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Introduction for the Special issue on ‘Maker technologies to foster engagement and creativity in learning’
Entertainment Computing 18 (2017) 143–144
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Entertainment Computing journal homepage: ees.elsevier.com/entcom
Preface
Introduction for the Special issue on ‘Maker technologies to foster engagement and creativity in learning’ Making to enable entertaining, engaging and ultimately efficient learning has recently gathered a lot of attention. Making is very broad concept focuses on the process that an individual can become creator of things, a ‘‘maker.” Although the philosophy behind making is not new, since Seymour Papert’s Constructionism and ‘‘learning-by-making” principles have been available for more than 25 years ago; the contemporary technical, infrastructural and social developments, like the appearance of various making spaces (e.g., FabLabs, Makerspaces), tools with diverse making affordances (e.g., 3D printing, microprocessors) and the acute need to ensure that future citizens and workers will be fully prepared for a global economy and master 21st century skills (e.g., critical thinking, innovation skills); posit making as a very promising research area to support learning. While it is a phenomenon of growing significance, scholarly work on making is emerging, both conceptually and empirically. In response to the need of accelerating research foundations and developments in making, the Entertainment Computing journal presents a special issue that disseminates the latest research findings related to Maker Technologies to Foster Engagement and Creativity in Learning. The special issue is consisted of three contributions covering different research areas and needs. The rich and diverse collection of articles provide insights about: (a) the published work during the last five years with a systematic literature review comprised of forty-three peer review articles, (b) putting into practice maker activities to empower science learning in elementary school education and (c) design language to analyze maker technologies in the context of school maker settings. Making in education, look back to move forward Typical topics of interest in making include engineering-oriented pursuits such as electronics, robotics and 3D printing, as well as more traditional activities such as sewing or arts and crafts. During the last years different studies have reported a variety of outcomes; however, the lack of a summary of these empirical studies prevents stakeholders from having a clear view of the benefits and challenges of making. Papavlasopoulou et al. [1] provide a review of the making approach, forty-three peer-reviewed articles were collected from a systematic literature search and analyzed based on a categorization of their main elements. The results of this survey show insights related with the most common technologies, research methods applied, subject areas, contexts, evaluation methods, pedagogical designs as well as the main findings of the articles. Designing new technology or affordances and reviewing of existing developments in making go hand in hand; hence we http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2016.11.001 1875-9521/Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.
expect that insight extracted from this literature review article will support researchers, educators, designer and inventor in the area of making. Making as entertainment technologies in school education Although making has been linked with informal learning settings, we have recently seen many research efforts investigating the potential of making in school context. Along lese lines, Chu et al. [3] investigate child’s experience of fun and learning within curriculum integrated making activities in the elementary school settings. In particular, Chu et al. [3] conducted an in-the-wild week-long study that implements making activities designed with 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers during science classes. The authors implemented mixed methods research to investigate the determinants of fun and learning in the children’s experiences. The main qualities of positive factors related to the activity were experimentation, novelty (when the child encountered something for the first time), and wanting involvement (when the child asserted her participation in an activity). The value of this work is also related with the fact that is one of the very few studies (to the best of our knowledge) which deployed and experimented with making in an authentic school classroom. Analyze making in the school and students as designers settings An ingredient of the Maker Movement are analogue and digital technologies, combined with traditional materials such as wood, plastic or fabric, that enable creative creation, design and production of custom artefacts. Digital fabrication technologies such as 3D Printers and Laser cutters, have made the production process more precise and faster to create custom made artefacts that suits one’s needs. In their paper, Christensen and Iversen [2] argue for a focus on the expanding the design language used to articulate form properties and what kinds of feedback happen between children’s actions and the intended functionality of ‘‘maker technologies”. Through a three months intervention study in collaboration with three 7th grade classes with a total of 64 children aged 13–15, the authors studied three technologies, analyzed their material form and properties, and how they communicate feedback to children. The authors’ present their findings in a framework to guide the creation of new, as well as analyzing existing maker technologies. Their findings are beneficial on three factors for designers, researchers and teachers involved in work with maker technologies. (1) reflections on form properties, (2) analysis of relationship between user action and technology function, and (3) how this
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Preface / Entertainment Computing 18 (2017) 143–144
relates to feedback when children use these technologies to design digital prototypes. Designers can use the presented framework to improve existing, or prepare them for future designs. Researchers can use the expanded design language to analyze existing maker technologies. Finally, teachers can make better decisions on how and when to use different maker technologies when school children work through design processes. Towards affordable and intuitive making experiences to support learning Considering all the four contribution of the special issue and the recent developments in the area of making; it is clear that research efforts focusing towards the development of new learning affordances to support learning through making. In general, whenever new affordances or new products and technologies supporting these affordances appear (e.g., 3D printing, Arduino LilyPad, Wearables), are expensive and the various users (e.g., educators) tend to ignore them and keep using old media or the new ones by simply ignoring the new affordances and potentialities. For instance, for many years 3D printing equipment was expensive and used to manufacture nonfunctioning artefacts like sculptures, without taking into consideration the various offered affordances for building
functioning parts (e.g., mobile phone parts, clothes and clocks). As time progresses, the new affordances and mediums are becoming affordable and people eventually develop creative ways to take their full advantage. Thus, it is expected that findings from the current state-of-the-art research in making will need time and great effort from the various users (e.g., educators, students) and stakeholders (e.g., businesses, universities), before being fully accepted and exploited in their learning activities. References [1] S. Papavlasopoulou, M.N. Giannakos, L. Jaccheri, Empirical studies on the maker movement, a promising approach to learning: a literature review, Entertain. Comput. 18 (2017) 57–78. [2] K.S. Christensen, O.S. Iversen, Articulations on form properties and actionfunction couplings of maker technologies in children’s education, Entertain. Comput. 18 (2017) 41–54. [3] S.L. Chu, G. Angello, M. Saenz, F. Quek, Fun in making: understanding the experience of fun and learning through curriculum-based Making in the elementary school classroom, Entertain. Comput. 18 (2017) 31–40.
Special Issue Editors Michail N. Giannakos Monica Divitini Ole Sejer Iversen
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Entertainment Computing journal homepage: ees.elsevier.com/entcom
Preface
Introduction for the Special issue on ‘Maker technologies to foster engagement and creativity in learning’ Making to enable entertaining, engaging and ultimately efficient learning has recently gathered a lot of attention. Making is very broad concept focuses on the process that an individual can become creator of things, a ‘‘maker.” Although the philosophy behind making is not new, since Seymour Papert’s Constructionism and ‘‘learning-by-making” principles have been available for more than 25 years ago; the contemporary technical, infrastructural and social developments, like the appearance of various making spaces (e.g., FabLabs, Makerspaces), tools with diverse making affordances (e.g., 3D printing, microprocessors) and the acute need to ensure that future citizens and workers will be fully prepared for a global economy and master 21st century skills (e.g., critical thinking, innovation skills); posit making as a very promising research area to support learning. While it is a phenomenon of growing significance, scholarly work on making is emerging, both conceptually and empirically. In response to the need of accelerating research foundations and developments in making, the Entertainment Computing journal presents a special issue that disseminates the latest research findings related to Maker Technologies to Foster Engagement and Creativity in Learning. The special issue is consisted of three contributions covering different research areas and needs. The rich and diverse collection of articles provide insights about: (a) the published work during the last five years with a systematic literature review comprised of forty-three peer review articles, (b) putting into practice maker activities to empower science learning in elementary school education and (c) design language to analyze maker technologies in the context of school maker settings. Making in education, look back to move forward Typical topics of interest in making include engineering-oriented pursuits such as electronics, robotics and 3D printing, as well as more traditional activities such as sewing or arts and crafts. During the last years different studies have reported a variety of outcomes; however, the lack of a summary of these empirical studies prevents stakeholders from having a clear view of the benefits and challenges of making. Papavlasopoulou et al. [1] provide a review of the making approach, forty-three peer-reviewed articles were collected from a systematic literature search and analyzed based on a categorization of their main elements. The results of this survey show insights related with the most common technologies, research methods applied, subject areas, contexts, evaluation methods, pedagogical designs as well as the main findings of the articles. Designing new technology or affordances and reviewing of existing developments in making go hand in hand; hence we http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2016.11.001 1875-9521/Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.
expect that insight extracted from this literature review article will support researchers, educators, designer and inventor in the area of making. Making as entertainment technologies in school education Although making has been linked with informal learning settings, we have recently seen many research efforts investigating the potential of making in school context. Along lese lines, Chu et al. [3] investigate child’s experience of fun and learning within curriculum integrated making activities in the elementary school settings. In particular, Chu et al. [3] conducted an in-the-wild week-long study that implements making activities designed with 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers during science classes. The authors implemented mixed methods research to investigate the determinants of fun and learning in the children’s experiences. The main qualities of positive factors related to the activity were experimentation, novelty (when the child encountered something for the first time), and wanting involvement (when the child asserted her participation in an activity). The value of this work is also related with the fact that is one of the very few studies (to the best of our knowledge) which deployed and experimented with making in an authentic school classroom. Analyze making in the school and students as designers settings An ingredient of the Maker Movement are analogue and digital technologies, combined with traditional materials such as wood, plastic or fabric, that enable creative creation, design and production of custom artefacts. Digital fabrication technologies such as 3D Printers and Laser cutters, have made the production process more precise and faster to create custom made artefacts that suits one’s needs. In their paper, Christensen and Iversen [2] argue for a focus on the expanding the design language used to articulate form properties and what kinds of feedback happen between children’s actions and the intended functionality of ‘‘maker technologies”. Through a three months intervention study in collaboration with three 7th grade classes with a total of 64 children aged 13–15, the authors studied three technologies, analyzed their material form and properties, and how they communicate feedback to children. The authors’ present their findings in a framework to guide the creation of new, as well as analyzing existing maker technologies. Their findings are beneficial on three factors for designers, researchers and teachers involved in work with maker technologies. (1) reflections on form properties, (2) analysis of relationship between user action and technology function, and (3) how this
144
Preface / Entertainment Computing 18 (2017) 143–144
relates to feedback when children use these technologies to design digital prototypes. Designers can use the presented framework to improve existing, or prepare them for future designs. Researchers can use the expanded design language to analyze existing maker technologies. Finally, teachers can make better decisions on how and when to use different maker technologies when school children work through design processes. Towards affordable and intuitive making experiences to support learning Considering all the four contribution of the special issue and the recent developments in the area of making; it is clear that research efforts focusing towards the development of new learning affordances to support learning through making. In general, whenever new affordances or new products and technologies supporting these affordances appear (e.g., 3D printing, Arduino LilyPad, Wearables), are expensive and the various users (e.g., educators) tend to ignore them and keep using old media or the new ones by simply ignoring the new affordances and potentialities. For instance, for many years 3D printing equipment was expensive and used to manufacture nonfunctioning artefacts like sculptures, without taking into consideration the various offered affordances for building
functioning parts (e.g., mobile phone parts, clothes and clocks). As time progresses, the new affordances and mediums are becoming affordable and people eventually develop creative ways to take their full advantage. Thus, it is expected that findings from the current state-of-the-art research in making will need time and great effort from the various users (e.g., educators, students) and stakeholders (e.g., businesses, universities), before being fully accepted and exploited in their learning activities. References [1] S. Papavlasopoulou, M.N. Giannakos, L. Jaccheri, Empirical studies on the maker movement, a promising approach to learning: a literature review, Entertain. Comput. 18 (2017) 57–78. [2] K.S. Christensen, O.S. Iversen, Articulations on form properties and actionfunction couplings of maker technologies in children’s education, Entertain. Comput. 18 (2017) 41–54. [3] S.L. Chu, G. Angello, M. Saenz, F. Quek, Fun in making: understanding the experience of fun and learning through curriculum-based Making in the elementary school classroom, Entertain. Comput. 18 (2017) 31–40.
Special Issue Editors Michail N. Giannakos Monica Divitini Ole Sejer Iversen