This is not the hushed, orderly school library of the past. It's also not the kind of classroom where students are expected to sit quietly and wait for direction from a teacher. It is a "makerspace."
The term "makerspace" is relatively new, an offshoot of a broader movement toward hands-on learning that has also spawned huge "Maker Faire" events around the country. But many of the things that go on in a makerspace are activities that schools have offered for decades in places like shop, industrial tech, home economics, photography or art classes.
If this sounds like a mix of subjects that don't belong together, well, that's exactly the point, said Todd Hunter, a science teacher and makerspace facilitator at Anoka High School. His school is about to open a brand-new makerspace in a section of the library that once housed two computer labs. It features equipment for robotics and graphic design, video production and 3-D printing, laser cutters for cutting and etching, two recording studios and a textiles area, where students can work on sewing machines.
Read the full article in the Star Tribune here.