I worked at Penn State and was working next to our Media Commons (which housed over 30 printers!). I still couldn’t quite see the use case for me, but I finally started to have a better sense of how the technology worked and the language I needed to be a part of the conversation.  

I’m thinking so much about my past experiences because now I have a chance to help shape how our community interacts with our makerspace. I want to help folks understand the power of these spaces and be able to understand what they can do in this space. And I want to make sure the work of the makerspace is communicated in a way that resonates with folks. I think my past experiences help guide me in how to talk about this work and how to connect it to folks who might be new to this area. 

Information Literacy & Maker Literacies

As we wrap up the semester, I’m thinking a lot about the intersections between makerspace instruction and one-shot information literacy instruction. How do we as a department weave these two instruction programs together? How do we collectively talk about teaching that spans from discussing Google’s algorithm, to slicing a 3D model before we print it, to using keywords to find peer-reviewed sources, to evaluating the worthiness of an article or even a design we might print or laser cut? And how does the team of educators in this department learn from our makerspace coordinator and vice versa? I see a long runway here and am itching to really dig into these conversations and connections and ideas.  

Student Impact

Our makerspace has also had some great news coverage recently (story 1 and story 2). Stego Studio has been collaborating with an Honors class and a local community organization, Clovernook, to 3D print objects that help tell a story to blind and visually impaired students in Africa. For these stories, I was down in the makerspace, listening to our students talk about their work and their learning. Many students had wanted to learn about 3D printing but hadn’t had the chance to learn. This class not only provided them an opportunity to support a larger community, but also gain those skills through trial and error. As I watched one student explain, in-depth, how they took different models and modeled them together, I was reminded of the impact this space has. And the potential this space has if we are able to create more learning opportunities, both curricular and co-curricular. 

What’s Ahead

It’s time for me to jump more fully into makerspaces in 2024. We’re building infrastructure, processes, and expanding our awareness across campus. Those things (infrastructure, process, and outreach) feel like skills I have and am good at. What I’m less confident in is my language around what happens inside makerspaces. I am grateful I’m entering a niche within the field where so much has been done and discussed. I’ve picked up Re-Making the Library Makerspace: Critical Theories, Reflections, & Practices  and look forward to engaging with the ideas presented in the chapters and learning from folks across the field. I’m grateful for an enthusiastic and creative makerspace coordinator who I’m learning from each day. I’m also grateful for a supportive supervisor (whose work is featured in a Re-Making the Library Makerspace chapter) who has experience in this area and is coaching me on how to do this work. I’m excited to have gotten the chance to work with makerspaces again and look forward to what’s to come in the new year.