Episode 11: Maker Ed in NYC Schools

After decades of experience in the NYC public school system, these three educators are hopeful that "Maker Education," the field's instantiation of the popular tinker movement re-constituted by the commercial Make Magazine and Maker Faire, holds promise for reforming aspects of how we teach and learn. Dr. Lou Lahana, Lori Stahl-VanBrackle, and Iliana Villegas don't agree on every aspect of the present or future of Maker Ed, but together with thousands of educators nationally, are writing the playbook as they go. This conversation unpacks the specifics issues that educators face when working to infuse the values and methodology into their schools. The group cite examples of multi-disciplinary project work, and dig into the spaces where they happen.If you like this episode, subscribe to No Such Thing on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. If it's not available on your favorite player, let me know through our shownotes site, nosuchthingpodcast[dot]wordpress[dot]org. Already a subscriber? Please rate and review us, and tweet the showpage to your network with #nosuchthingpodcast to enter to win a brand new 1st Gen Google Pixel phone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

The show is about learning with technology, the realities and exciting potential.Enjoying the show? Please take a moment to rate us, and leave a review wherever you've accessed the podcast. Find our listener survey at facebook.com/nosuchthingpodcast drop a like on the page while you're there.The music in this podcast was produced by Leroy Tindy, a guest in episode zero. You can find him on SoundCloud at AirTindi Beats.The podcast is produced by Marc Lesser. Marc is a specialist in the fields of digital learning and youth development with broad experience designing programming and learning environments in local and national contexts. Marc recently served as Youth Studies Practitioner Fellow at City University of New York, and leads a team of researchers and technologists for NAF (National Academy Foundation).Marc is the co-founder of Emoti-Con NYC, New York's biggest youth digital media and technology festival, and in 2012 was named a National School Boards Association “20-to-Watch” among national leaders in education and technology. Connect with Marc on BlueSky @malesser, or LinkedIn.What's with the ice cream truck in the logo? In the 80's, Richard E. Clark at University of Southern California set off a pretty epic debate based on his statement that "media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in nutrition." * So, the ice cream truck, it's a nod to Richard Clark, who frequently rings in my ear when I'm tempted to take things at face value. "Is it the method, or the medium?" I wonder.The title, No Such Thing, has a few meanings. Mostly, it emphasizes the importance of hard questions as we develop and document the narrative of "education" in the US. For Richard E. Clark, the question is whether there's such a thing as learning from new technologies. For others, it might be whether there's a panacea for the challenges we face in this field. Whatever your question, I hope that it reminds you to keep asking--yourself, your learners, others--what's working and how so.* Clark, R. E. (1983) Reconsidering Research on Learning From Media. Review of Educational Research 53(4) 445-459. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.