‘Makerspaces in the early years: Enhancing digital literacy and creativity’ (MakEY) is a 30 month project (€531,000), funded by the EU H2020 Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) programme and led by Professor Jackie Marsh, University of Sheffield, UK.
See the final report from the LSE team, Connecting learning: Parents and young children in makerspaces. We have blogged about this work at:
Supervising, cheerleading, babysitting and collaborating: parents as co-learners in makerspaces
Educators and parents – working together to support children’s learning in makerspaces
What motivates ‘tech-free’ Silicon Valley parents to enrol their children in makerspaces?
What we learned from studying makerspaces – implications for policy
About
The project aims to further research and innovation in the area of young children’s digital literacy and creative design skills. Research projects will be undertaken in six EU countries (Denmark, Germany, Finland, Iceland, Romania, UK) and the USA in which staff working in makerspaces (including hacklabs and Fab Labs) will collaborate with academics to identify the benefits and challenges of running makerspace workshops in both formal (nurseries and schools) and informal (museums and libraries) educational settings. The research team will work in partnership with academics in Australia, Canada, Colombia, South Africa and the USA, creating a global network of scholars who will work together to further understanding of the role of makerspaces in developing young children's digital literacy and creativity.
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Blog
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Principal investigator
LSE Collaborators
Alicia Blum-Ross
Research officer in the Department of Media and Communications
@aliciablumross