The Things They Carry - and Make

Since last fall, master's students Christan Balch, Ed.M.'14, and Saskia Leggett, Ed.M.'14, have been lugging around a plastic bucket filled with seemingly random items: clay, bananas, magnetic poetry pieces, paper clips, giant graphite pencils, a laptop or two, construction paper, crayons, and a couple of MaKey MaKey boxes — small invention kits created at MIT, by Eric Rosenbaum, Ed.M.'03, that allow you to turn any conductive item into a computer input.

Their goal? To see what happens when they show up, unannounced, in public spaces with the bucket of items and let people tinker in meaningful ways that might propel them to be creative throughout the day. The idea was inspired after Assistant Professor Karen Brennan set up a similar DIY maker space in a fall class they were both taking, Designing for Learning by Creating. Balch and Leggett knew that at a creative place like the Ed School, maker spaces made sense, and students would generally feel "safe" when tinkering.

"But, we wondered, what if we did this kind of thing in a space where people wouldn't normally interact with creative things?" Leggett says. Armed with their bucket, they decided to see, going into a bar; a big, open outdoor area in Harvard Yard; and to the lobby of a busy subway station in Boston.

What they found is that the space itself affected how potential makers responded. The open space at Harvard was easy: People were used to engaging, and the mix included students, families, curious kids, and tourists; the busy subway station was difficult, with people rushing to catch trains or tired after work. Many seemed "bothered" by strangers, they say.

Sometimes, Balch and Leggett had to figure out how to engage strangers who were reluctant to interact or ask questions or tinker in public, especially if they thought they were not the creative type. They tried to make it easy for people. At one location, for instance, they only put out the magnetic poetry pieces on a white board, with a sign that read, "Play with me." At another, they set up an interactive lead drawing and a playable piano keyboard using the laptop, small cables, and clay.

Often, though, the two new Technology, Innovation, and Education Program graduates found that the techie components of what they offered were daunting for strangers.

"Potential makers would see wires and technology and become nervous to engage with us," Balch says. "Technology has, for many people, become something that can be very scary or confusing to try to understand. This seems especially true if the potential user has a preset idea of personal skill level being lacking."

But, she says, technology doesn't have to be so mysterious.

"There doesn't need to be a curtain between the user and the 'magic' of how technology works. Through our Guerrilla Maker Space project, we are attempting to make technology more accessible to the user — where the user may program the technology rather than continue to let the technology program the user."

Leggett says, "We want people to know that they can create their world."

In that way, Balch says, "We're trying to reveal Oz to everyone."

To follow Balch and Leggett as they bring their bucket to the Harvard iLab and into schools to see how this translates to teaching and learning, read their blog: guerrillamakerspace.sqsp.com/#what-is-gms

Follow them on twitter: @GuerrillaMakers