MAKER UNITS

Did you know that over 50% of the people involved in Adobe's study considered creativity to be stifled by education?

View the complete study here.

Adobe has a similar goal to me: to increase access to creative tools and to promote creativity for everyone.  This study was conducted to find out more about attitudes and barriers towards creativity, and it has allowed me to use real statistics in support of my beliefs about creativity.  For example, the main reason why people do not create is because they have not got access to tools.  Adobe's definition of "tools" may be more software-oriented, but this means that addressing the problem of tool access will have a larger impact on creativity than solving other barriers to creativity, such as the understanding of technology (less than 10% of people considered this a barrier, interestingly)  

Full scale 2D prototype

Maker Units Prototype Book 

Maker Unit Vinyl Cutting Prototype

Vinyl cutters, as I discussed before, are ideal candidates for Maker Units due to their low risk, small bottleneck, and interesting output.

Setting: Computer classes

Project: Name tags, bumper stickers.  Single and multiple layers & colours

Booklet: A simple sketching book to record developments and ideas before moving on to the computer and an open-source illustration program.

Risks: Mistakes in printing, cutting into the machine

Unit Contents:

Top- fold-out cutting table and worktop

1st drawer- power cords, exacto blades / safer alternative to remove negative space, squeegees, spare cutting blades

Cabinet - divided on top to hold multiple vinyl rolls and the backing tape, with an interior drawer for scraps.

2nd drawer- foam nest for the vinyl cutter, lockable with an opaque door.

Maker Unit Cerlox and Coil Bookbinding Prototype

Cerlox and Coil bindings are the easiest and quickest ways to bind paper together.  I met with a Maker to discuss this process, and although I had hoped for a more classic and craft-based bookbinding style using thread and glue, this process is still interesting and rare to have in schools.  It is also easier to comprehend because it does not require a special printing method to get the pages in the right order, pages can be added and removed, and it's quick to use resulting in a very small bottleneck.  This means that the Maker Unit could have a focus on the book's contents rather than the method.

Setting: anywhere.  A class of any type may use this Unit to bind small books, varying from art portfolios to written reports.  

Project: If there is no project in mind, a class can create a calendar, a small magazine, or class yearbook by themselves or in groups.  

Booklet:  A simple process booklet showing the teacher and students how to use the machine safely.  The teacher will have a resource booklet that allows them to lead the class through the project, but work will be done on the computer or on other paper since the booklet is the outcome.

Risks: papercuts, pinching of hands in the lever, messing up the cut and having useless holes

Unit Contents:  

Top- basic worktop with the machine either bolted down (for heavy models) or set down.  Enough space in front of machine to prepare paper

1st drawer- Cerlox and coils of 11" and 8.5" sizes, acetate sheets, crimper for the coiled books

2nd drawer - Resources for the teacher, instructions, power cords if model is automatic, storage for lever if model is manual

Cabinet - vertical (or horizontal - perhaps better for transport) dividers to store glossy papers, cardstock, coloured papers, and more.  Paper will be selected based on the project, and will have a limit of a certain amount per student.

Maker Unit Desktop Lathe Prototype

Co-designed with Javen, a desktop lathe user.

Setting:  Tech design or Maker class, requires access to a shop vac and suitable workshop conditions.  The teacher will have training in tool use but potentially not the lathe.  

Project: Design a shape and make a candlestick using the lathe.  Approximately 30 minutes for each student on the lathe, with 2 lathes.  Unit will be rented for enough days to get every student on it, approximately 1 week.

Booklet:  Sketching warm up with ellipses, designing the shape, instructions to use a lathe, drawing the finished product.

Risks:  Potential injury on lathe if badly used.  Risks lowered by a circular stock, sharp and effective tools, and training.  Teacher will need a quick lesson from a Maker Unit pro to ensure that they understand good and bad practices.

Unit contents:  

Top - Fold-down lockable cover, middle shield to catch cuttings, air intake in the middle to be attached to a shop vac from the back

1st drawer for access during tool use- 2 double-ended cutting tools with spare heads to ensure a good tool for every student.  Glue, face shields and glasses, calipers, wax for finishing, earplugs and over-ear protection, lathe maintenance tools (depends on brand) 

Cabinet with interior drawers - Pre-drilled round basswood stock to make the process faster and safer.  Candlestick inserts, candles, rubber feet.

2nd drawer - Lab coats, booklets and teaching resources.

Another challenge to address is the size of classes and the workload for each Maker Unit.  Ideally, classes should be small and the Maker Unit should have few bottleneck activities which require students to wait for their turn.  Any bottlenecks that do exist should be brief, interesting to watch, or dispersed by staggering the projects.

In 2012, the Education Act changed the class sizes for Ontario schools. The maximum average is a slightly misleading restriction because it allows for far larger classes if the majority of classes are smaller.

Kindergarten: a maximum average of 26 students

Other primary: an absolute maximum of 23, and at least 90% of classes must have 20 or less.

Elementary grades 4-8: varies according to a list of school boards, unlisted school boards including the OCDSB have a maximum average of 24.5

Secondary school: Maximum average 22

These numbers are very low, which is good news for Maker Units!  To really understand how class size affects the success of a Maker Unit is not possible at this time due to the strict ethics clearance needed, but testing Units on classes would be a good way to ensure their success and to handle any bottlenecks.  

One of the challenges for teachers using Maker Units is the amount of knowledge needed to operate and teach the wide range of topics.  This booklet aims to take some of the pressure off the teacher.  The aim is to bring a non-designer through a simple but fairly complete design process that results in an object that can be fabricated on the Maker Unit.  Follow the link to take a look at the 3D design prototype that I will be testing - if it results in objects that could be built easily in TinkerCAD and printed on a Makerbot, it will be a success.  One of the responsibilities of the Maker Units company will be to work with Makers and crafters to create new Units with lesson plans and booklets like this.  That actually sounds like a fun job!

3 Maker Unit Concepts

Top:  A flexible, primarily craft-based Maker Unit which features an unbroken and sturdy workspace which can have places to add on vices, hangers, and other tools.

Middle: A stacking unit which can be changed to suit each technology,  For example, a 3D printer requires large storage for the materials, but a soldering kit requires small and shallow divided drawers.  This allows variation without too much extra cost.

Second round of sketches and a classification of tech <-> craft style making.  Main ideas include a way to stack and change the function of the storage and tables.

A selection of early low-fidelity sketches for the Maker Unit, and a vision for a Maker Unit Library.  Main explorations include portability, workspace availability, security, and storage.  I'm also looking into the possibility of showing off the Unit's journey around many different schools by featuring a class project related to the technology included.  An example of this would be a vinyl sticker designed by the class which can be stuck to the Unit like a luggage sticker.