Next Gen Maker Education

A conversation with Kylie Peppler of the UC Irvine's Creativity Labs

For the closing session from the Make: Education Forum, held in September 2023, I had a conversation with Kylie A. Peppler who is a professor of Informatics and a professor of Education at UC Irvine, where she runs Creativity Labs. Our topic was thinking about the Next Generation of Maker Education.

Over the last 10-15 years, we saw the first wave of makerspaces in education. Yet with the disruption of Covid, many makerspaces were closed, faculty champions moved on or retired, and some programs were dropped. Yet the need for maker education is greater than ever, as student engagement in the traditional curriculum is still a big challenge and hands-on experiential learning is missing for most students. Kylie and I talk about possible needs and directions for the future of maker education.

If you have thoughts about this conversation or the future of Maker Education, please share them at:

https://community.makered.org/

In 2024, the Make: Education Forum will move to MakerEd and be renamed the MakerEd Forum. Godwyn Morris will continue as the organizer and leader of the program. We will begin registration for the event in May and the MakerEd Forum will be held again in September.