Empowering Student Agency with Student-Run MakerSpaces

Makerspaces have been a hot topic in education for the past few years, especially in an effort to increase STEAM initiatives. Yet makerspaces do more than build the next generation of designers and engineers. Makerspaces can support the development of agency for students and prepare them for an unknown future.

Our students are the most important but are often the most under-appreciated stakeholders in schools, especially when planning for personalized learning with technology. Involving students in the planning, implementation, and daily management of a one-to-one technology program and MakerSpace programs can help empower our students to take ownership of their learning while also providing an opportunity for students to take on leadership roles in the school, develop a future-ready skill set, and collaborate in an innovative learning environment.

As educators, the release of control to students can be an uncomfortable feeling, but during this presentation we will share how collaboration is essential for students to take ownership of their learning and leads to developing real-life skills! Colleges and companies list soft skills such as creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration as top skills they look for during interviews. Let’s prepare students for the future.

This session will share specific learning tools, guiding documents, suggested reading, and strategies used to empower student agency. Students not only learn how technology works and how to use it in the classroom, but they also learn leadership skills, effective communication skills, design principles, and the importance of quality customer service.