Physical Computing Maker Cart – InfyMakers Submission
I applied to the InfyMakers Award Contest yesterday. http://www.infymakers.com/ Here is the proposal for the Physical Computing Maker Cart.
What suggestions do you have for supplies, lessons, activities, resources and challenges?Leave your reply in the comments.
Summary
The InfyMaker award will enable the creation of a set of Physical Computing Maker Carts for use in elementary, middle and high school coding classrooms. These mobile makerspaces will empower students to imagine, make and code real world products to solve authentic challenging problems.
The InfyMaker award will enable the creation of a set of Physical Computing Maker Carts for use in elementary, middle and high school coding classrooms. These mobile makerspaces will empower students to imagine, make and code real world products to solve authentic challenging problems.
Detailed Description
Students in the Academies of Loudoun’s – Academy of Engineering and Technology will prototype and test a set of Physical Computing Maker Carts for use in elementary, middle and high school coding classrooms. The carts will consist of a basic mobile makerspace enhanced with an add-on package of physical computing devices. The project team will create activities and challenges that reflect authentic problems in our community. Students in our district’s K12 coding classrooms will imagine, make and code real world products to meet these challenges. Progress will be shared through a project blog. Students will exhibit their work at an annual maker showcase.
The final cart design, activities and design challenges will present a scalable solution to integrating making and coding in K12 schools. The results of the project will be shared globally through the Stanford FabLearn Fellows network.
Budget
$3,000 – 6 basic mobile makerspace carts. 2 each elementary, middle and high school. Unit cost per cart of $500 based on previous mobile makerspace design work. Each tool tote will contain scissors, shears, cutting mat, hot glue gun, ruler, crayons, colored pencils, markers, tape, and glue sticks.
$3,000 – 6 physical computing class packs of Makey Makey, micro:bit, Circuit Playground Express and Arduinos.
$800 – Tools. This budget item is to allow our student design team flexibility to outfit carts to meet specific classroom or activity needs.
$3,200 – Professional Development: 2 member project team of computer science teacher and maker educator will attend 2018 Constructing Modern Knowledge Institute to deeply explore interplay of making and physical computing and develop activities to promote introduction of making into the coding classroom. Includes registration, hotel and airfare.
Sustainability
The InfyMakers Physical Computing Maker Cart build out guide, design challenges and activities will be shared on a project blog, FabLearn blog/conference and via YouTube. The low cost and modular nature of the cart ensures it can be easily replicated by other school districts.
Locally, Academies of Loudoun’s – Academy of Engineering and Technology program will maintain the InfyMakers funded carts as a service learning project. The project team will conduct PD on making & coding for our Code to the Future (elementary), Coding at Middle School (middle) and Computer Science (high school) teams. As the carts are loaned out across our district of 85,000 students, individual schools will engage their stakeholders in funding their own Physical Computing Maker Carts.
Student projects will be exhibited at our district’s annual Student Maker Showcase and at our regional NoVa Maker Faire.
Instructable
Video