Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity: Makerspaces in the Early Years

by Alicia Blum-Ross (Editor), Kristiina Kumpulainen (Editor), Jackie Marsh (Editor)

Overview

Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity is an exploration of how young children gain digital literacies in ‘makerspaces.’ The international authors investigate how hands-on experimentation with a variety of materials - from traditional arts and crafts to contemporary digital tools like 3D printers and laser cutters - can aid children in their development of play, creativity and storytelling. From museums to libraries, nursery schools to community centres, this research shows how ‘making’ supports the development of creative skills and introduces concepts to be explored in a variety of environments and contexts.

Drawing on examples from around the globe, described by a range of international academics, Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity includes chapters on:

• Virtual reality
• Museum and library makerspaces
• Intergenerational making in families
• Making in schools and nursery settings
• Assessing learning in makerspaces
• Links to previous theories
• Social imagination

This book will be a valuable resource for students and researchers in the fields of education and digital literacies; early childhood teacher educators and practitioners; librarians; museum educators; and makerspace staff.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367197889
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/19/2019
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alicia Blum-Ross is Public Policy Lead for Kids and Families at Google.

Kristiina Kumpulainen is Professor of Education at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki.

Jackie Marsh is Professor of Education at the University of Sheffield.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Contributors

Chapter 1: The MakEY Project: An Introduction

Alicia Blum-Ross, Kristiina Kumpulainen and Jackie Marsh

Chapter 2: Researching Young Children’s Engagement and Learning in Makerspaces: Insights from Post-Vygotskian and Post-Human Perspectives

Michalis Kontopodis and Kristiina Kumpulainen

Chapter 3: Makeative Makerspaces: When the Pedagogy is Makeative

Klaus Thestrup and Louisa Haugaard Pedersen

Chapter 4: Makerspaces, Multiliteracies and Early Science Education: The Finnish Approach

Jenni Vartiainen and Kristiina Kumpulainen

Chapter 5: Makerspaces and Virtual Reality

Dylan Yamada-Rice, Deborah Rodrigues and Justyna Zubrycka

Chapter 6: Makerspaces in Formal and Non-Formal Learning Contexts in Iceland

Kristín Dýrfjörð, Torfi Hjartarson, Anna E. Hreiðarsdóttir, Sólveig Jakobsdóttir, Svanborg R. Jónsdóttir, Skúlína H. Kjartansdóttir, Margrét E. Ólafsdóttir, Svava Pétursdóttir, Gísli Thorsteinsson

Chapter 7: Makerspaces in the Making: Reconfiguring Cultures of Facilitation across the Kindergarten and the Science Museum

Alfredo Jornet, Hans Christian Arnseth and Ole Smørdal

Chapter 8: Types of Engagement in Makerspaces

Anca Velicu and Monica Mitarcă

Chapter 9: Assessment of Learning in STEAM-Focused Makerspaces

Louise Kay, Jackie Marsh, David Hyatt, Liz Chesworth, Bobby Nisha, Beth Nutbrown and Bryony Olney

Chapter 10: Connecting learning: Parents and young children in museum makerspaces

Alicia Blum-Ross and Sonia Livingstone

Chapter 11: Teaching for social imagination: Creativity in an early learning makerspace

Anne Burke and Abigail Crocker

Chapter 12: Conclusion

Jackie Marsh, Alicia Blum-Ross and Kristiina Kumpulainen

Afterword: Reflecting on Process

Kylie Peppler

Editorial Reviews

"The soul is healed by being with children. This book provides the scientific underpinning of Dostoyevsky’s wisdom. It gives inspiring examples of connecting the young and the elderly and how to strengthen community life." - Elly Singer, Associate Professor University Utrecht, The Netherlands, retired

From the Publisher