Photos: Kids experiment in FabLabs — spaces in schools designed for project-based STEM learning (via FabLab@School and TEDxManhattanBeach)
Paulo Blikstein is head of the FabLab@School program, an extension of Stanford University’s Transformative Learning Technologies Lab. FabLab@School aims to install “low-cost digital workshop[s] equipped with laser-cutters, routers, 3D scanners, 3D milling machines, and programming tools” specially-designed for children in schools across the world, so that children will be able to learn by doing, not just hearing.
At TEDxManhattanBeach, Paulo spoke about the project, and the importance of DIY in education. From his talk, “A school for makers”:
In a world where we are surrounded by technology — technology shapes the world around us — [most of our students] know nothing about how those things work.
We dissemble something — we don’t know what’s inside. We look around — we don’t know how things work. It’s all magical. And it’s amazing that school is not doing more to teach us about how to understand science, how to understand technology, how to understand what’s around us.
…You can’t teach sports unless you have a gym. And it’s the same idea for the 21st-century skills we want to teach kids: innovation, creativity, critical thinking, deep understanding of science and technology. If you don’t have a place to teach these skills, you can’t really do a good job.
[So we build labs with] 3D printers, laser cutters, robotics, science equipment, sensors, all sorts of construction and science materials for kids to build projects, build inventions…
[A student] spent six months [in one of our labs] building [an invention of her own design.] Here, I don’t want to talk much about the technological skills that she acquired, but how this changed the way she looked at the world — not looking at technology as something magical, but looking at technology and science as a tool to improve the lives of others.
For more information on FabLabs and STEM education, watch Paulo’s entire talk below:
You can print that?! 5 TEDx Talks on the wonders of 3D printing
It’s not hard to realize that 3D printing is a big deal. Articles about the technology pop up every day, telling stories of scientists printing human ears; pens that write in three dimensions; and NASA robots that, once launched, could create entire 3D-printed bases on the moon. It’s hard not to want to learn more.
At TEDx we have you covered. Behold — 5 great TEDx Talks on the amazing new possibilities created by our favorite new technology — 3D printing:
3D printing for everyone: Ben Wynn at TEDxYouth@SanDiego
At TEDxYouth@SanDiego, research scientist Ben Wynn breaks down the mystery of modern 3D printing and explains just why this new technology is so exciting — and not just for the experts. From a means to recycle old soda bottles to a way to replace parts that are no longer manufactured, Wyatt tells us why 3D printing is an innovation worth spreading.
Why I have a 3D printer: David F. Flanders at TEDxHamburg
David F. Flanders is a 3D printing guru and the host of PIF3D, a collective dedicated to hosting “build parties,” during which 3D printing experts help curious outsiders build personal 3D printers. In this talk from TEDxHamburg, he discusses the development of the technology and the implications of its mass use, including 3D printers’ role in recovery relief, architecture, and the office supply closet.
3D printing in nano: Jan Torgersen at TEDxVienna
Jan Torgersen developed the nanoprinter — a 3D printer that can print sculptures 40 micron smaller than a human hair and models of racecars small enough to park on a blood cell. In this talk from TEDxVienna, he introduces us to this technology and discusses applications in the real world.
Printing with sand: Markus Kayser at TEDxGhent
How to create art in the desert? Using the sun instead of a laser and sand instead of resins, designer Markus Kayser’s solar-powered 3D printer allows him to transform ordinary sand into beautiful objects.
A school for makers: Paulo Blikstein at TEDxManhattanBeach
Paulo Blikstein thinks we learn best when we do. Through his work with the Stanford University Transformative Learning Technologies Lab, he’s made it a point to turn school classrooms into spaces for creation rather than memorization. In this talk from TEDxManhattanBeach, Blikstein explains how he uses 3D printers, robotics, and computer modeling to put learning into the hands of the student.
Drones for good: Andreas Raptopoulos at TEDxHelvetia
Much has been said about the destructive capabilities of autonomous flying robots — also known as drones — and less about their potential for good.
TEDx speaker Andreas Raptopoulos wants to start that conversation, and at TEDxHelvetia he did, by introducing Matternet — a project designed to use small, flying autonomous robots to deliver medicine to places inaccessible by typical modes of transportation.
From his talk:
One billion people do not have access to all-season roads. One-seventh of the Earth’s population are disconnected from all socioeconomic activity for some part of the year.
They cannot get medicine reliably. They cannot get goods. They cannot get their goods to market in order to find a sustainable path out of poverty.
Now mainstream thinking suggests that these nations should invest in building roads — following the lead of the developed world. It’s a pretty tall order. It’s estimated that in some countries, it may take them 50 years to catch up…
We saw that and we thought, ‘…There has to be another way.’ So we asked the question, ‘Can these countries leapfrog?’ After all, many of these nations have excellent telecommunications today, but they’ve never put copper lines in the ground. Could we do the same for transportation? We believe we can.
Imagine this scenario: You are in a maternity ward in Mali and you have a newborn in need of urgent medication. What do you do? Well…you place a request by mobile phone; somebody gets that request immediately: that part works. But the medicine may take days to arrive: that’s the part that’s broken.
We believe we can fix this. We believe we can deliver the medicine within hours — or even minutes — with an electric, autonomous, medical supply vehicle…
The beauty of this technology is its autonomy. There’s no pilot needed to fly this vehicle. They fly using GPS waypoints from one landing station to the next. Once they arrive at a landing station, they swap battery and load automatically. This is the heart of our system…
It turns out that it’s amazingly cost-effective. In order to transport two kilograms over 10 kilometers, the cost is only 24 cents…
We believe that Matternet can do for the transportation of matter what the Internet did for the flow of information.
Says TED speaker Ray Kurzweil of the project — in conversation with Fast Company, “The developed world has a huge lead over the developing world in infrastructure but our strategy should be to leapfrog these already obsolete and crumbling systems with 21st century solutions. That’s what we did with phone systems as developing societies went right to wireless and will never put in a wired land line system. Bits are already being widely distributed to emerging economies. Matternet will do that for atoms.”
Matternet photo via Electronic Products
TEDxDzorwulu organizer Mac-Jordan Degadjor named Ghana’s first Internet Freedom Fellow
Mac-Jordan speaks at TEDxYouth@Inspire
TEDxDzorwulu organizer Mac-Jordan Degadjo is a TEDx’er, writer, blogger, activist, and — most recently — a U.S. Department of State Internet Freedom Fellow.
According to a press release from the US embassy to Ghana,”The Internet Freedom Fellows program brings human rights activists from across the globe to Geneva, Washington, and Silicon Valley to meet with fellow activists, U.S. and international government leaders, and members of civil society and the private sector engaged in technology and human rights.”
Until 2013, there had yet to be an Internet Freedom Fellow from Ghana. Mac-Jordan is the first.
His work covering the 2012 Ghanian presidential elections online; advocating for the protection of and collaboration between Ghanian bloggers through a group called BloggingGhana; and co-organizing BarCamps throughout the country to, as the embassy reports, encourage young Ghanians to “get on-line where ever and however they can, making sure they have Ghanaian peers available to walk them through tech challenges,” garnered the attention of the program, and a place among this year’s fellows.
“A free and open world depends on a free and open Internet,” Mac-Jordan said when we spoke to him about the fellowship. “I believe in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, which states that: ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.’
“If access to the Internet was blocked when I moved to Ghana in 2007, there [wouldn’t have been] news about innovations, entrepreneurship and others coming from Africa and Ghana. Keeping the Internet free and open means more jobs opportunities are shared through social networks and forums, the spirit of innovation and creativity is encouraged.”
Mac-Jordan is especially interested in social media, which he spoke about at TEDxYouthInspire in 2010. “Social media is playing a key role in every aspect of our lives,” he told TEDx, “moving beyond just networking. Social media is also changing the way traditional news sources distribute their information. It enables every Internet user to freely access, produce, and share information with networks across borders. It makes power disseminate into society with ease.”
What does he plans to do now that he’s an Internet Freedom Fellow? “The core aim of this fellowship is to share experiences and lessons learned on the importance of a free Internet to the promotion of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly as fundamental human rights,” he said. “Therefore, I’ll use this fellowship to inspire my generation/network of youths about the positive effects social media and the Internet can bring to them.”
You can follow Mac-Jordan’s work on his blog, or on Twitter or Facebook. For more of his thoughts on technology and Internet freedom, read the rest of our interview below:
