Library spaces are becoming collaborative spaces in university libraries across the United States. At the middle school and high school levels the libraries are being turned into collaborative maker spaces to encourage innovation and exploration of imagination among students. Elementary school libraries should encourage the students to begin thinking in a way that will help them to succeed at the secondary and post secondary level. Provide whiteboards, dry erase markers, tables with multiple electrical outlets so a group of children can bring the school's laptops to a table and work together. Provide instruction that supports the maker culture.
I call my suggestion Basic+ because you mention the students are from low-income families without basic high tech resources. So maybe instead of populating your collaborative makerspace with multiple 3-d printers, or any printers, you spend funds on laptops and give the options for students to rent flash drives to transport their work. Or better yet, partner with a cloud service where students can save their work until they can turn it in to their teachers via Blackboard or e-mail.
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Library spaces are becoming collaborative spaces in university libraries across the United States. At the middle school and high school levels the libraries are being turned into collaborative maker spaces to encourage innovation and exploration of imagination among students. Elementary school libraries should encourage the students to begin thinking in a way that will help them to succeed at the secondary and post secondary level. Provide whiteboards, dry erase markers, tables with multiple electrical outlets so a group of children can bring the school's laptops to a table and work together. Provide instruction that supports the maker culture.
I call my suggestion Basic+ because you mention the students are from low-income families without basic high tech resources. So maybe instead of populating your collaborative makerspace with multiple 3-d printers, or any printers, you spend funds on laptops and give the options for students to rent flash drives to transport their work. Or better yet, partner with a cloud service where students can save their work until they can turn it in to their teachers via Blackboard or e-mail.