From the World of Innovation, Stories of Innovation  /  10/09/2020

The MakerEd method used during the SIC DigiEduLab pilot project has been accredited by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) of the Czech Republic

Another milestone has been reached in the Maker Culture in Education project, and we couldn’t be happier. Thanks to the cooperation of the Institute of Education and Training of the Central Bohemia Region (VISK), the Maker Education (MakerEd) method used for training teachers and students during last November’s pilot project in the Emil Kolben technical high school, conducted by an expert team, has been accredited by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) of the Czech Republic.

The MakerEd method combines a number of co-creation techniques configured on the basis of the Gradual Immersion Method (GIM), approach developed by Jorge Sanabria-Z, a Mexican research-professor at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico’s top private university, and adjunct professor at the MSc SmartEdTech program at Université Côte d’Azur, France. The GIM is a strategic cognitive-pedagogical approach that intuitively guides participants through a progressive problem-solving process consisting of three stages: Familiarity, Co-creation, and Exhibition. Through hands-on activities, participants are guided from familiarization with basic digital fabrication technologies in the context of a challenging topic, to the development of 3D functional prototype solutions, which are then shared with an audience.  GIM also uses ideation boards, such as Trayekta, as well as other creative techniques and methods, such as Design Thinking. This educational approach develops life and technical competencies needed for the 21st century. The main objective is to find real solutions to local and global problems often linked to global frameworks such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

What this accreditation means

This educational approach will now be available until 2023, to all the technical and non-technical high schools in the Czech Republic which would be interested in having their teachers trained in the “Fundamentals of Maker Culture: skills oriented for the 21st Century” course, which will soon the Central Bohemian Educational Institute (VISK) will open.

Currently, five Czech teachers are going through the “Maker Fundamentals Certified Technical Collaborator” certification process, which will allow them to become instructors in this educational program, designed to be conducted as a three-day pedagogical and practical workshop. The ultimate goal is to have as many teachers possible interested to participate in these workshops in order to develop a MakerEd mindset in their classrooms and promote a project-based maker culture among their students regardless of the subject they teach.

For more information visit website: https://s-ic.cz/en/projekty/maker-culture-in-education/