Lately I’ve been thinking about how to facilitate different aspects of creative learning with distance programs, particularly in the form of a kit. The PLIX activity prompts are a great starting point, but there are so many things we add as facilitators in-person, that are really hard to replicate when we aren’t there. I’ve thought about including some prompt like questions in handouts/the kit to see if participants can take concepts further. I’ve tried virtual share outs, but really haven’t had any traction with teens.
Does anyone else have any suggestions or ideas they’ve tried?
Something that I’ve been leaning towards in this next round of take home kits is including a QR code with an event link. That way, there can be an option for kids to tune in ‘live’ and create with me. The logistics are a little wacky, but I want to try it out! In the past I’ve either had dedicated class groups tuning in, or done pre-recorded video links
For a model, I like to turn to the Scratch Educator Cards that Natalie Rusk made with Saskia Leggett (and maybe others, but that’s who I know worked on them!)
For every activity, they have questions in the Create section under “Encourage experimenting” — for example:
in the Share section under “Ask questions they can discuss” the questions are always the same, and they are good ones!
I’m reminded of a list of similar questions I wrote for Young Makers preparing for Maker Faire, listed under #15 Interview Yourself. These are probably the only ones that are relevant to having patrons reflect on what they did with take-home kits.
What were we hoping to do?
Have others made similar projects, or was this one-of-a-kind?
What was hard to do? What was easier to do? Did that surprise you?
Were there any interesting, surprising, or spectacular failures?
Do you hope to inspire other makers with your project?
What’s next? Are there other project ideas we have toyed with? What do you plan to do in the future?
@sami.kerzel it might be fun to include a physical pre-stamped postcard or envelope they can send back to you with a sketch of what they made and space to answer questions? Might be worth experimenting?
@averymsnormandin do you know of any success stories with the postcards we sent out for Festival of Learning?
