SCOPES-df Project: Submit STEM Education Projects & Activities by 31-May

SCOPES-df Project: Call for Educational Content from the Fab Lab Network

Dear Fab Educators,

With your assistance, the Fab Foundation is launching SCOPES-df: Scaling a Community of Practice for Education in STEM through Digital Fabrication. The SCOPES-df project is made possible by the generous support of Chevron and The GE Foundation. The goal is to catalyze STEM learning in formal educational environments through digital fabrication technologies and practices found in a Fab Lab or Makerspace. During this initial phase, we will collect great activities and projects from the network and our partners that will be further developed and refined into digital fabrication lesson plans that are aligned to national U.S. standards, with plans to extend to international standards in the future.

We are calling on the Fab Lab and Maker networks to contribute projects and activities that you have developed for K-12 learners. A team of your colleagues with digital fabrication and education expertise will review and refine the projects to be published and freely available online for our networks and for educators across the world. This first call for content will generate a sample of practitioner-generated lessons to be released on a new content-sharing, community platform at FAB13 in August 2017.

Though the final published SCOPES-df lessons will be organized in a single format, submissions will be accepted in your format of choice, but should:

  • Include clear learning objectives, and STEM-related content for K-12 learners
  • Utilize digital fabrication tools and/or practices
  • Attribute original content and sources, and be open for release under a Creative Commons license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. (We are recommending CC by SA.)

Submission could also include:

  1. Facilitation / procedure details
  2. Materials / fabrication tools used and design files
  3. Identified standards such as Common Core, NGSS, and 21st Century skills
  4. Finished project examples, including photo documentation or student work samples

Your contribution to this project will help the network respond to the growing need for curriculum and activities in schools that use digital fabrication as a catalyst for STEM learning. The demand for formal educational activities, curriculum and professional development is growing exponentially, as the Fab Lab network is growing exponentially, and your work will help advance learning opportunities for K-12 students in the US and across the world, while cultivating a stronger pipeline for future fabricators and makers.

In appreciation, SCOPES-df pioneering contributors will be recognized by name and organization and given an opportunity to mentor and support other educators on the new sharing platform, as well as providing feedback to us on the overall project.

To sweeten the deal, the first 25 submissions will automatically be considered for the 2017 Chevron STEM Awards. Award prizes range from $3,000 USD to $5,000 USD. Winners will be announced in June and recognized at FAB13 in Chile this August.

To contribute please email your project or activity files to SCOPESdf@fabfoundation.org or submit through the online form at https://goo.gl/dpMxgB.

Contributions will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting on May 1st with a final review of submissions eligible for the initial community website launch on May 31, 2017.

Please feel free to contact Sonya Pryor-Jones with any questions at SCOPESdf@fabfoundation.org.

Best,
Lass

Sherry Lassiter
President & CEO
The Fab Foundation
http://fabfoundation.org

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Are you interested in joining Fab Foundation in community to impact STEM learning through digital fabrication?

Fab Foundation’s new SCOPES-df (Scaling a Community of Practice for Education in STEM through Digital Fabrication) project aims to catalyze STEM learning in formal educational environments through digital fabrication technologies and practices found in a Fab Lab or makerspace. During this initial phase, we are collecting activities and projects from any educators engaged in STEM pursuits for K-12 learners. The purpose of the call for activities and projects is to develop a compilation of digital fabrication lessons that have been aligned to standards and remixed a bit for open source distribution.

How can you help us seed this community building? We are calling any educators in the Fab Lab and Maker networks to contribute content by June 19, 2017.

To contribute, anyone can submit through the online form at https://goo.gl/dpMxgB or email ideas and files to SCOPESdf@fabfoundation.org.

Once collected the activities will be further developed and refined into digital fabrication lesson plans that are aligned to national U.S. standards, and later international standards. The final SCOPES-df lessons will be organized in a single format and attribute original content and sources to the contributor, and are open for release under a Creative Commons CC by SA license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others (this aligns with our organization and network’s charter).

During the 2017-18 school year, we will work with a small cohort of schools to further develop curriculum and provide professional development, further building out the community of practice in person and through a new online community connected to our existing open communities of sharing on FabLab.io.

We also need your help amplifying the call for contributions throughout your networks. Please forward or post this call and link through any communication or social media channels. You can repost this and link to our Twitter and Facebook:

@FabFndn wants your ideas, K12 #STEM #educator #makers for new #SCOPESdf project sponsored by @Chevron @GE_Foundation goo.gl/dpMxgB

For more info on Fab Foundation, visit http://www.fabfoundation.org/ .The SCOPES-df project is made possible by the generous support of Chevron and The GE Foundation.

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Learn more live! We know it’s a busy time of year, so to support submissions to the current call for SCOPESdf learning experiences, we’re hosting live Google Hangout “office hours” before the June 19th deadline.

During these conversations, we will:

  • Review the goals of Fab Labs, Fab Lab Network and Fab Foundation, and the overall SCOPESdf project
  • Review content we’re hoping to collect and co-curate with you before the FAB13 launch in August
  • Walk through the current online submission form and FAQ’s
  • Share experiences or aspirations of a project or activity you’ve facilitated with K-12 learners and its use of (or the potential to use) digital fabrication tools
  • Share lessons learned about facilitating projects in your classrooms or other educational spaces

To join, RSVP to danielle@fabfoundation.org for either of these sessions, or suggest another time to talk individually:

Tuesday, May 30, 3pm PST / 6pm EDT
Tuesday June 6, 10am PST / 1pm EDT
Tuesday June 13, 3pm PST / 6pm EDT

See presentation on Google Drive - Fab Foundation SCOPESdf Educator Intro.gslides

Help us spread the call! Share to social media:

@FabFndn wants your ideas, K12 #STEM #educator #makers for new #SCOPESdf project sponsored by @Chevron @GE_Foundation goo.gl/dpMxgB

Join Fab Foundation and Nation of Makers in celebrating the Week of Making! Show how you build enthusiasm for hands-on learning. Contribute your ideas to our new SCOPESdf project!

The Fab Foundation is calling one more time today Monday, June 19, 2017 for all educators in STEM, Fab Lab and maker networks to contribute activities and projects engaging K-12 learners in STEM pursuits through digital fabrication, to seed a new community of practice, SCOPESdf.

Submit online at goo.gl/dpMxgB or by email SCOPESdf@fabfoundation.org.

Through SCOPESdf, Fab Foundation aims to collect and share the diverse and incredible work that educators and Fabbers do to support student learning. We want to celebrate and recognize that ingenuity on the upcoming SCOPESdf online community of practice platform.

During the Nation of Makers’ Week of Making, educators, makers and learners across the U.S. are identifying problems in their communities and addressing them together by creating innovative solutions using digital fabrication tools. For example, as part of Week of Making’s Community Build Project, Kevin Hardin, an engineering teacher at MC2 STEM High School Fab Lab in Cleveland (Ohio), has open sourced the plans for Geoconstructix, a low cost project-based lesson that engages learners in science and math and empowers them to fabricate their own geometric structures.

We want to showcase these kind of local learning experiences on the new SCOPESdf platform. Submit yours today and we will adapt a selection of ideas and activities into lessons aligned to recognized standards – all aimed to promotes deeper explorations of digital fabrication in education!

Help Spread the Word!

Making something cool that you want to show the world? Share what you’re making using hashtags on social media: #WeekOfMaking #NationOfMakers #whatImade

Or share this message on Twitter: @FabFndn wants your ideas K12 #STEM @educator #makers! New #SCOPESdf project sponsored by @Chevron @GE_Foundation goo.gl/dpMxgB

More about SCOPESdf

Fab Foundation’s new Scaling a Community of Practice for Education in STEM through Digital Fabrication (SCOPESdf) project aims to catalyze STEM learning in formal educational environments through digital fabrication technologies and practices found in a Fab Lab or makerspace.During this initial phase, we are collecting activities and projects from any educators engaged in STEM pursuits for K-12 learners. The purpose of the call for activities and projects is to compile digital fabrication lessons that have been aligned to standards and remixed for open source distribution. Featured SCOPESdf lessons will be organized into one format and attribute original content and sources to contributors. Lessons will be released under a Creative Commons CC by SA license, permitting free use and re-purposing by others (to align with our charter). During the 2017-18 school year, we will select schools to work with, creating curriculum, providing professional development and building out the community of practice in person and online through our platform on FabLabs.io.

More about National Week of Making

From June 16-22, 2017, the National Week of Making, led by Nation of Makers in collaboration with other organizations in the maker community, will showcase the diversity, creativity and ingenuity of makers across the United States. The Maker Movement is engaging students in hands-on, real world learning experiences, fostering local manufacturing, empowering more people to become entrepreneurs and making it possible for individuals to creatively solve important problems in their communities.