STEM
RAFT Launches Product Line to Aid Makerspaces
RAFT (Resource Area for
Teaching), a non-profit founded in
1994 to aid in hands-on teaching, has developed a new range of products
and
services designed to help teachers take advantage of school-based makerspaces.
With
the increasing awareness that students
can better master science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)
concepts and
skills via inquiry-based, student-directed learning, RAFT's makerspace
initiative
will take several forms.
It will help schools with
the design of makerspaces, be they in dedicated rooms, at the back of
existing
classrooms or in portable spaces.
RAFT will stock the
makerspaces with an ongoing supply of surplus materials for students to
use,
such as blocks of foam, wood and cardboard tubes that can engage
students in
prototyping their own solutions to real-world problems. The organization has
developed an innovative supply chain process that converts commonly
found or
discarded materials from the business community into hands-on activity
kits,
all built with the help of volunteers.
There are curriculum units designed specifically
for students in grades preK-8. Aligned with Common Core State Standards, the
curricula
are intended to help students to work through real-world challenges
involving
STEM subjects.
Finally, RAFT has prepared professional learning
and coaching resources to
help educators make the best use of makerspaces and to develop their
own
design-based curricula.
Believing that learning is best accomplished by
doing, RAFT's products include
activity kits and low-cost teaching supplies, along with professional
development and mentoring.
For more information on how RAFT can help your
school, contact Director of
Learning Jason Pittman at jpittman@raft.net.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.