Chattanooga Inventor’s Bootcamp Wrap Up
The Inventor’s Bootcamp in Chattanooga, TN this week was incredible! Both students and educators enjoyed getting creative with Project 5S. AJ (aka FoamBoardRC) stopped by to help the kids with some Arduino programming. He shared some of his favorite projects but couldn’t bring any in because he’s always tearing them apart to make something new! See some of his projects on his Instructables page at http://www.instructables.com/member/FoamboardRC/.
We were excited when Geoff Millener (@GMillener) and Lindsey Frost Cleary (@FrostCleary) from Mozilla Gigabit (@MozillaGigabit) stopped by to check out our Bootcamp. They even agreed to stay and judge the competition. Mozilla (think Firefox) is leading the charge with innovative community education in Chattanooga and other cities. How fun was that!
For more camp photos and regular updates, follow our TTI Facebook page. Next stop is Atlanta, GA (July 14-18). We’d love to see you there!
Sign up here: http://www.ttinvent.com/bootcamp
High School Administrators Learn More About #MakerEd
While in Chattanooga, TTI hosted a group of 20 high school principals for an evening of good food and discussion about the impact and implications of maker education in K12 schools. They had fun learning about the projects the bootcamp participants were working on, earned their “I’m a Maker” badge while creating blinky light creatures, and considered the question “Can average teachers truly implement maker projects in meaningful ways that hit core standards and inspire genuine learning.” It is exciting to see school administrators open to paradigm shifting ideas!
The Chattanooga Public Library is becoming renown for its 4th Floor Community Makerspace where anyone can come in and use 3D printers, laser cutters, and many other tools to make their ideas come to life. Steve had a chance to interview Meg Backus, the lead librarian and visionary, although somehow, the interview involved a home depot bucket cut in half, a life preserver, some PVC pipe, ductape, and a video camera… and Steve was wearing it! We will have the discussion with Meg and Geoff Millener online soon… it was fantastic to talk to folks who “get” technology, understand learning, and are dedicated to transforming libraries into dynamic, active spaces.
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