Co4Lab- Event
The Co4Lab project, the Innokomp project and Innokas Network jointly organize the Co4Lab event. In the event, you can follow a keynote presentation by Yasmin Kafai, a key Maker Culture trailblazer, developer and researcher, and take part in Maker workshops. Join us and get excited on Maker Culture through practical activity!
Time and Place
The event takes place on Wed, March 3 from 10.30 to 16.00 in Minervatori at the University of Helsinki Faculty of Educational Sciences (Siltavuorenpenger 5A, Helsinki). You can also tune in to a webcast of the Yasmin Kafai keynote from 11.00 to 12.00 here.
Agenda
10.30 Welcome, coffee/tea
11.00-12.00 Keynote presentation by Yasmin B. Kafai, University of Pennsylvania: Stitching the Loop: Re-Crafting the Maker Movement with Electronic Textiles
12-13 Lunch (separate charge)
13-16 Workshops; three options to choose from during enrolment.
Workshop descriptions
E-textile Basics
This workshop introduces the basics of e-textiles, the components used in e-textiles and a simple circuit. We’ll also get to know sewable circuits with a switch. The workshop is facilitated by Yasmin Kafai and can seat 25 participants.
Micro:bit – Programmable Electronics for Multidisciplinary Learning Modules
In this workshop you will get to know the easy-to-use Micro:bit programming board that you can use in your multidisciplinary learning modules. Guided by tutor-students, you’ll also learn about their experiences in peer-to-peer teaching and in assuming an expert role in the school. The workshop is run by tutor students from Aurinkolahti School and can seat 25 participants.
Micro-Craft Hackathon
In this workshop you will work in small groups, taking part in a Hackathon. A Hackathon, coined from “hack” and “marathon” is a short, intensive and fun competition where a group of people try to develop a solution for a given challenge within the allocated time. In this hackathon, you will brainstorm, co-create and co-develop new engaging ways to implement new multi-material craft as called for in the new basic curriculum. The workshop is led by masters-phase crafts teacher students aided by expert mentors. The workshop can seat 25 participants.
Enrolment
The event is open for participation by 75 persons in enrolment order. You can also enroll on just the Yasmin Kafain keynote. Enrol by Friday, March 3 here.
Yasmin Kafai
Yasmin Kafai is the Lori and Michael Milken President’s Distinguished Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and chair of the Teaching, Learning and Leadership division at the Graduate School of Education. She is a researcher and developer of tools, communities, and materials to promote computational participation, crafting, and creativity across K-16. Her book monographs include “Connected Gaming: What Making Video Games Can Teach Us About Learning and Literacy,” “Connected Code: Why Children Need to Learn Programming,” and editions such as “Makeology,” “Textile Messages: Dispatches from the World of Electronic Textiles and Education,” “Diversifying Barbie and Mortal Kombat: Perspectives on Race and Gender in Gaming.” She co-authored the 2010 National Educational Technology Plan for the US Department of Education among many other policy efforts. Kafai earned a doctorate in education from Harvard University while working with Seymour Papert at the MIT Media Lab. She is an elected fellow of the American Educational Research Association and the International Society for the Learning Sciences.
Keynote abstract
The Maker Movement is expanding from maker fairs, fabrication spaces, and community organizations into schools and classrooms. While maker activities provide new opportunities for learning, they also promote stereotypes about makers and making. Electronic textiles that are textile artifacts embedded with interactive electronics challenge these stereotypes by connecting traditionally more feminine activities of crafts with more traditionally male activities of circuitry and computing. “Stitching the Loop” is a high school curriculum using electronic textiles within “Exploring Computer Science” classrooms. How can we connect the big ideas of making with classroom curriculum design? What are teaching strategies that can support equity, interest-driven projects, and peer inquiry? In which ways can students’ making e-textiles integrate learning about computing and aesthetics? “Stitching the Loop” is both an opportunity for and challenge in breaking down traditional barriers to computing.
