littlebits

Upcoming Makerspace Trainings and Webinars in October

/ gravescolleen / Leave a comment

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I’m really excited about presenting some makerspace programming ideas with Region One librarians this week.  Along with discussing how to start a makerspace, I’ve designed some small design challenges for some hands-on learning with Makey Makey, Sphero, littleBits, Chibitronics Paper Circuits, and participants will even create some simple robots.

MakerWorkshop_2015_badge_presenter

I’ll also be leading a webinar during the second School Library Journal #LTCMaker workshop in week four of the program.  My webinar on October 14th will cover creative programming for school libraries, how to acquire funding for makerspace resources, and how to get buy-in from school administrators.

Info on this webinar from SLJ

Info on this webinar from SLJ

Lastly, I’m excited to announce the Librarian’s Guide to littleBits that I wrote will make a debut October 29th in a webinar with littleBits and Library Journal. You’ll be able to pre-register for this event soon. Plus, the guide will be published on littleBits site under the Educator Resources. One of my favorite things about writing this guide was interviewing all manor of awesome librarians.  I spoke with the stellar school librarians Diana Rendina and David Saunders.  Innovative public librarians like Holly Arnason at Edmonton Public Library in Canada, and Mary Glendening the library director of the Middletown Free Library in Lima, Pennsylvania which houses the makerspace CreateSpace@MFL. Plus some creative academic makers like Chad Mairn, the director of the Innovation Lab in St. Petersburg, Florida, and UNCG Self Design Studio makers, Matthew Fischer and Sarah Prescott.

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Screenshot from littleBits site

Artbot Mania during Makerspace lunches @ryan_library with Sphero and littleBits!

/ gravescolleen / 4 Comments

This week @ryan_library we made artbots (robots that make art) during our makerspace lunches.  On Monday, I shared how to make scribblebots. On Tuesday, I challenged kids to make artbots with littleBits, and on Wednesday, we programmed our art with Sphero!

Sphero Art!

Sphero Art!

Some students started a timelapse video of our scribblebots on Monday, so I made a few more when we started making art with Sphero. I’ve edited a lot out, but you can enjoy watching our robots draw. One of the best things was watching students lurk, eat lunch, then get up and participate and make a simple walking robot!

Even though they are high schoolers, they were most amazed by the scribblebots the one bot I thought might be too juvenile to teach them. They loved adding markers, adding motors, and creating DIY switches.

I’d assumed that my students loved Sphero so much, that they would be the most excited to dip Sphero in paint. However, my Sphero painters were all new kids to this awesome programmable bot. In fact, the first batch of Sphero painters were all girls, so I made them all sign up for my girl’s STEM and robotics club: The Circuit Girls. (More on these awesome ladies soon!)

Some of these projects will be in my McGraw Hill book co-authored by my #superlibrarianhubs , Aaron Graves!  You’ve got some time to wait, but it’s gonna be a pretty rad resource.  Although I’m biased so meanwhile…. watch some more cool videos of things my students made!

Girls programming Sphero to make art!

Wireless transmitter littleBits art bots!

I liked this girl’s thinking. She didn’t want her drawing bot to scribble, she wanted a straight line, so she weighted the marker with a battery. She found just the right amount of weight!

More Scribblebot Mania!