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Equipment and Resources

In order to facilitate the MAKERSPACE’s focus on transmedia exploration, hands-on construction and play as a mechanism for improving birth to middle school education, particularly related to STEM disciplines, the MAKERSPACE has five sections: (1) a teaching space, (2) a manufacturing and multimedia production lab, (3) a studio art/tinkering space, (4) an early childhood classroom area and (5) a 3-D digital landscape space. 

• Teaching space: This section is dedicated to providing professional development to preservice and in-service teachers as well as other groups interested in the research and practice of STEM and play-based education as a mechanism for improving both birth to 3rd-grade education (generally) and birth to 6th grade STEM education. This section has a full desktop manufacturing workstation connected to an interactive whiteboard, and is also configurable as a conference table style meeting space. 
• Manufacturing and multimedia production lab: This section has five workstations with full desktop manufacturing capabilities, including 2D Silhouette Cameo fabricators, Up 3D Printers, and Canon All-In-One Printers.  One of the desktop manufacturing workstations is connected to an interactive whiteboard. Work completed here also focuses on multimedia production and distribution related to assessment and evaluation of educational technology and so this section also includes video, animation, and audio production equipment.
• Studio art/tinkering space: This section is devoted to providing hands-on materials appropriate for early childhood children to explore ideas through the manipulation of loose parts; the focus of this section is creative expression through visual arts, modeling, and engineering design projects.  With traditional fine arts materials, supplies common to the early childhood classroom and a wide variety of collected items, this section provides infinite possibilities for creative play, making and inventing.
• Early Childhood classroom area: Arranged around our “Circle Time” carpet, this space houses materials common to the early childhood classroom, including: music, mathematics, construction/blocks, literacy, dramatic arts, science and gross motor manipulatives. 
• 3-D digital landscape [under construction]: This section, currently under construction, houses our large “white rectangular cuboid” which will provide the backdrop that, when combined with projected images and movies, will create a unique area where both children and adults can physically explore and play in a digitally altered environment.

3-D digital landscape Update

Inspired by the Reggio Approach to Early Childhood Education from Reggio Emilia, Italy, a new Digital Landscape is coming to the MAKERSPACE! A Digital Landscapes is an immersive play environment that blurs the physical and the digital world, encouraging young children to engage in meaning making within multiple levels of representation. Here is a sneak peek of ‘constructing skyscrapers’ in our new Projected Play Prism: