"Making It Happen" in the Online Classroom

     The benefits of project-based learning have been well-documented and they certainly resonate with teachers who favor the constructivist philosophy of teaching and learning. Reformer Dale Dougherty has focused renewed attention on the concept with his "Maker Movement" (complete with "Maker Faires"), but the concept has been around for quite some time and is anchored securely in the writing of educational theorists such as John Dewey. The approach emphasizes that concepts only become "knowledge" when they are "used" in real-life applications. Less famously, but perhaps just as convincingly, the psychologist D.W. Winnecott delved extensively into the necessity of "play" in Playing with Reality and other writings.
     Convincing teachers and administrators to devote precious learning time to the principles of the Maker Movement continue to prove difficult in an educational structure that is so driven by high stakes testing. While, according to Dougherty, "makers" are "in control", students and teachers are, unfortunately, often not. Curriculum and teaching are held hostage as long as what is taught must be demonstrable using a number two pencil and a Scantron sheet. Tinkering in the sense that Dougherty talks about may well be fun and intrinsic to deep learning, but my Dad's Erector set will have an awfully hard time carving out a place in the educational landscape we find ourselves in. Though applications such as Minecraft have been integrated by some tech savvy and brave teachers into the curriculum, the "Maker Movement" will continue to compete with the "Mimic Movement" and probably lose badly in the short term.
     While all of this may seem pessimistic, I hold out hope that the "Maker Movement" will gain a following. Sometimes a recasting of familiar concepts can be enough in today's world where packaging is so essential to popularity. Technology in the classroom offers myriad possibilities and a new playground for the kind of strategies that the "Maker Movement" envisions. As an online teacher in a Master of Arts in Teaching program, I encourage my young educators to create ways for students to construct learning both in and outside of the classroom. Going in this direction requires the kind of personalized pedagogy that incorporates differentiation, personalization, and individualization. It also entails a great deal of time and energy in implementation and monitoring. At a time when time and resources are both precious commodities, it is not necessarily an easy sell - particularly as teachers navigate the first perilous years in their profession. The "teach smarter not harder" mantra may well be true and have a certain ring to it, but the realities of the classroom present a formidable obstacle to buying into the principal upfront.
     Still, as someone who sees my task as being a "maker", in a sense, of future teachers, I remain committed to a constructivist vision for my program and individual teaching. I remember the many hours I spent as a child playing with Legos and Lincoln Logs. If I can communicate the same joy in playing with ideas, then I will have made a strong case for the core beliefs of the "Maker Movement".