FabLab on wheels
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | ARDUINO VERKSTAD AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 238 500 |
| Project duration | November 2015 - June 2016 |
| Status | Completed |
Purpose and goal
The project inspired and educated students and after school program pedagogues (in swedish: fritidspedagoger) with aim at becoming part of the maker movement. The staff was given knowledge that increased their self-confidence about making, so that they themselves could maintain maker crafting with their students later on. Using modern technology to inspire, yet lo-fi and familiar materials to lower the threshold for experimentation, our Fablab On Wheels concept engaged children in, and spread, the maker movement.
Expected results and effects
The project got a positive reception from the participants. All students were engaged in the activity, and a majority of the pedagogues were overwhelmingly positive. Both pedagogues and students have stated that they learned a lot. Many of the children were eager to continue exploring this, and the workshop seemed to offer something that was of interest to all children. The pedagogues stated in a survey that they think they have the knowledge and interest to carry out similar activities with the students.
Planned approach and implementation
to us.To inspire the children, and keep a low threshold, we incorporated modern technologies but kept the concepts and crafting quite basic. We used a gender neutral aesthetic to avoid the classical gender traps. This way, we ended up not too far towards pure crafting, a traditionally female activity, or electronics, which is a male dominated field. To encourage the participants to craft, we used familiar and reusable materials (trash). An important part of reaching out wide and to a diverse variety of children was of course that we came to visit them, instead of inviting them to us.