Michigan Makers is an after school program that helps students engage with technology through tinkering and creating, while promoting group work and peer mentoring.
Share This site was created for sharing the experiences of the University of Michigan faculty, graduate students, and Ypsilanti Community Middle School students who are part of the Michigan Makers project for the 2013-2014 school year. This is the first year for the merged YCS district, so there are lots of kids getting to know each other for the first time. Our middle schoolers join us via the EMU Bright Futures after-school project. Our project is sponsored by the University of Michigan Third Century Initiative and the University of Michigan School of Information's Innovation for Information Impact project.
Our program meets once a week on Wednesdays from 3:30 - 4:30pm at YCS Middle School. Please look around this site for detailed information concerning the lessons we're teaching, the badges we're earning, and all the fun we're having!
Make So why are we so excited about Michigan Makers? We think that with tools like Squishy Circuits, Raspberry Pis, Arduinos and more, we're playing with how we learn and why we find that learning engaging. We encourage makers to to ask questions, challenge the concepts presented to them, and are emboldened to manipulate, test, and experiment with new ideas. We want to give our students plenty of room to flex this important muscle.
Photo to left: Snap Circuits, a really easy and engaging way to get started with circuits.