Maker Conference
Donation protected
I just found out that I have been given a $932 ticket to go to this year's Maker Conference (MakerCon 2015) in San Francisco! Woohoo! The only problem is that it is in San Francisco and I live in Phoenix! Airfare will cost about $250, Cheap hotels are about $100-$150/night. The conference is Tuesday, May 12 th and Wednesday, May 13th, and the Maker Faire is Friday, May 15th, so I will need a substitute in my classroom for that time. My school is out of money to pay for a substitue at $95/day. Ground transportation from airport to hotel and back is about $30/each way. I am hoping to raise enough money to be able to accept this ticket. If I am able to go, I will learn more about how to start and run a Makerspace for students at my school next year. A Makerspace would be very beneficial to the students at our school, as "makers" learn how to combine the application of skills and concepts they already know while learning other skills that they want to know. They learn to make things and fix things while collaborating and researching with each other. They use imagination and creativity while learning to be self-sufficient. The school where I teach is a Title I school with a diverse student population in a mid-low socioeconomic area... Learning how to be self-sufficient is a skill I would like to be a part of bringing to the students where I teach, which is also the community in which I live.
This is how a makerspace is defined on makerspace.com: "To describe them simply, makerspaces are community centers with tools. Makerspaces combine manufacturing equipment, community, and education for the purposes of enabling community members to design, prototype and create manufactured works that wouldn’t be possible to create with the resources available to individuals working alone. These spaces can take the form of loosely-organized individuals sharing space and tools, for-profit companies, non-profit corporations, organizations affiliated with or hosted within schools, universities or libraries, and more. All are united in the purpose of providing access to equipment, community, and education, and all are unique in exactly how they are arranged to fit the purposes of the community they serve.
Makerspaces represent the democratization of design, engineering, fabrication and education. They are a fairly new phenomenon, but are beginning to produce projects with significant national impacts."
This is how a makerspace is defined on makerspace.com: "To describe them simply, makerspaces are community centers with tools. Makerspaces combine manufacturing equipment, community, and education for the purposes of enabling community members to design, prototype and create manufactured works that wouldn’t be possible to create with the resources available to individuals working alone. These spaces can take the form of loosely-organized individuals sharing space and tools, for-profit companies, non-profit corporations, organizations affiliated with or hosted within schools, universities or libraries, and more. All are united in the purpose of providing access to equipment, community, and education, and all are unique in exactly how they are arranged to fit the purposes of the community they serve.
Makerspaces represent the democratization of design, engineering, fabrication and education. They are a fairly new phenomenon, but are beginning to produce projects with significant national impacts."
Organizer
Pam Reicks
Organizer
Phoenix, AZ