Dive Brief:

• Open Works Mobile will be Baltimore City’s first mobile makerspace provider, offering K-12 students in the city access to “STEM to Maker” education programming in their neighborhoods.
• Open Works already has a 34,000-square-foot makerspace in Baltimore and it is taking some of its tools and programs on the road, starting this summer, as part of its effort to stop the cycle of poverty.
• The mobile makerspace will have basic digital fabrication technology, and its programming will be tailored toward youth, entrepreneurship, and workforce development.

Dive Insight:

Makerspaces have popped up in cities across the country, allowing public use of tools individuals might not otherwise be able to afford on their own and access to a community of other creators and innovators. Schools have more recently jumped onto the makerspace bandwagon, offering after-school clubs and summer camps that give students the chance to engage in self-directed, explorative learning projects. Teachers with more flexibility in their curriculum have been able to incorporate maker pedagogy into their classrooms, giving students the freedom to try and fail and try again.

While students can have fun tinkering and be inspired by opportunities to make things, schools need to back up this intro to science and engineering with high-quality advanced courses in high school that can actually prepare them for college majors and careers in these fields. The New Jersey Center for Teaching & Learning has developed an algebra-heavy ninth grade physics course to do just that.