Brilliant Labs: Make Something Brilliant

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TAKE FIV E ASHLEIGH HUDSO N

Pioneering HoloLens In New Brunswick

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Brilliant Labs Magazine/Revue spring/printemps 2019

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WELCOME J EFF WILLSON

Spring is here and soon the school year will be ending.

It has been an inspiring year for Brilliant Labs. Our Atlantic Canadian team has delivered over 200,000 youth experiences and have worked with more than 15,000 educators. Our reach is making a difference by giving classrooms the tools they need to meet curricular outcomes and teach valuable global competency skills.

We have also been working to bring cyber security awareness to the forefront, while introducing and testing our own open source bBoard and cloud services. In the fall, students will be able to use these tools to develop their own cyber security projects that will inspire the next generation of security engineers. As we move into the summer our STEAM camp counsellors will be working within communities throughout the region to bring free STEAM camp activities to gymnasiums, libraries, schools, and community & youth centres across the region. As we work with already established municipality and community camp partners we are better able to reach more youth that may not otherwise have the opportunity to work with the many innovative technologies explored. Campers will also have the chance to build and launch their own rockets at our second annual #RocketDay in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. It’s going to be a blast!

In this issue of our Brilliant Labs Magazine: Make Something Brilliant. We will explore the empowerment that being a ‘maker’ brings. The traditional definition of a maker is someone who produces or makes something. The ‘something’ is what is truly unique between each maker, and makerspace that we support in Atlantic Canada. All makerspaces reflect a culture of making that is embedded not only within a school, but throughout a community. The materials assembled in these makerspaces reflect not only trends in technologies but the materials that have been and will always be important in the identity of the community in which they are found. What is perhaps the most impressive aspect of the materials is the diversity in which makers are combining all materials to create authentic artifacts that reflect their own experiences. We think this is what makes ‘making’ brilliant. Students, teachers, adults, and all community members are taking advantage of the rich, expressive capacity of technology like 3D printers, virtual reality, cyber security and even artificial intelligence while blending them with some familiar materials like paint, felt and wood, or more advance materials. Creativity is the currency of our makers, and Atlantic Canada is brimming. We are pleased to be able to share some of the ‘things’ our makers have made that are truly ‘brilliant.’

For example, imagine you’re in high school and you have a knack for fixing things and soon become the go-to person for fixing 3D printers. Before you know it, you’re inspired to build your own. That’s exactly what Caleob Maher -Watson, a grade

11 student at Fredericton High School, is doing. Calob has designed and built his own 7.5’ tall 3D printer. Printing To New Heights is a must read for any students who are ready to be inspired to take the next step in building or design.

Challenging oneself and a community is precisely what Blackville School is doing. The staff of this K-12 school have broken through the silos and are learning together.

This professional learning environment offers a self-guided philosophy where educators can join the makerspace workshops when it makes sense for them and be inspired to learn alongside each other and with the students. The culture of openness is incredible at Blackville as younger students are teaching older ones and all are happy to teach the teacher. Together, they are all developing global competency skills, and the ability to work together. It is this mix and the importance of community that helped them bring home home the winning title of Kraft Hockeyville. We are proud to share their story of learning and community.

In an earlier issue of Brilliant Labs Magazine we reflected on the power of the rural community school.

Both Blackville and Centre d’ Apprentissage du HautMadawaska in Clair have proven schools can be powerful change agents for communities. Every January the small town of Clair welcomes hundreds of francophone educators. They bundle up and make the voyage to this empowering rural school where students are leaders in their own education and every educator is involved in the making process. Together, they take the skills they’ve learned to exhibit and share the incredible transformative ability of teamwork, community and hands-on learning.

Clair 2019, even in a snowstorm, was a great success.

We hope you will share in the magic that is the largest francophone educator summit east of Montreal.

Finally, as technology is fundamental for makers, we consider the power of its use in transforming perspective, design and creativity. Ben Kelly, Caledonia Regional High School Teacher & Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, has disrupted how students learn by welcoming the HoloLens into the classroom. Not only can students experience history by being visually transported in time, they have the ability to design homes and 3D print model homes. Ben’s HoloLens lessons are gaining national and international attention. He has embraced this new mixed reality technology to inspire students new ways.

Together, these educators and students are working to transform education and Make Something Brilliant. We welcome you to share in these stories and more with the hope you too will be inspired to take the leap to learn more about maker education.

Published by Make: Education Newsletter Wednesday January 9, 2019

David Cole San Francisco, California

Brilliant Labs is happy to share this discussion between Make & Jacob Lingley, New Brunswick Program Director.

The last three newsletters have focused on individual teachers, practitioners and makers. We’re shifting perspectives this month and next with a look at some organizational examples of leadership and scale. This is a tough nut to crack: creating openings in daily school schedules for ands-on work, developing strong, repeatable public-facing programs, creating authentic showcasing and portfolio opportunities for learners, building teams of coaches and facilitators can be challenging. Makerspaces are proliferating and supporting this expansion in essential ways that connect values to a community.

It’s not just building a movement, but working collaboratively to keep one growing.

To start off the new year we’re speaking with Jacob Lingley, program director for Brilliant Labs, a Canadian maker education and training organization based in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Reading up on Brilliant Labs I was reminded again of what it takes to scale a making practice and reimagine the delight and utility of hands-on learning.

Deeply mindful of the character and culture of the communities they work with, intentional in their approach to tools and materials, and dedicated to supporting creative, skill-building experiences that inspire, Brilliant Labs is delivering high-touch, personalized learning through materials in the diverse and often geographically remote communities across Atlantic Canada. An inspired measure of the importance of this work comes in the details of the $50M CanCode project sponsored by the Canadian government and its ISED (Innovation, Science and Economic Development) program – Brilliant Labs was one of 21 organizations across the provinces to receive a significant grant to for their work on making practices and 21 st century skill-building.

Listen to what Jacob has to say about how he and his team operate. It’s a story of range, capacity, curiosity, and little details.

Make: Brilliant Labs incorporated as a not-for-profit in 2014. These last four years have been an especially important time for the maker movement and the growth of makerspaces. Can you share a little on how and why making is taking hold in Atlantic Canada?

Jacob: Making is particularly wellsituated amongst Atlantic Canadians. We are extremely proud of our rich cultural heritage as makers. Our long history of citizens who craft raw materials into beautiful, meaningful artifacts continues to support community development and cultural prosperity. Over the last five years, Brilliant Labs has had the pleasure of observing this trend across the more than 550 schools we have supported.

Admittedly, our growth is a product of the determination, creativity and altruism students express in what they make. It would have been easy for all of the collaborative makerspaces we have supported to succumb to the novelty of diverse, technologydriven materials offered by these new learning environments.

However we have found that it is our students over any other stakeholder who discover that it is the diverse assemblage of materials, their passionate peers, and their combined community influence that will prevail over any one discrete technology. Perhaps it is a student who uses threedimensional imaging technology to refine their fishing technique, or a student who uses their school makerspace to craft a new style of hockey socks that produces less waste and permits their team to spend more time on the ice rather than on the bench. Students are capitalizing on the inclusive learning environment afforded to them by making to enact a sense of entrepreneurial spirit that is embedded in community rather than one of consumerism.

Make: Brilliant Labs describes itself as a platform. That’s a positioning statement about scale and delivery — an especially important one for interest-driven work that’s happening across a wide and diverse region. Can you talk about how you do your work and how partners, teachers, learners, interact with your organization?

Jacob: Our platform is one that is firmly grounded in familiarity and curiosity while constantly changing to permit an iterative structure as to best support those who are involved. If it has been a while since you have last looked at a map, you are correct in saying that Atlantic Canada has a “wide and diverse region.” To us our cities are large, (Halifax, Nova Scotia is the largest at just over 400,000); however, if you consider this to be small, then you will certainly find the K-12 school with 20 students and two teachers in Labrador to be miniscule. Needless to say, if we were to approach each community with an uniform model of implementation, then we would risk disrupting an existing culture within the target community. We try our very best to recognize or reimagine the creativity and innovation inherent within any learning environment.

When you are helping a new school, classroom or teacher to create a maker experience, there is an important balance between familiarity and curiosity. Every student who is a part of a Brilliant Labs project, challenge, or makerspace needs to be able to identify with a material they can use to convey their own ideas.

It’s unfortunate how the role of

Made during a two-day, interdisciplinary collaboration between Brilliant Labs and the literacy team @ShelfieTalk, this teacher was inspired to use 3D printing and the properties of light to make a Quotable Quotes Chandelier the session for a session called “Making Your Reader"

material familiarity is often overshadowed by a trending technology or initiative. We get so ecstatic when we see a student, who is a talented knitter, walk into a makerspace, select their preferred yarn, only to be curious about the assortment of electronic textile materials blended with what they once thought were strictly conventional.

We believe that if an organization wants to inspire innovative ideas, those innovations need to be defined and refined by the community of individuals who form your structure.

Collaborating with educational stakeholders including community partners, local, provincial, and federal governments, teachers, and especially students has allowed us to stay focused on a community first approach. It takes time, but we are incredibly pleased with the results. We are working to provide a blend of virtual and in person opportunities for educators to collaborate, learn, share, and find the supports they

need to offer their students opportunities to solve real-world problems through making. These supports include a perpetual project based learning fund, a makerspace development fund, periodic innovation challenges, and ongoing professional learning opportunities.

We also provide direct supports for students so they may have access to the materials, tools, and mentorship they need to turn their concepts into reality.

We support ideas and help make what most perceive as being impossible to do with students in a classroom, possible. There are thousands of passionate educators in the region and we are finding ways to encourage and support as many as possible as they explore the pedagogy benefits of making.

Make: What are some regional examples of projects and experiences that are unique to the practitioners and the local communities you work with? Can you share some detail on projects that are proving especially effective at rallying interest and delivering sustainable making experiences?

Jacob: One of our favourite examples of how we deliver sustainable making experiences is through our innovation challenges.

These regional challenges provide students and teachers with a framework in which they can innovate and create while sharing with their interprovincial peers. For example, to celebrate Marconi’s first transatlantic wireless signal across the ocean we released a Coding and Communication Innovation Challenge that encouraged students to combine their knowledge of code, implement a variety of materials and express an old form of communication through the latest accessible microcontrollers. This was supported in partnership with the Ted Rogers Scholarship fund and resulted in over 100 classrooms throughout Atlantic Canada innovating and iterating on a seemingly outdated style of communication as they had fun sending wireless signals allowing them to communicate between their classrooms.

There have been hundreds of projects that have been inspired by and created by our very supportive students and teachers throughout Atlantic Canada. The sustainability of maker culture that we are experiencing is a direct byproduct of their commitment to make their own educational experiences personally meaningful. It is our pleasure to leave you with some specific examples of initiatives from each of our provinces: Bathurst, New Brunswick: Our Maker Educator, Lesa Scott was invited to a middle school to help reenvision oral narratives from local First Nation elders. Students recorded elders while they recounted these rich, cultural narratives while taking notes on how they could respect the First Nation oral medium but also provide an intricate visual overlay. For their final installation, these students used a Bare Conductive Board, and some simple circuits to take a visitor through an expressive, cultural experience.

Halifax, Nova Scotia: Our brilliant team member and Program Director for Nova Scotia, Sarah Ryan, has worked with numerous schools throughout the Halifax Regional School Board to reignite a passion for textiles. Students of all ages are capitalizing on their untapped social entrepreneurialism to make handmade mittens, scarves and toques to keep the homeless more comfortable on our cold winter nights.

Newfoundland and Labrador: In collaboration with the province, Brilliant Labs is working to deliver professional learning opportunities and classroom support for teachers who want to integrate making with provincial Math and Science curricula along with our pre-existing supports available to interested students and teachers.

Prince Edward Island: The province is rolling out a long term makercart initiative with a goal to provide students and teachers with the tools and professional learning supports needed to encourage making throughout various subject areas. Similar to this earlier version of our makercarts, these are being rolled out in phases and the carts

Brilliant Labs Innovation Engineer Josh Keys has been busy iterating on their soon-to-be-released Micro:bit daughter board the bBoard. Created with accessibility in mind, students will have access to hundreds of sensor board extensions, plus the patent-pending Gator Grabbers pads to keep those pesky alligator clips from shorting.

contain a mix of low and high tech materials designed to inspire creativity and allow students to make as they learn.

Maker Media, Inc | 1700 Montgomery St, Ste 240 | San Francisco, CA 94111

Thank you to Maker Media and author David Cole for sharing the efforts of Brilliant Labs with their readers. To learn more about Make, see this origional article and read more inspiring stories visit: http://newsletter.makermedia.com

What a whirlwind of brilliance taking place here in Prince Edward Island! Since coming into my role last summer there has been a tremendous amount of excitement and buzz in our communities, in our library and education systems. Hi, my W rit t en b y Carro n M cCab e

name is Carron and I’m the program director in PEI for Brilliant

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Brilliant Labs in PEI wouldn’t be where it is today without partnerships and collaboration. The Department of Education, Early Learning and Culture, PEI Public Schools Branch, PEI Public Library Service, PEI Science Fair each have embraced maker education as away to engage Island youth and offer opportunities to develop essential skills. Educators and

parents tell us how important it is that our youth learn to deal with challenges, develop communication skills, and are given the opportunity to pursue what they are curious about. Maker Education gives students this opportunity!

One way we are supporting #MakerEdPEI is through a mobile Maker Initiative with the Department of Education, Early Learning and Culture.

This year we have partnered to offer Makercarts to 15 schools. Our focus is within K-6 and includes 3 schools at the intermediate level. Schools receive their Makercart along with 2 full days of professional learning from myself and a Department representative Maker Education Facilitator, Justine Arsenault.

Together we have researched and identified the best practices, materials, and framework to support educators in integrating making, coding, and project based approaches throughout all all curricular areas arts. Feedback from teachers has helped us to shape the cart contents and professional learning experience. Our wish is to bring maker carts to all 62 Island schools and infuse a maker mindset throughout education. A challenging goal given change in any system takes time.

Adapting a maker mindset in education not only takes time but it also requires support.

Having an authentic community of practice will help educators build their confidence to try new things in their practice. Additional support outside of professional learning has also been an area that I have been involved in. So far over 30 coding and making related projects have been approved for teachers in PEI. Teachers are frequently looking for new ways to cover curriculum that will engage students on a deeper level. I love supporting educators in

"Integrating more technology and a makerspace mentality into our school has been a 4 year process. Each year, we added new resources. Once one teacher successfully implements something like a green screen into a Language Arts program, he/she shares those successes with other teachers. Each project builds confidence, and I believe teachers are starting to learn that they do not have to know everything about the technology before it comes into the classroom. Our school just became a pilot school for a Makercart, we had wonderful participation for professional development with our full-time staff. They are ready to jump in now!"

Patti Graham, Teacher Librarian at West Kent Elementary

determining the right kind of devices that could be incorporated into existing lessons. It’s important for us to note how technology in the classroom is integrated in an intentional way and is always used as a way to support the teacher and the lesson. Pedagogy first, technology second. That being said students are excited to use technology in class. Recently, I visited a grade 6 class at Spring Park Elementary for an introduction to Micro:bits workshop. Small groups were formed, chromebooks and Micro:bits were passed out and within minutes the class was buzzing with their first coding projects. Reaction from one of the students, Freya Hashem: “It was a lot of fun! It's like a privilege because you guys were younger you didn't have all this fun techy stuff.” Ahem, thank you, Freya! (disclosure: Freya is my daughter)

What I hear from parents is how important coding and problem solving skills are. I’m a parent as well and want my kids to have the resilience needed to face challenges, think creatively, and work collaboratively. Having the opportunity to fail at something, learn from their missteps, try a new approach, and improve on their first iteration is a process that is so valuable. School should be the safe space for failure because that’s where the learning happens.

In addition to the classroom and maker carts I have also been working with the library system.

Providing professional learning to librarians has been a lot of fun.

These professionals understand that literacy is not just books. Digital literacy and making enriches our experience as community members.

Public makerspaces such as those in libraries give us so much! It would

be a dream come true to have such a space in PEI as the return on investment would be felt for generations. Culturally PEI is teaming with makers. Imagine having a public space to share our skills and knowledge and how it would build on the existing function libraries have in our communities.

I am in the midst of starting 2 code clubs, one at a library in Stratford and one at Birchwood Intermediate High School. I am seeing such a variety of students and comfort levels in using technology. Each week I introduce something new and the goal would be for students to choose what kind of project they would like to create and share at events like our Family Maker Day that was held in Charlottetown this past March.

The fun continued when I provided programming at the annual PEI Science Fair. There were over 125 students taking part that gave us the opportunity to dig into some coding and making with our new creation: the bBoard for micro:bits!

With so many directions and ways to bring maker education, coding and 21st century learning to PEI, I feel we, as Islanders, are primed for a culture shift in education. Parents, students and teachers alike are ready for a brilliant future

Let's Connect!

I'm here to help you match global competencies skills with your curriculum & have fun doing it!

Email me: Carron@brilliantlabs.ca

TAKE FIV E ASHLEIGH HUDSON V anier Element ary, St . John's, NL We interviewed Ashleigh to learn why she became a teacher and what inspires her.

You've been a teacher for how many years? I’ve been an educator for 8 years now. I currently teach Grade 4 at Vanier Elementary in St. John’s.

Why did you become a teacher?

I come from a long line of teachers, so it’s always been in my blood. My favorite part about my job is that it’s always an adventure and I get to explore new challenges all the time.

In your lifetime has anyone inspired you to change your mind, for the better, to overcome an obstacle? I would say my family, they instilled a strong work ethic in me. My grandfather was an educator, and at one time NLTA president. He was very passionate about student learning and I take a lot of inspiration from his leadership style.

My grandparents lived through the depression so my grandmother never wasted a thing. She was always repairing, upcycling and finding new uses for things. She was a creative and crafty person.

My mother was a pioneer kindergarten educator, and always believed in hands-on learning. Her classroom was an exciting place for me to visit when I was young.

What does Project Based Learning (PBL) mean to you? This is a really interesting time in education. There is a strong movement now towards more project-based learning and student centered learning. I think back to my childhood. The things I remember most were the hands-on projects I worked on and creative myself. This is where I learned many skills that took me into adulthood.

What it means to be literate is changing. To prepare students for the world ahead, we as educators need to focus on skill development, which is at the heart of PBL and Maker-Education.

What inspired you to first bring making to the classroom and what makes it brilliant? I’ve always approached my curriculum in different ways. I like to look at outcomes, and think : “How can I turn this into a cool project for my students?” From making podcasts for social studies, to creating videos to explain science units, to creating videos to explain science units, I’ve always seen the most benefits to all learning styles and abilities through these projects. I was inspired to develop a classroom Makerspace when I saw the successes my colleagues were having on Twitter. I thank Melissa Lee from Brilliant Labs for her guidance in what she learned from her own experiences. I also thank Wylie Butler and John Barron for helping with the setup of our 3D printer.

Both the addition of the Makerspace and 3D printer has really cemented the “maker culture” in my class. Students are always creating, even on inside days.

How is this style of teaching different than a traditional classroom experience? Why is it important? PBL and Maker Education give all students a chance to succeed. I see so much more student engagement and learning happening. Students are given a way to explore and express themselves in non-traditional paper and pencil ways. Students are excited to make and produce something, it gives them a sense of ownership and pride. My role has changed too. I have now become more of a “facilitator”. I begin the school year, teaching students a lot

"Th e voice t h at PBL & Maker Ed ucat ion h as given m y st ud en t s, even on es t h at seem sh y or d isengaged , is in cred ib le.

All h ave a ch ance t o sh ine."

- Ashleigh Hudson Grade 4, EFI

of the skills they need and expose them to all the different types of projects from green screen, Makey Makey, coding in Scratch, 3D printing, crafting and sewing. Then as we progress through the year, students are given more of a choice in how to represent their learning.

Tell us about a project (or challenge) that helped student(s) improve their learning experience?

How did it make you feel? I’ve loved so many projects, it’s hard to choose. I like doing small one day projects in which students are given a STEM challenge (For example: How can you get this Candy Cane down the stairs without touching it, but it not breaking?), but I also love some of the longer projects we have created.

Whatever we do, it is part of my curriculum. For Science, we used coding to make interactive habitat games and code animal robots that had adaptations to their environment. Right now my class is working on a “News Broadcast” type project, in which they will showcase different segments in their groups. The collaboration is amazing!

Has a student ever inspired you? If so, did it affect how you teach today? The voice that PBL and Maker Education has given my students, even ones that seem shy or disengaged, is incredible. All have a chance to shine. Their creativity and determination impresses me most. A few years ago I did lots of Stop Motion

animation with my class. One of my students made such a great film, that he even entered it into an online kids film festival. He told me he wants to work in film and animation when he grows up as a result of his experiences.

Do you have any hobbies that inspire you to create in the classroom? While I certainly have a passion for tech integration in education, I’ve always been an arts person. I enjoy painting, crafting and sewing. The makerspace has been a great way for me to connect back with these hobbies, and even learn a few new skills myself.

Crochet is next on my list.

What advice would you give teachers who are interested in bringing making to the classroom?

Look to your community for support. Whether it’s sharing ideas on Twitter or blogs, or getting your parents and guardians involved, a makerspace needs a community to work. Reach out to the community to help find materials you can use.

It’s amazing what treasures you can find. I have begun to look at what used to be considered “junk” in new ways, and do have my students. Interesting packing boxes or materials found around the school are given new life!

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My name is Caleob and I’m a grade 11 student at Fredericton High School. I first was introduced to 3D printing when I was in grade 6 and bought my own 3D printer in grade 7 (an XYZPrinting Da Vinci Jr.). I’ve been associated with Brilliant Labs through the makerspace at Bliss Carman Middle School and through the STEAM Expos over the years which has led me to working with them today.

At Brilliant Labs I’ve recorded instructional videos for the SeeMeCNC Orion, I’ve repaired broken down SeeMeCNC printers, and I even managed to get a Palette+ up and running. In my spare time at home I’m designing a new larger 3D printer for personal use, and I even have family members commissioning me to design things for themselves.

I’ve been working on this 7.5’ tall 3D printer since September. I was challenged by Brilliant Labs to build a giant 3D printer in the FHS makerspace, and I’m just waiting on some wires to be able to start testing. I’ve never built something of this scale before, which can be seen in some components of my first prototype, but I’m figuring out how to work past the design flaws (for example: eliminating wobble in the frame of the printer). I’m hoping to be able to print a statue of a 5’ tall person in only 3 pieces when I’m finished.

In the next few years, I hope to see schools learn more about 3D printing and implement it more in the classrooms. 3D printing has potential in every industry and I hope to see it used in every work place. In the future it would be amazing if, just like every school and workplace has a computer, they also had a 3D printer, and everyone knew how to use them. There is a need for a more

7.5' tall 3D printer designed by Caleob, a grade 11 student, at Fredericton High School.

mainstream form of 3D printing and I feel like it is the up to the schools and the workplace to make this change happen, but we need organisations like Brilliant Labs to support them first.

Is this a 3d printer kit or your own design? This printer is entirely my own design. I spent 2 years researching what parts typically go into a 3D printer before I even started drawing up drafts.

If someone wanted to build one where would they start? I started by looking at the RepRap community. They know all there is to know about homemade printers.

You mentioned some design flaws… can you explain more and how you overcame those? It’s all about finding as many ways as possible to fix a problem, and then putting each method to the test.

What type of things do you hope to print using this giant printer?

I was thinking things like parts to vehicles or statues or even just bigger vases.

What advice would you give someone who may want to take on a challenge like this? I’d say make sure you have done enough research that you are 100% certain that everything you have designed will work with the parts you’ve chosen, but don’t worry too much if it doesn’t work at first because changes can always be done.

It’s all about finding as many ways as possible to fix a problem, and then putting each method to the test."

A little shine in any season.

A N GEL O BREW I N G

Knitting is making a comeback amongst youth as they chose to take an active role in sustainability through the creation of their own clothing and accessories. Knitting is more than just a craft and has been found to have significant physical, mental and social benefits (Riley, Corkhill and Morris, 2013; Stannard and Sanders, 2015), and is a great way to develop computational thinking skills.

Computational thinking is fundamentally about problem solving using concepts and strategies most closely related to computer science and can be broken down into 6 main concepts: logic and logical thinking, algorithms and algorithmic thinking, patterns and pattern recognition, abstraction and generalization, evaluation and automation.

A knitting pattern is fundamentally a computer program. It defines what you need to do in the correct order to achieve something. The main difference between them is the ‘thing’ that runs the ‘program’: a computer or a human. Knitting uses the same types of loops, conditions, and concepts of functions as a computer language (Steed, 2016).

Knitting involves many computational thinking concepts: algorithms and algorithmic thinking, patterns and pattern recognition. Algorithms are precise step-by-step plans or procedures to meet an end goal or to solve a problem.

Knitting is all about combinations of two main stitches - knit and purl – repeatedly iterated with variations to produce an output (a type of stitch) which can then produce a knitted garment.

Do these two stitches, knit and purl, remind you of anything? Think 0 and 1.

Knitting patterns are essentially an algorithm. Each row of the patterns is a line of code that needs to run to create a finished product.

Knitters become very proficient in following and reading knitting patterns, which are varying combinations of k (knits) and p (purls).

knit + purl= 0&1

This pattern uses loops (denoted by the *) and repetition to create an algorithm for the knitter to follow.

Knit one stitch. Knit 2 then Purl 2.

Repeat until the last stitch of the row.

Knit one.

Recognizing a repeating pattern informs us how to incorporate iteration or recursion in an algorithmic solution or a functional breakdown of a problem. Who would have thought knitting and coding would have so many similarities!

In this project, I combined my knitting, soldering and coding skills to create a programmable light up holiday hat.

Light-up Holiday Toque To create your own light-up toque here are the materials you may need: Wool (1 skein of wool for the main hat) DPN or Circular Knitting Needles (3.75mm – 5.00 mm depending on the type of wool) Darning Needle Gemma M0 15 Flora RGB NeoPixels 15 3D printed light covers Silicone covered wire (or other similar wire) Battery pack (3.7V Li-Po) Soldering iron and solder Hot glue gun Toque Pattern This is my favourite basic toque pattern. It knits up quickly and is a simple pattern to follow.

Knitting Abbreviations k = knit p = purl k2tog = knit 2 sts together [ ] = work directions in brackets the number of times specified.

Basic Knit Hat Pattern This pattern can be knit on DPN (double pointed needles) or on a set of circular needles for hats.

Ribbing: Cast on 100 stitches.

Round 1 (Right Side): *k2, p2* around.

Repeat Round 1 until piece measures approximately 4” from cast on edge.

Body k every round until piece measures approximately 9” (23cm) from cast on edge Shape Crown Note: if working on circular needles, change to double pointed needs as sts allow Round 1: [k8, k2tog] around – 90 sts Round 2: knit around Round 3: [k7, k2tog] around – 80 sts Round 4: knit around Round 5: [k6, k2tog] around – 70 sts Round 6: knit around Round 7: [k5, k2tog] around – 60 sts Round 8: knit around Round 9: [k4, k2tog] around – 50 sts Round 10: knit around Round 11: [k3, k2tog] around – 40 sts Round 12: [k2, k2tog] around – 30 sts Round 13: [k1, k2tog] around – 20 sts Round 14: K2tog around – 10 sts Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Thread tail through remaining stitches and remove stitches from needle. Pull to gather and close top of opening.

W I RI N G U P T H E

NEO PIXELS To create the light strip, I needed to solder together 15 Flora NeoPixels.

When soldering a chain of Flora NeoPixel’s together it is important to remember to rotate the pixels in the correct orientation so that the input signal follows the little arrow printed on the Flora NeoPixel. I chose to use flexible silicone covered wire as it has the ability to flex and stretch slightly to fit the contour of a toque once it is being worn.

I recommend testing the lights to ensure they light up as you solder each light on. This way, you can trouble shoot soldering issues when they occur rather than having to de-solder several lights to find out where the break is.

Block coding for the Gemma M0 (https://maker.makecode.com/#editor) was used to create the program to run the Flora NeoPixels on the Gemma M0.

The code I created to light up the lights is here: https://makecode.com/_d86bkkDPP0uW. I set the hat up to be solid traditional holiday light colours, however, they could be coded to be any colour combination.

3D PRINTING THE LIGHT COVERS As this was a Holiday themed hat, I chose to design and print off some halflightbulb shaped shells to affix overtop of the Flora NeoPixels with clear PLA filament.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Once I had all of the Flora NeoPixel lights soldered together, I then placed them along the ribbed portion of the hat. Once they were all in place, I hot glued the Gemma M0 down to anchor the light strip and proceeded to hot glue each Flora NeoPixel down following a wave pattern (one high, one low, one high, one low). I tested the lights along the way to make sure I did not accidentally pull one of the wires. Once all of the lights were glued down, I hot glued a light bulb cover over each Flora NeoPixel creating the string of Christmas lights. The battery pack used to power the light strip is tucked into the rolled up ribbed rim of the hat.

Riley, J., Corkhill, B., and Morris, C. (2013). The benefits of knitting for personal and social wellbeing in adulthood: Findings from an international survey. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 76(2), 50-57 Stannard, C. R., & Sanders, E. A. (2015). Motivations for Participation in Knitting Among Young Women.

Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 33(2), 99–114.

Steed, J. (2016). Hand Knitting in a Digital Era, in Nimkulrat, N., Kane, F., & Walton, K. (Eds.), Crafting textiles in the digital age, pp. London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark

YOUTH EX PÉRI ENCES P O U R J EUNES

EDUCATORS/ ÉDUCATEURS

THANK YOU MERCI

CAN CODE

We' v e r eac hed t hous ands of yout h & educ at or s ac r os s At lant ic Canada wit h your s uppor t and our par t ner s . We look f or war d t o an ongoing c ollabor at ion!

Av ec v ot r e par t enar iat , nous av ons par t agé not r e pas s ion av ec des millier s de jeunes et ens eignant s / es part out dans le Canada at lant ique.

Nous s ouhait ons c ont inuer c et t e c ollabor at ion!

Rachael MacKeigan Brilliant Labs, NS Program Specialist

The LEGO Mindstorms EV3 kit has a long and impressive history of teaching the fundamentals of coding and robotics to students across the world, but some of it’s most game changing integrations have flown under the radar. The kit can now be programmed using Microsoft’s Make Code and MIT’s Scratch platforms, opening up a whole new world of coding possibilities.

LEGO Mindstorms kits have been around since 1998, and where inspired by Seymor Papert. With their most recent release, called EV3, debuting in 2013. Anyone who has used the kit knows that it is extremely powerful and versatile, but it can also be very intimidating for new users.

The students I coach as part of FIRST Lego League use the EV3 every year to compete against teams from across North America, but the steepest learning curve for them is always figuring out how to use the software included with the kit.

Teachers like Brian Lawrence at Sherwood Park Education Centre agree. “The software just looks very intimidating,” he says. “I coach a robotics team and it took us a while to figure out how things work”. The large programming blocks mean that even simple programs will require a lot of scrolling, and more in-depth programming can really slow down your computer.

While students competing in FIRST Lego League have the time to spend learning the in’s and out’s of this complex software, most teachers and students wanting to do some basic coding can become very overwhelmed...but not anymore.

The LEGO Mindstorms EV3 kit can now be programmed using classroom favourites like Microsoft’s Make Code and MIT’s

Scratch. Both sites offer a drag and drop coding style that is more familiar and user-friendly.

Teachers and students who have done coding in the past with events like Hour or Code or the Living Science with micro:bit will already know their way around these platforms.

"It is way easier to use,” says Angus Campbell, a grade nine student and member of a FIRST Lego League team in Cape Breton, NS. “Everything fits on the screen a lot better and it’s cool that I can code the robot the same way I code games”.

While students will like how much easier programming will become, teachers will like the builtin tutorials and lesson plans available on both sites. Imagine using the EV3 sensors to make a self-parking car, or a game controller that reads your movements. The possibilities are endless and this integration really breathes new life into a kit that some may have seen as a challenge in the past.

Computer requirements: Windows 10 version 1709+ or MacOS 10.13+ Bluetooth capability Visit https://scratch.mit.edu/ and click on the create button and follow the graphic below:

Computer requirements: Windows 10 version 1709+ or MacOS 10.13+ or ChromeOS Visit https://www.microsoft.com/makecode and select the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 option. The instructions for how to connect your EV3 to make code are in the getting started section.

P R I N CE A N D R EW H I GH SCH O O L, D A RTH M O U TH , N S

M A N A G EM EN T

A J O U R N E Y FR O M A STU D E N T' S P E R SP E CTI V E

W R I TTE N B Y J A M E S M A K E R SP A C E M A N A GE R P R I N CE A N D R E W H I GH SCH O O L

I N TR O D U CTI O N B Y SA R A H R YA N P R O GR A M D I R E CTO R B R I LLI A N T LA B S N O V A SCO TI A

I first met James Jefferson-Young in 2016. He was a young, enthusiastic grade ten student at Prince Andrew High School in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He was enrolled in the Options & Opportunities (O2) program at the time.

His teacher had requested that I visit her class to talk about my career path, highlighting how I came to be Program Director for Brilliant Labs Nova Scotia.

My presentation was quite hands-on and, of course, Makerspace-focused.

James was very inquisitive about the array of equipment that I had brought for the students to work with and he wanted to know how he could be involved. He was keen to join the “Maker Movement”, although he didn’t know that it existed until then. You could say he was a born-

Maker, as many youth are. Flashforward six months and he became my “Co-Op” student, and then a summer tech counselor. The rest of the story is, you could say, Makerspace history. He is now is grade 12 and a very ambitious student leader of Prince Andrew’s burgeoning Makerspace. He is happy to share his story with us and I am thankful for his fervent enthusiasm for over three years.

Seeing the journey I have been working in the Makerspace at Prince Andrew High for almost two years now. I was interested in the position because of my experience building my own PC’s and my constant need to learn about new technology and how it can change our lives. When I was younger I found that I really enjoyed fixing things-- especially building computers. I thought if there was a possibility of a career in what I could both do and was good at then I would pursue it… and my experience in the Makerspace supported this dream.

The biggest challenge that I've faced in the Makerspace was initially getting people into the space to have the opportunity to show them what they can do. I learned that a key part of encouraging peerparticipation involved presenting to classes, clubs, staff, and students, both formally and casually. I reached out to our student council to

announce that I opened the Makerspace to everyone at lunch.

I would say one of the most exciting aspects of working in the Makerspace is seeing the journey that my peers take both individually and in a classroom setting. From learning how to create new things that interest them as individuals to how the space can support curriculum in engaging ways! As much as I love the buzz of a busy Makerspace I also enjoy the moments when I am able to sit alone in the room, exploring technology and feeding my passion for making.

It’s interesting to observe the trends in popular equipment and activities. The 3D printer has (and will always be) a hit. The vinyl cutter, robotics, and sewing equipment are also very popular. I noticed that the majority of the students who come in are grade ten.

I think that may be because they are

in school more as the higher grades have off-blocks or are already involved in clubs--which is why, in order to peak the interest it helps to appeal to individual clubs.

" Fr o m l ea r n i n g h o w t o c r ea t e n ew t h i n g s t h at i n t er es t [ m y p eer s ] a s i nd i vi d ual s t o how t he sp ace can su p p or t c u r r i c u l u m i n en g a g i n g ways!"

Making is social

Of the many skills that I have acquired from working in the Makerspace, the most important, in my opinion, are quite social: highlighting how to work with people to help them achieve their individual vision(s). You have to be able to appeal to different personalities, backgrounds, and interests. To be adaptable and openminded.

Overall, I love working in the Makerspace. It has been my favourite job. I look forward to everyday I’m scheduled to be there. I love helping those who use the space and I hope that this space (and others like it) can support young people to become adults who are in-tune with their passion, aware of how products are made, and are inclined to make their (or improve on current products). I am very excited for any projects which I will be involved with during my last year at the Prince Andrew Makerspace...as well as my “guide� which I am currently writing for those who will follow in my footsteps (stay tuned!).

WCT Annual Leadership Awards Recognize Canada’s Rising Stars in Closing the Gender Gap Published by WCT for WCT News Blog with added introduction by Brilliant Labs Brilliant Labs is proud to share the work of the Women in Communications and Technology and say thank-you for recognzing the efforts of Sarah Ryan, Brilliant Labs Program Director in Nova Scota. Sarah has been championing the efforts of young women throughout the province, and beyond, and is an inspiring leader for educators, students and the Brilliant Labs team alike. We are hounoured to share this story with you and celebrate Sarah Ryan who certinanly is a 'rising-star'.

Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) announced on March 7, 2019, the recipients of their prestigious Leadership Excellence Awards, which recognize women, men and organizations committed to diversity and closing the gender gap in Canada’s information, broadcast, communications, media and technology industries.

With less than 27 per cent of women represented in Canada’s knowledge-based economy, celebrating the contributions and achievements of women is a critical element in closing the gender gap. Without role models, young women are up to 32 per cent less likely to aspire to leadership roles.

The theme for International Women’s Day this year is #BalanceforBetter, calling for gender balance in the boardroom, government, media, and workforce. WCT is a national professional association which for 28 years has been working towards gender parity and the advancement of women in their careers in Canada’s innovation economy.

Every year, WCT recognizes the rising stars who inspire others to unite to close the gender gap,” says Joanne Stanley, Executive Director of WCT. “Communications and technology are fiercely competitive and innovation-driven industries where women still comprise only nine per cent of leaders in the C-suite. It’s time to change those numbers and propel women into leadership positions.”

CGI is the presenting sponsor of the 2019 Annual Awards and Gala.

“It is an honour to recognize these winners as leaders in Canada’s digital industries,” says Lisa Carroll, Senior Vice-President at CGI. “It takes champions and a network of support to truly effect change. CGI is proud to recognize women’s achievements, as well as those of the organizations that inspire girls to go into STEM, the companies that demonstrate and promote inclusiveness, and the men who support the advancement of women.”

The awards [were] presented at WCT’s Annual Awards Gala on May 1st, 2019 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The must-attend event draws over 450 high-profile public and private sector leaders for a night of celebrating diversity in Canada.

The 2019 Annual Leadership Awards recipients are:

Woman of the Year Rola Dagher, President,Cisco Systems Canada Company of the Year APTN Trailblazer Anuja Sheth, Vice President, Business Networks and Supply Chain, Bell Canada Entrepreneur Zainab Muse, CEO & Founder, Wing Diversity Champions Rekha Rao-Mayya, Country Manager, GSI/SI Services Partners, Microsoft Canada Dr. Andrew Rau-Chaplin, Dean, Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University Rising Star Sarah Ryan, Program Director, Brilliant Labs Mentor Caroline Gayle, Managing Director of Technology for Financial Services, Accenture Innovator Johanne Hinse, Vice President, Programming and Community Relations, Cogeco Connexion Inc. Empowerment Canadian Association for Girls in Science WCT Leader National Capital Region lead by Sally Douglas, Principal, Earnscliffe Kristal Felea, Executive Producer & Partner, Banfield Agency

Visit www.wct-fct.com/en/news for more information about the WCT & this article.

Learn how Blackville School K-12 is helping educators take the leap to customize their professional learning, while putting global competencies to a real world test by becoming Canada's 2019 Kraft Hockeyville winners!

A discussion with Blackville School Teachers, with contributions by Jacob Lingley, Brilliant Labs Program Director

Part of our vision for education at Brilliant Labs is to ensure that students develop skills to become collaborative critical thinkers who can problem solve on the spot, while having a strong sense of global citizenship. To do this educators have been working to foster global competency skills: critical thinking and problem solving, innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship, learning to learn/ self-awareness and self-direction, collaboration, communication, global citizenship and sustainability. (https://www.cmec.ca/682/Global_Com petencies.html) Project Based Learning or Maker Education helps to bring these skills to the forefront by helping students take ownership over their personal learning, while encouraging them to be more collaborative critical thinkers. However, within the focus of student empowerment and personalized learning, we can sometimes forget that this practice of Maker Education is equally empowering for the educator.

Brilliant Labs has been working to bring Maker Education in the form of professional learning to educators

years now, but we still encounter teachers working in silos and missing out on the feedom and empowerment that maker PL can bring to their professional practice, and the curricular outcomes of any, or all, subjects. They may also find a new perspective to learning global competencies as they step into their own self-guided-maker PL. Last spring McMaster University published Rapid Synthesis Supporting Professional Learning Approaches to Foster Global Competencies in K-12 Education, 1 April 2018 which took a deeper dive into professional development strategies (Rapid Synthesis, 2018). Their research demostrated that communication skills could be related to ICT and digital skills.

“One recent low-quality systematic review found that one-to-one laptop environments (i.e., schools where all students are provided with a computer)

were associated with increased frequency and breadth of student technology use; increased studentcentered, individualized, and projectbased learning; increased quantity and genres of writing; and improved teacher-student and home-school relationship” (Rapid Synthesis, 12).

However, it also found a teacher bias in that the educator’s beliefs and their approach was integral in the adoption of technology as a learning tool.

"Teachers were found to often have initial concerns about the use of laptops for instruction, either due to limited technology skills, lack of sufficient technical support, uncertainty about the ways in which the technology would affect them, or fear of losing control in the classroom.” This was believed to be related to lack of technical support and professional

"It started as a part of my professional goal.

It’s overwhelming for sure, but it’s easy to see how maker education can be incorporated into the class & students take pride in knowing they know a little more than we do. They like to teach us."

Twila Sturgeon, Resource, Grade 4 Language Arts

learning. Contrary, when these needs were met the teachers were more “confident about their ability to solve minor technical problems, more efficient in their use of technology over time, and more willing to incorporate it in their classroom.”

Overcoming the fear of technology and giving students and teachers an opportunity to challenge themselves is exactly what Blackville School, a K-12 school located in Northumberland County, New Brunswick, has been doing since the school year began this past fall. Mr. Ashley Hallihan is an educator and maker at the high school. He first took the maker education leap five years ago at Miramichi Valley High School when he and Ms. Kathy MacDonald introduced themselves and students to an underwater robotics program using a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) to explore and study the waterways surrounding their community. After transferring to Blackville School this fall, Mr. Hallihan opened a makerspace within the heart of the school. “It couldn’t have been in a better location” he shared.

The space is like a fish bowl surrounded by windows and has a courtyard feeling as students and teachers can look in from parallel hallways or down from the second floor. “It was a great way to get students asking about the space and nudging their teachers to do more maker projects. There is a buzz in the building.”

Soon, Mr. Hallihan’s colleagues were curious about what was happening in the space and wondered how they could take part. “Today, we have 16 teachers participating in after school maker PL. It’s an open door learning environment.

There is no pressure to attend.

Sometimes I lead the activities and often we have students who take the helm."

"There is no pressure to attend.

Sometimes I lead the activities and often we have students who take the helm." - Ashley Hallihan

By letting the students take the helm and having flexible no-pressure maker PL available to teachers, BHS is creating a culture within the school that naturally fosters global competency skills for students, teachers and surrounding communities.

The Council of Ministers of Education (CMEC) in their Pan-Canadian Global Competencies document, defined global competencies as “sets of overarching attitudes, skills, and knowledge that can be interdependent, interdisciplinary and leveraged in a variety of situations both locally and globally.” Let's take a closer look at the CMEC's definitions and how BHS is fostering these skills for teachers, students and their community through in-class themed projects, and ultimately the inspirational all-hands-on-deck Kraft Hockeyville project that would bring them all together for an incredible win!

Kraft Hockeyville is an annual competition sponsored by Kraft Foods, the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association in which communities compete to demonstrate their commitment to the sport of ice hockey (Kraft, 2019).

Ms. Angela Moody, Vice Principal & Visual Arts shared how both students & teachers took ownership over their learning, while building collaborative skills: During the Hour of Code, my grade 9 students had the chance to learn a little bit about coding. It was a good opportunity, because now we were doing a unit on how technology impacts expressive works. The class was able to take that coding and work with our grade seven class in partners to create expressive works using code. It was really neat, I didn't know anything about coding, but in reality I found that I didn’t have to. The kids did it for themselves!

One of the great things I noticed was that it was our grade 7 students who were the mentors.

It was a great to see the collaboration.

I also noticed that during the holidays some of the teachers came into the space and started trying to use the different tools to make gifts. It helped them learn how to use the machines. It sparked interest and showed them they were capable of doing it themselves. It also helped our students as they took pride in knowing they knew a little more than we did. They like to teach us, we had grade one and three students teaching us how to put on labels.

Allan Carter Digital Production, Media Studies, History, English (Grades 10,11,12) reflected on the need for personalized PD: My own experience with PD is that it needs to be more personalized. We talk a lot about personalized learning for students, but in the realm of PD in schools it’s sometimes a one-size fits all, while this style of PD has a more personal aspect and I think it’s where PD is going more and more. I think it’s a disruptive change… a lot of people don’t want to see it get there. They want to put us all in one class and say this is your PD, but some of the things we are doing in this space with Ashley is changing it.

There is a situation now where the students are the experts not the teachers.

Learning to learn/self awareness and self-direction (Table 1. CMEC) “Learning to learn and to be self-directed and self-aware, means: becoming aware and demonstrating agency in one’s process of learning, including the development of dispositions that support motivation, perseverance, resilience, and self-regulation. Belief in one’s ability to learn (growth mindset), combined with strategies for planning, monitoring and reflecting on one’s past, present and future goals, potential actions and strategies, and results. Self-reflection and thinking about thinking (metacognition) promote lifelong learning, adaptive capacity, well-being and transfer of learning in an ever-changing world.”(Rapid Synthesis, 16)

Mr. Robert Lehnert, Grade 7 Teacher, discussed Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Skills: Students’ engagement has increased due to the independence and choice given to them. What they produce at the end of a project is truly amazing at such a young age.

Students are not only learning technology skills but they are building the foundation to become critical thinkers, problem solvers and leaders.

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving (Table 1. CMEC) “Address complex issues and problems by acquiring, processing, analyzing and interpreting information to make informed judgments and decisions. The capacity to engage in cognitive processes to understand and resolve problems includes the willingness to achieve one’s potential as a constructive and reflective citizen. Learning is deepened when situated in meaningful, real-world, authentic experiences.”(Rapid Synthesis, 15)

Mr. Ashley Halihan discusses the efforts of the students, educators and community in bringing the winning Kraft Hockeyville vote to Renous.

The maker skills being worked on with students including the global competencies were highlighted throughout this community effort.

Our makerspace became well known throughout the community and the talents of our students were showcased to everyone! One student decided to make a t-shirt with "Are You A Robot" on it after the voting was done. Perfect Pins did on site button making for community members at our Top 4 announcement... and donated $200 made from their efforts back to the rink fund. These students learned so much about volunteerism and giving back to their community. As well, they now know that through collaboration you can achieve your goals! Renous had a population of

Aaron Johnston, Grade 5-8, experiments with virtual reality to experience history, which could also be an excellent opportunity to expose youth to other cultures: I brought a grade 9 class in to the makerspace to show them the Berlin blitz using Oculus, I was able to immerse them into 3D tech to show them what it would be like… “This is how it would have felt like in WWII” I found that students were actually hesitant at first to jump into it… and those who would normally be my academically involved students stepped back and different students stepped forward. There certainly is an opportunity there for social studies to immerse students into cultures or places that many will not have opportunities to see in real space or real time.

Global citizenship and sustainability (Table 1. CMEC) “Global citizenship and sustainability involves reflecting on diverse worldviews and perspectives and understanding and addressing ecological social and economic issues that are crucial to living in a contemporary, connected, interdependent, and sustainable world. It also includes the acquisition of knowledge, motivation, dispositions, and skills required for an ethos of engaged citizenship, with an appreciation for the diversity of people, perspectives, and the ability to envision and work toward a better and more sustainable future for all.”(Rapid Synthesis, 17)

721 versus a larger center in Rich Valley, Alberta with a much larger population and a suburb of Edmonton.

Community spirit is alive and well in Renous, and I'm happy that I was able to part of it along with my family and students.

Communication and Collaboration skills go hand in hand in any project, especially in one as engaging as Kraft Hockeyville. Communication was key as students without maker skills were

Mr. Lehnert, Grade 7 Teacher, shares how Maker Education is fostering Entrepreneurship & Critical Thinking: As the year progressed my Grade 7 students became experts in the Maker Space and often would work with High School students and staff to train them and help them use the technology. Specifically three of my students trained and worked with the Grade 9 Art Class to create customized socks for the holiday season using our vinyl cutter and heat press. I also had several students working with the Grade 9 students to create jingles for their businesses.

Another project that was completed by my entire class was working with the Grade 9 Art Class to create a piece of art that incorporated a MicoBit. Students made everything from radio frequency thermostats to Christmas decorations.

Currently my students are working on STEAM Fair projects and I have one student who is working on Lego Robotics, one student who is exploring the radio industry and starting will be starting their own radio station, as well as a student working with the Living Space Micro Bit Program.

Innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship (Table 1. CMEC) “Innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship involve the ability to turn ideas into action to meet the needs of a community. The capacity to enhance concepts, ideas or products to contribute new-to-the-world solutions to complex economic, social and environmental problems involves leadership, taking risks, independent/unconventional thinking and experimenting with new strategies, techniques or perspectives, through inquiry research.

Entrepreneurial mindsets and skills involve a focus on building and scaling an idea sustainably.”(Rapid Synthesis, 15)

Communication (Table 1. CMEC)

helped by those who had the skills.

Collaboration on all levels, students, staff and community. For instance, the 9-5 song was an idea with myself and the gym teacher, pitched to the music teacher who then tracked down a talented middle school student to sing and a great radio voice from a high school student. With my connection to a Country Music Producer (and Miramichier Jason Barry), he was able to finalize our sound to be released to radio with the help of local hosts Paddy Quinn, Darcy McLaughlin and John O'Shea. The social media buzz we created over 3 weeks was like no other according to the manager of Kraft Hockeyville. They did not release the final vote count but did say that Renous had lots of votes!

The Makerspace was key in promoting our Kraft Hockeyville efforts to not only our community but also all viewers on Social Media platforms. Perfect Pins was our elementary team of students who created and made buttons along with a middle school group called the ButtonLads. They would design a button, print it and deliver to our Local Organizing Committee to distribute throughout the community. We also had high school students and Educational Assistants and custodial staff help with making these buttons when demand was high - our students became mentors! The themes included: T6, Pink #NeverDunn, Thomas Hockey Picture,VOTE Renous, Voting Dates, Win or Lose We Are Renous, I Voted Renous, etc...

They became a hit and we are proud to have distributed close to 2000 buttons to the community.

Thanks to BL for supporting our costs!

“Communication involves receiving and expressing meaning in different contexts and with different audiences and purposes. Effective communication increasingly involves understanding both local and global perspectives, societal and cultural contexts, and adapting and changing using a variety of media appropriately, responsibly, safely, and with regards to one’s digital footprint.” (Rapid Synthesis, 16)

Our BHSMake students also helped with t-shirt making and creating signs with the use of our vinyl cutter, heat press and silk screening stations. We offered the community to bring in a shirt and we would silk screen the logo free of charge. D&M Designs did this service and the committee got them to do t-shirts for bands that were playing in the event to advertise our VOTERenous message.

To decorate every front window in our school we had all levels of students using supplies from the MakerSpace... could be higher tech with vinyl cut stickers or light up carboard creations to transparency silhouettes with paint. We used Green Screen video to create a 20 For Tom students challenge, audio equipment for recording our 9-5 student-created song and drone video of our full student body Neverdunn image. Our BHSICE YouTube channel became the platform for sharing our videos, BHSICE Facebook page for sharing stories and @bhsmaker Twitter for helping start our Worldwide Trend! Our efforts on a school front got translated into the community with all individuals, business and local communities. We came together as

Collaboration (Table 1. CMEC) Collaboration involves the interplay of the cognitive (including thinking and reasoning), interpersonal, and interpersonal competencies necessary to participate effectively and ethically in teams. Everincreasing versatility and depth of skill are applied across diverse situations, roles, groups, and perspectives in order to coconstruct knowledge, meaning and content, and learn from, and with, others in physical and virtual environments." (Rapid Synthesis, 16)

one and supported the cause...total team effort!

Today, the school has been a buzz and the energy is great! It was a big transition for me in the fall to leave behind 16 years at a school and well established MakerSpace. However, being in my home school with my 3 daughters and having an opportunity to create a new MakerSpace has been amazing! The BHS ICE Centre has now established the importance of Innovation, Collaboration and Entrepreneurship! I have already pitched to my principal the idea of having an Elementary MAKE class next year as well as a longer exploratory in Tech with Middle School students to do a BHS ICE Jr. to help develop young entrepreneurs much like the Coop (MAKE) 120 and Entrepreneurship 110 are doing now with High School students. I am excited to see first hand the development of skills and talents as these students progress right from K 12. That is what makes Blackville so special... progression from elementary to high school in the same building with opportunities to collaborate on all levels!

Blackville School’s successful Hockeyville campaign is an incredible example of the empowering force of community that arises both within and around a school’s makerspace. After all of us at Brilliant Labs shared in the enthusiasm with Blackville as their exciting news broke, we took a moment to put aside our own passion for hockey and reflect on the innumerable, authentic learning experiences that were quite literally made, in their community makerspace.

At first glance, a makerspace like the one found at Blackville school can be often misinterpreted as a space in which visitors will use the specific tools to make specific objects. Among an assembly of materials, these spaces often have sewing machines to sew, 3D printers to print and button makers to make buttons. These specific objects are always, individually crafted with care, pride and a tremendous amount of creativity. These intangibles are what a visitor may often miss the first time they visit a makerspace; however, they are the real materials that make a makerspace the heart of a school.

During the Hockeyville campaign the Blackville School’s makerspace, appropriately named the ICE Centre, was filled with students, teachers and community members united by a common ambitious goal. Many of the adults in the space had never used any of the technology in the makerspace. They were simply enthralled by the way students from as early as grade 5 were navigating complex graphic design software, 3D printers and even telepresence robots. Little did these adults know, but the students would become captivated by the insight provided by the adults. It is in this moment that the true magic of a makerspace learning experience is revealed.

All makers in a makerspace find themselves gathered together sharing. They share their passions, skills and life experiences within a collective group of like-minded individuals. In Blackville, you had parents and community members arriving at the ICE Centre thinking that they were there to share their skill of sewing, only to have their passion morph into something completely new when inspired by a student’s creation. The culture that grows from the combined

experiences of a community of makers is something that is not only worthy of any trophy or win, but a characteristic that has been embraced by hundreds of teachers who have had their professional practice reimagined by adopting maker-centered learning.

References: McMaster University, "Rapid Synthesis Supporting Professional Learning Approaches to Foster Global Competencies in K-12 Education" April 2018. https://www.mcmasterforum.org/docs/defaultsource/product-documents/rapidresponses/supporting-professional-learningapproaches-to-foster-global-competencies-in-k12-education.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. April 2019. https://www.cmec.ca/en/

Depuis maintenant 10 ans, beaucoup de gens sont envoûtés par la magie du colloque de Clair. Chaque fin du mois de janvier, l’école se transforme en modèle communautaire par excellence. Ce colloque permet aux membres du personnel d’éclater les murs de l’école et faire vivre l’expérience de l’énergie spectaculaire du Centre d’ Apprentissage du Haut-Madawaska, tel de vrais magiciens. Mais que se passe-t-il dans cette école de la région du Nord Ouest du N.-B.?

Pendant la journée du vendredi, les élèves partagent leurs projets innovants et les enseignants parlent de pédagogie avec les visiteurs venus de partout. Il y a même des délégations qui arrivent en autobus et certains sont même dans l’autobus plus longtemps qu’ils sont au colloque ! Pourquoi ce déplacement?

Les élèves, au centre de leurs apprentissages, deviennent les complices des membres du personnel afin de créer des projets et des numéros spectaculaires à partager.

La personnalisation des apprentissages des élèves démontrent un engagement hors pairs de toute un communauté. Nous pouvons y voir des élèves de maternelle expliquer à des enseignants, venus de partout, comment faire de la robotique jusqu’à voir des élèves plus vieux en action avec la radio étudiante de l’école.

Le labo créatif du C@HM est au coeur de cette école. En y entrant, la musique est déclenchée au touché des plantes suspendues du plafond. Le squelette immense animé fait parfois sursauter les nouveaux venus.

Il est définitivement de local le plus prisée de la fin de semaine. Les élèves partagent leurs connaissances d’imprimante 3d, réalité virtuelle, programmation, couture, esprit entrepreneuriale… Les gens y restent longuement et les élèves se font plaisir de partager leurs connaissances.

En arrivant à cette école, on peut voir que la collaboration est une des valeur de la communauté. L’école y est au coeur et on peut le ressentir. Chaque membre de la communauté a un rôle bien défini à l’intérieur de ses murs.

Tous y participent.

Lors du congrès, nous avons la chance d’entendre les élèves, les enseignants, les membres du personnel, les gens de la communauté partager leur amour pour l’école. Dès la maternelle, les jeunes partagent leurs expériences à cet événement de marque.

Cette année nous avons pu entendre le leader des Labos Créatifs, M. Jeff Wilson, parler du changement et verbaliser comment l’organisme Labos Créatifs est devenu un mouvement pédagogique rassembleur qui permet aux jeunes et aux enseignants de créer des projets et des initiatives pertinentes pour le 21e siècle. Parlant du coeur, il a réussi à capter l’ attention des 300 spectateurs.

- N a ta cha V a utour , Coor dona tr ice de pr ojects cr èa tifs Secteur fr a ncophone Atla ntique

"...the cr ea tivity index in the exper imenta l gr oup is significa ntly higher tha n tha t in the contr ol gr oup."

Written by Caitlin Furlong in collaboration with Viktor Freiman, Michel LĂŠger, Manon LeBlanc, Xavier Robichaud, Takam Djambong, UniversitĂŠ de Moncton

The CompeTI.CA Network (Atlantic ICT Skills) team has been working since 2016 on study of students learning in provincial Brilliant Labs.

Joining worldwide movement on establishing new technology-rich learning spaces also known as Makerspaces, Fab Labs (Digital fabrication laboratories) or Brilliant Labs where young people work with a variety of technological tools. In this environment, young people seem more engaged as they work on various projects in line with their personal interests, with the help of their peers, Brilliant Lab experts, and cutting-edge technologies (Brilliant Labs, 2016).

According to Sheridan, Halverson, Litts, Brahms, and Jacobs-Priebe (2014), creative labs empower young people to develop autonomy, collaboration, and creativity skills while enabling them to be active learners. Peppler, Maltese, Keune, Chang and Regalla (2015), for their part, say that Brilliant Labs

allow the use of systematic thinking, problem solving, flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, clear communication, creative thinking, and collaboration.

While researching several labs in different parts of New Brunswick, we ask about what form should the maker movement take in schools? How does it fit into the M-12 educational system?

What skills are targeted? What do students learn and how do they learn it?

These questions have captivated researchers and practitioners who see the potential of introducing innovative practices that include, among other things, robotics and coding (programming) activities.

In this article, we will share the preliminary results of four case studies that focus on (1) the process of implementing, in general, new technology-rich spaces and the learning that emerges from them; (2) their relation to STEM disciplines, and more specifically, mathematics; (3) creativity and (4) the role of so-called “nontechnical� skills (soft skills or 21st century skills).

Our first observations of six Brilliant Labs, conducted in May-June 2016, have shown that they offer students a hands-on, flexible, rich in digital technologies (robotics kits, iPads, 3-D printers, among others), varied in its materials, interdisciplinary environment.

This environment engages students in a variety of design and creative activities, according to their choice and interest, through open pedagogies that emphasize the achievement of complex tasks, offering significant challenges, allowing for flexible assessment, focused on the process, the showcasing of the acquired knowledge, with the goal of continuous improvement.

These pedagogical approaches seem to foster context-based learning, based on interest, problem-solving, realizing real-life projects, which allow students to learn to learn and to understand, to work in collaboration with peers, in addition to

promoting sharing, the development of soft skills, as well as the productive, efficient, thoughtful, responsible and ethical use of digital tools and social networks.

A second, more detailed study conducted during the 2016-2017 school year in four schools revealed several links between the STEM activities carried out in brilliant labs and the learning of mathematics (one of the STEM disciplines). This is how we see the important role that the brilliant lab can play as a place where students can use a variety of materials to discover, invent, explore and create in an environment that encourages the construction of their own learning (Rendina, 2015).

Thus, by analyzing the videos showing the students doing their

projects we were able to highlight several concepts and mathematical procedures that are part of the contents of any curriculum, namely measurement (dimensions, units), comparison of quantities, estimations, proportions, fractions, basic operations, and the capacity to locate objects in the space (spatial reasoning). In addition, mathematics educators particularly appreciate the following elements that were also observed: the PIE (Prediction Investigation - Explication) strategy (Gauthier, 2014), solving complex problems (during a "long" period), validation (often by trial and error strategies), inductive reasoning and logical relationships (LeBlanc et al, 2018).

As a third study (done in 2016-2017 in one of the four creative labs visited), we looked at the possible emergence of creative thinking, identified by Media Smarts (2016) as a high-level digital competence. Thus, we examined the impact of Brilliant Lab work on creative thinking among 20 high school students (COOP course, grades 1012). In administering Torrance's for Creative Thinking Test (1998), we found that the creativity index in the experimental group is significantly higher than that in the control group.

This study, presented at the AERA (The American Educational Research Association) annual meeting in 2018, highlighted the potential of technologyrich environments (creative labs) for 21st century skills development in educational settings (Léger & Freiman, 2018).

Continuing our analysis in the direction of studying 21st century (nontechnical) skills, we analyzed 23 excerpts of videos presenting the work of students from four schools (three middle schools and one high school).

Furlong et al. (2018) found several elements of critical thinking (Student 1: “we want it to say one, one, one. It means we didn’t put it in the right place”), creativity (Student 2: “It is to warm the handlebars like on your bike so in the winter, you don’t get frostbite”), collaboration, communication and problem solving (“Student 3: “we have a hard time making it work. We have not succeeded yet, but we are really close”) which are developed in creative labs; just as specified in Peppler's study (2015). In terms of technical skills, the most frequent use of ICT is related to the students' capacity to organize information and to perform a task as they use a variety of programming software for their projects.

References Brilliant Labs (2016). Maker Education. Retrieved from https://www.brilliantlabs.ca/makerspaces Furlong, C, Léger, M., & Freiman, V. (2018) Compétences numériques dans des environnements d'apprentissage riches en technologies. Congrès de l’ACFAS, Chicoutimi, Québec, 7 mai.

Gauthier, M. (2014). Perceptions des élèves du secondaire par rapport à la résolution de problèmes en algèbre à l’aide d’un logiciel dynamique et la stratégie Prédire – investiguer – expliquer. Éducation et francophonie, XLII(2), Retrieved from http://www.acelf.ca/c/revue/sommaire.php?id=43#.Wl32VUxFyM8.

Léger, M. T. & Freiman, V. (in press). Learning to be creative: A causal-comparative study of digital skill development in a technology-rich classroom. Proceedings of the American Educational research Association (AERA) annual meeting. New York, NY Media Smarts (2016). Utiliser, comprendre et créer : Un cadre de littératie numérique pour les écoles canadiennes. Le Centre Canadien D’Éducation aux Médias et de Littératie Numérique: Ottawa.

Peppler, K., Maltese, A., Keune, A., Chang, S., & Regalla, L. (2015). The maker ed open portfolio project: Survey of Makerspaces, Part II. Open Portfolios Rendina, D. (2015). Defining makerspaces: What research says? Retrieved from http://renovatedlearning.com/2015/04/02/defining-makerspaces-part-1/ Sheridan, K., Rosenfeld Halverson, E., Litts, B., Brahms, L, Jacobs-Priebe, L., & Owens, T. (2014) Learning in the Making: A Comparative Case Study of Three Makerspaces. Harvard Educational Review 84(4), 505-531.

Witten by Mark Garnett, Teacher Fredericton High School

Staring at the stacks of oddly cut pieces, my Biology 111 students thought that our new Growth Sphere looked like the world’s largest wooden jigsaw puzzle. The truth is, that assessment was not far off.

The three dimensional puzzle that they would paint, assemble, light, and prepare for plants over the next several months was a project that saw teamwork, problem solving skills, and ‘making’ at its finest.

Being true Fredericton High School Black Kats, the students voted to paint the Growth Sphere black and yellow to match our school colours.

Believe it or not, the painting process was the most time consuming portion of the project as more than 85 pieces, including shelf pieces and risers, had to be painted, dried, and flipped to be painted on the opposite side. Several students had never painted using rollers and larger brushes before this project and the challenge was met with excitement and efficiency each painting day. When all was said and done, about 6 class days were required to set up, paint, and clean up within our 63-minute class periods.

The next phase of the project was the construction phase. Maybe one of the most exciting parts of taking on this project with my students was that I had never built a Growth Sphere myself, so the students were informed that they were in charge of the build, and, as it turned out, were very well prepared to take control of the project. Students were more than eager to grab hold of the rubber mallets and get the base assembled. Having decided upon a final destination in the cafeteria for the project, students brought all of the pieces to the location and started to organize and prepared to build.

As the adage goes, Rome

wasn’t built in a day. Neither was the Growth Sphere. It didn’t take very long into the assembly of the base to come across a significant snag in the process.

Although the pieces had all been cut beautifully by a local kitchen design company, an oversight of not drilling several holes/slots into the bottom layer of shelves brought the project to a grinding halt, as the sphere must be built from the ground up. The disappointment in the room weighed heavy on the students and the question was asked: “What are we going to do about this?” It was quickly suggested by the students to see if anybody in the woodshop class could help us. A few minutes later, conversations were happening between

“It was an interesting and fun way to learn key skills such as teamwork, following specific instrucitons and problem solving."

Mr. Allen Crousse, the wood shop teacher, and my students. It was agreed that his class could take the pieces and the instructions and fix anything that required it. Their response was quick and allowed a whole new class set of hands and minds to be engaged in our project! In fact, the woodshop class was so excited to be involved that they fixed the bottom level and started the assembly process themselves! After the pieces of the Growth Sphere were double checked and handed over to my Biology class, the final stretch of assembly was upon us. With a final few wieldings of the rubber mallets the roof went on and cheers arose from the students! Our Growth Sphere was quite impressive when it was assembled at about 10 feet tall! The addition of LED grow lights and the transplanting of seedlings and

cuttings were the last things that needed to be done to put the finishing touches on the project for the semester.

We have recently partnered with a couple more departments in our school with the hope of stretching the reach of the Growth Sphere to include more students. The cucumbers, tomatoes, and herbs being produced will be used by our culinary classes for their Future Chef’s Café and our Methods and Resource Department have signed on to develop a schedule for the watering of the plants. The ability to involve four different departments speaks to the multi-disciplinary aspects of the project. We are looking forward to what the next couple of years brings in terms of the evolution of the FHS Growth Sphere!

As first time Makers, I am very happy with the opportunities that my students had to work together on the Growth Sphere, but even more excited about what the future holds.

Continuing the partnerships within the school, and the installation of light level and moisture sensors for the plants are possible projects for my second semester students, however, I’m sure they will come up with some ideas of their own to make the Growth Sphere an on-going and interactive project. I’d like to extend a thank-you to Carolyn Barnhart for the encouragement to try something new and an extra special thank-you goes out to Brilliant Labs for their support with this project!

“It was great to practice other skills besides the ones we often use in the classroom.”

“It’s nice to have helped build something that future students and classes might work on.”

“It made us interact with people I hadn’t talked to before.”

10 0 0 STUDENT HOURS?!

Written by Sarah Ryan, Program Director Brilliant Labs Nova Scotia

A Discussion With, Bradley Watt Teacher /Technology/Fine Arts Department Head Halifax West High School

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Halifax West high school teacher Mr. Brad Watt about he and his students’ incredible endeavour of creating not one, but two, life-size R2D2 robots. Mr. Watt has always incorporated engaging projects into his various classes’ curriculum (see “Life Size Raspberry Pi 3D Scanner” Brilliant Labs Magazine, Fall 2017) seeking support from various avenues, including Brilliant Labs’ project funding, and we’re always happy to help with their ambitious proposals!

Here’s what Mr. Watt and his students had to say about this:

- - Rachel Mathis, Founder/ CEO I nvigorateLeaders

Tell me a bit about the students who are involved in the project and their roles?

They are from all three grade levels-- 10, 11, 12 and have contributed based on their various interests skill sets, and project requirements. We have Vladyslav Pipchenko who has worked on 3D Printing, construction and ABS welding; Brian Peters with 3D Printing, electronics design and programming and soldering; Josh Lowe with motor controllers, transmitter - receivers setup, circuit wiring,software and firmware updates, as well as coding in python and arduino; Milan with the installation of software; Kritant with the body construction; Ryan Kelly on the Art work; and contributions from Electrotec students and Design Students; Mahmoud Saied documentation and video editing; Dulhan Naidappuwa Waduge with programming, as well as Mr. Thornton.

Approxim hours will ately how many taken by ththe project have completio e point of n?

Probably u student houpwards of 1000 this year. rs will be invested

nd the project a “ R2D2 as provided me w pace h makers unity to meet ne m rt a o te p a p the o ork as arn to w y new skills le , s d n n frie elop ma n able and dev not have bee ld u o that I w do otherwise� nt to d, Stude ud Saie o m h a -M

What are som noticed being e key skills that you hav who have par developed in the students e ticipated?

-Teamwork -Operation, maintenance and setup of 3D Printer -Software installation and CNC Routing firmware updates safety and operation -Circuit design and building -Soldering -Firmware updates on motor controllers -Coding in python, linux and arduino -Custom Designing parts with tinkerCAD

Who where did this idea originate from?

This project was found on line at https://makezine.com/projects/building-your-first-r2/ I wanted to introduce a challenging project that would require many students and classes to work over an extended period of time 1 - 2 years that would significantly challenge students and in the end have a product that would promote STEAM in elementary and junior high schools. This project combines robotics, coding, designing building and production using CNC routing and laser cutting.

There is a real need to expose students to hands-on STEAM activities. It is the hope that this project will expose students to STEAM and at the same time provide an environment where taking risks in learning is encouraged and celebrated. This is a significantly challenging project and will require students to learn to use new technologies and tools as well as research and brainstorm complex systems to solve a real well-defined design and engineering tasks.

This project will be open to students in Production Tech, Design 11, Electrotechnologies 11, Applied Networking 11, Communication Technology 11 and Film and Video Production 12.

What was your budget?

000 & AF - $5 D P U T NS $6000 $1000 t Labs n a B r il li

Do you int end on continuing or expanding on this project beyond this year's work?

Yes, the beautiful part of this project is that we can always add to this project by adding extra components to R2 D2 like periscope, scanner and other utility options.

Ultimately we would like R2 D2 to play videos using a pico LCD projector that would be remotely controlled. We are concurrently building two R2 D2s - one that is entirely 3d Printed and will serve as the prototype and another that is ABS and will be the remote-controlled astromech droid that could go on tour to elementary and junior high schools to promote STEAM. Once R2D2 is completed it will be at the West but available for tour to promote STEAM at elementary and junior high schools.

“ This project is very important for me because it has allowed me t o discover and explore new technologies like 3D design and printing, electronics and soldering. Also, it has allowed me to meet new students with similar interests.”

- Vladyslav Pipchenko, Student

en t s r st ud nds-on ac e f o p ha s d t n a e ig n a t e. is a g r g y , d e s n d c o ll a b o r a l “ T h is lo o n h a c a n e r t e io d h it st e t r ad t o g et in t e r e t o g et om t he d spac e t o r s f ie y a it t aw e an a c t iv e t o ge t h e t im It is n ic m a n d h a v e e p r o b le m s . f o r t lv oo is g r e a c la s s r b u il d a n d s o e a n d it P r o j e c t .” c a p s e t he 2 D2 x W es t W e lo v t s li k e t h e R H a li f a p r o j e c e , St u d e n t & in a t o r Lo w Coor d -J osh spac e M a k er

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Follow the Halifax West Makerspace @HWHSMakerspace

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Rain bow

- MAKER Written By Carron McCabe Program Director, Prince Edward Island,

If you had asked me if I could code a rainbow even 3 months ago I would have said “No way...but I want to!” Now I can check this item off my list of ‘awesome things I wish I could do’.

Here’s my project break down. I hope you find it helpful and maybe even gives you some confidence to try something outside of your comfort zone.

To make the neopixel strip light up in a couple of different ways.

Chromebook/laptop Access to the Internet www.code.brilliantlabs.app Microbit and USB cable

Coding the Micro:bit, basic electronics, communication skills when I shared my success with everyone who would listen!

bBoard Neopixel strip Alligator clip with male connector on one end Mini screw driver

I hope you will find my materials list and the below step-by-step instructions helpful.

4 AA batteries

Here is the code I used to make my neopixel light up in 3 different ways from 3 different inputs - on A button, B button and A+B button

I made sure to test my code out on the emulator on the left of the screen.

Once I had my code flashed to my microbit I put it into my bBoard like this.

Add the power.

Now to connect the neopixel. I started with the black wire from the neopixel and screwed it into this power station.

Then I took the red wire and connected it to the 3v power spot using my mini screwdriver again.

Next I took my alligator clip and put the wire into the white side of the neopixel connector.

I was so excited to see this thing light up! I turned on the battery pack and the bBoard and w hen I pressed button "A" I got this:

Check out what happens when I press button 'B'.

Now, A and B buttons together:

I felt so impressed with myself for getting the neopixel strip to light up! Now I can show this to anyone who might be interested in rainbows.

Impressing friends with my coding expertise and electronic know ledge feels great! I will be totally honest with you. I had to ignore a niggling inner voice that was nervous about all this new technology and I am so glad I did.

Also, this project didn’t work the first time around and I had to figure it out from a couple of different directions before I found success. I also didn’t write this code from my head. I found a video on YouTube and started there.

My next steps are to learn how to do more with the neopixel strip and make the lights move, perhaps add some music and have a dance party.

Pioneering HoloLens

In New Brunswick Education

Written by Ben Kelly, Caledonia Regional High School Teacher & Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert

Christmas had a different feeling in 2016 as a package arrived at Caledonia Regional High School (CHRHS) from Brilliant Labs. For years at that point our students had been developing Windows, Mac and virtual reality games and experiences using the Oculus Rift and the software Unity3D. As the CRHS Lead for Innovative Design I had just been awarded the title of Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and I had made one of my goals for that year to work with our students using the newest mixed-reality technology known as the Microsoft HoloLens. In the package that arrived at the school was a brand new Microsoft HoloLens, and with that, an unwritten acknowledgement from Brilliant Labs saying loudly “We support you!� At the time this was the only HoloLens in Canadian K-12 education and only in early 2018 did we find out how truly rare and special

our new program was. The HoloLens is a wireless headset which is a full computer running an operating system complete with Cortana, Microsoft’s voice assistant. There are cameras, speakers, sensors galore, a 64GB hard drive and pricey lenses that create the seemingly real image in the learning space. Mixed-reality is the term used when virtual images can detect and seemingly interact with the real world.

The HoloLens had sparse resources and apps in 2016. Even Microsoft seemed unprepared to begin discussing the device’s potential in the K-12 classroom publicly. With the support of Brilliant Labs nothing could hold us back from sharing its potential however. My twitter account (@BBTNB) lit up with HoloLens related student use and I purchased the domain www.HoloLensEDU.com knowing soon the world would come looking for K-12 applications of the device. We reached out to Trimble who owns the 3D software Sketchup to see if they could provide us a copy of their industrial $1500 Sketchup Viewer app for HoloLens. Trimble without hesitation agreed to allow us access to the app and we got to work. Our first

Image found in CTV Atlantic News story aired March 26, 2018: http://www.hololensedu.com/holoblog

applications of the device brought builds such as the Vimy Ridge Memorial site to life in the classroom.

Our school was building New Brunswick’s first ever K-12 Tiny House for sale and the project started in my grade 10 class with scale models of the tiny houses. I spotted an opportunity to have Sketchup builds of homes converted into mixedreality for full-size classroom inspection before our grade 11 and 12 students built the real structures. This complete project proved newsworthy and combined technology and skilled trades education authentically.

Our focus from day one was to use the HoloLens to create new

media and products so the Tiny House project incorporation was a feather in our young program’s cap.

The device was instrumental in boosting the weakest part of our STEAM program at the school which was Engineering education. The device proved to be incredibly powerful as a provider of knowledge too however. Apps like HoloTour allow users to go to Italy as the entire room transforms complete with a tour guide worthy tipping when the tour is over.

Games like Fragments which allow students to solve a lengthy futuristic crime drama as the lead detective were unexpected in 2016. Walking with dinosaurs, exploring the galaxy,

Caledonia Regional High School's Tiny Home design project. Visit CRHS YouTube for more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21&v=noTzsgoh9PA

HoloLens in use. Images found in CTV Atlantic News story aired March 26, 2018: http://www.hololensedu.com/holoblog

art museums delivered to our students’ environments and even mixed-reality alternatives to textbooks rocked our program for months and months.

I mentioned this year I saw how rare our K-12 program was. I just got back from Singapore and Microsoft’s Global Educator Exchange 2018 thanks to Microsoft Canada and Brilliant Labs.

Imagine an Olympics for teachers where 300+ of the most innovative K-12 educators gather for days of sharing, creating and learning. There I got to see the best of the best in the Microsoft Education ecosystem and worldwide the limited access to HoloLens can still be felt. Microsoft is now ready to talk about the implications of this technology in the K-12 classroom in a very public way. Teachers were shocked when they learned the HoloLens truly stayed in our school and wasn’t just visiting for a few days. We at Caledonia Regional recognize how special this Brilliant Labs support was for our students. Our future plans for the device (Which is working as good as it did on arrival) are to team up with learning company Lifeliqe of the Czech Republic and develop mixedreality for the HoloLens via Unity3D and, to further explore the empowering engineering capabilities of HoloLens with a team of girls at CRHS who all want to pursue engineering degrees. The future has been in New Brunswick classes for years now and it is helping New Brunswick students be prepared directly out of high school for careers requiring elite skills. Thank you Brilliant Labs!

Written by Lesa Scott, Maker Educator Brilliant Labs

Bringing making to the classroom is a great way to engage students in their learning, all while developing skills necessary for success in the 21st century workforce. Making something brilliant can be accomplished with very little technology, or it can involve the use of high tech tools. No matter what type of tools and technology are used, giving students the opportunity to be creative and construct their learning is an invaluable experience.

Superior Middle School in Bathurst, New Brunswick has scheduled a block of time for teachers to incorporate cross-curricular project based learning. Teachers work in teams at each grade level and have access to an exploratory teacher to help them with integrating art, music and/or technology into those projects.

Although making can be chaotic and messy at times, the Grade 6 Team has found that having a designated making area, which is separate from their research area, really helps to keep things organized and in check.

Their maker area is stocked with consumables and craft type supplies, and tables that can be easily moved and reconfigured to create work areas for students. Those who are still gathering research or need to use their laptops, do so across the hall in a large classroom that is quieter and more conducive for those who need to concentrate.

Not all project development needs to take place in the school’s makerspace, and the team teachers have organized their classrooms so students have easy access to the consumable supplies needed for creative expression. An open shelving unit works well for them and is integral to having the building phase run smoothly. Students learn early in the process that they must use their resources wisely and they cannot simply grab and go with the items just because they are visible.

Research is an important phase of the engineering design process and one that is part of any major making project. While students are working on their designs, there is a lot of movement happening and not everyone is at the same stage of the process. While some students might still be conducting research, others are into the building phase. Having a designated research area in the classroom provides the resources and environment that is conducive for conducting research.

Depending on the scope of the project, students have the option of choosing whether or not they want to use technology to produce their final presentation. For the grade six students, the Makey Makey is their “go-to� technology of choice and allows them to build creative interactive products.

Ellayna created an interactive model of a traditional classroom scene in order to present information about Craig & Marc Kielburger. The teacher in the scene asks her class what they know about child labour and each student model is programmed to provide an answer based on information that Ellayna has learned in her research phase. This is all done through Scratch 3 (scratch.mit.edu) with a Makey Makey and computer.

In order to make her model interactive, Ellayna placed copper tape beside each modeling clay figure and then used alligator clips to connect to the Makey Makey. She recorded her own voice in Scratch and coded that audio to play based on specific keyboard presses.

Not all projects have to use technology to be creative. Grace tapped into her artistic side and decided to present her biography on Robert Munch through the creation of a colourful exploding box. Each side of the box contains information about stories that Munch has written, including images of his works.

Learning how to design and sew was a new skill that Sidney acquired while working on her presentation about Nellie McClung. Her model was created using a bottle, some yarn and fabric. This was Sidney’s first time she used a sewing machine and she found it a lot of fun designing and sewing a costume for her bottle doll.

To make her project more interactive, she constructed a cardboard podium and used a Makey Makey and Scratch to have a Nellie McClung speech play when conductive tape on the podium was touched.

Learning new skills and putting those skills to use in helping others was part of a community service project that grade 8 students, Spencer, Alena, Jordan, Cedric, Odelia, Mathieu, and Ashley embarked upon. This group of students built a puppet theatre from old pallets, designed their props, and wrote a short play that promoted the fun of reading. They performed their puppet show several times during the school’s open house. Their final show will be at a local elementary school where they will donate their theatre to the school.

Lesa Scott, Maker Educator Brilliant Labs Lesa@brilliantlabs.ca Twitter: @LScott_15 Lesa Scott is a former high school vocational business/technology teacher and school district technology lead. Over half of her career has been spent mentoring teachers and working with their students providing them with support to incorporate technology and making into their classes. She holds a BEd in Business Education, DAUS Teaching English & Social Studies, and a MEd Curriculum and Instruction. In 2010 Lesa received a Microsoft Innovative Teacher Award and competed against a Canadian contingent at the Asia Pacific Regional Innovative Education Forum in Singapore, bringing home the award for Canada. Over the years, she has presented several professional learning sessions at the District and Provincial level, as well as sessions at the national level.

un beau projet en ĂŠvolution!

Depuis janvier 2019, des écoles élémentaires francophones et anglophones de la région de GrandSault et les communautés environnantes ont la main à la pâte pour aménager des espaces créatifs dans leur école grâce à une entente entre Labos Créatifs et Dr Oetker.

C'est avec l’aide financière de Dr. Oetker et le soutien des employés de Labos Créatifs que les jeunes ont l'opportunité de développer leurs habiletés en codage et programmation afin de réussir dans le monde technologiquement avancé d'aujourd'hui.

Depuis l’été 2018, les spécialistes de programmes de Labos Créatifs travaillent en collaboration avec les écoles, les bibliothèques et les leaders de la communauté dans la grande région de Grand-Sault, pour offrir des camps d’été, des ateliers, des ressources matérielles et de l’accompagnement dans le but d'inspirer les jeunes et adultes à penser de façon innovante.

C'est beaucoup de travail, mais c’est si signifiants!

Maintenant les heures de créativité, d’innovation, de plaisir et d’apprentissage commencent! À VOS MARQUES, PRÊTS, ROULEZ!

Les élèves de nos écoles ont pris part au Défi Apprenti Génie, une activité ou les élèves avaient à concevoir un véhicule qui devait descendre un plan incliné et s’arrêter le plus près possible d’une cible.

(DAG - Réseau Technoscience Québec).

FORMATION POUR ENSEIGNANTS ET DÉBUT D'UNE RECHERCHE AVEC DES PROFESSEURS DE L'UNIVERSITÉ DE MONCTON

La cohorte d’enseignants Labos créatifs participe à différents ateliers permettant d’explorer les volets STIAM et partager des pratiques dans le but de s’approprier une pratique pédagogique permettant de favoriser la curiosité, la créativité et l’innovation chez leurs élèves. Ce groupe participera aussi à une recherche qui permettra de raconter l’histoire de ce beau projet en évolution dans les écoles et avec la communauté.

Les élèves de l'école Élémentaire Sacré-Coeur ont construit un igloo géant lors de leur carnaval d'hiver d'école.

L'igloo des élèves n'est pas ordinaire! Il est fabriqué de contenants 4 litres de lait vides.

C'est un bon geste pour l'environnement. La construction a débuté lorsque les élèves ont atteint le but de 400 gallons récupérés. Toutefois, le montant était insuffisant. La construction de l'igloo a dû être mise en attente afin de recueillir d'autres gallons.

Malheureusement, ce dernier s'est écroulé lors de l'attente. Les élèves ont dû recommencer plusieurs étages afin de pouvoir le terminer. Une fois l'igloo complété, le personnel enseignant a utilisé ce dernier pour faire vivre des activités reliées aux différents programmes d'étude.

- Sc-humaines: recherches sur les gens qui vivent dans les igloos, leur culture, leurs habits, etc.

- Sciences: les états de la matière -Mathématiques: les plus jeunes ont compté les gallons par bonds de 2. Ils ont fait des suites avec les bouchons de couleur.

La mentor en gestion de comportement a même utilisé l'igloo pour permettre à certains élèves de se calmer.

Maintenant que le carnaval d'hiver est terminé, les gallons recyclés ont été donnés à une garderie afin de permettre à d'autres enfants de créer quelque chose.

For the second year in a row, Brilliant Labs is launching its STEAM camps across Atlantic Canada this coming summer! From Grand Falls, NB to Truro, NS, and Souris, PEI to Mt. Pearl, NL, gyms, libraries, schools, and community and youth centres will be transformed into exciting camps for children and youth from all walks of life. There, young people will have fun learning to be artists, designers, engineers, inventors and scientists by creating and innovating with today’s technology.

In partnership with community and youth-serving organizations, libraries, schools, municipalities, the provincial governments from the Atlantic Provinces, and the Government of Canada, our STEAM camps are provided free to children and youth.

Funded by:

A HUGE THANK YOU to all our community, government, library and school partners; donors and funders; families; volunteers; and supporters. Together, all of you make it possible to support children’s social, emotional and education development through summer STEAM camps in communities and neighbourhoods across Atlantic Canada!

Visit www.brilliantlabs.ca/summercamps for updates and information about local community camps.

Making Connections to build a better world

In 2015, Canada and 192 other Member States of the United Nations, businesses and civil society adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: a global framework of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with 169 targets to build a better world for people everywhere and the planet.

Brilliant Labs is a growing movement in Atlantic Canada using technology, coding and digital competencies to develop creativity, innovation and a socially responsible entrepreneurial mindset in students. We strive to engage and inspire young people to learn and make an impact through hands-on, experiential, inquiry- and project-based learning in schools and communities.

solve real problems in the biggest and brightest plan to improve the lives of people everywhere and transform the world, will help to mobilize Canada’s efforts.

Together, we can play an active role in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development!

Make Change Projects You and your students can help solve some of our world's greatest problems. Each month the UN SDG's website will publish a "Goal of the Month". This is a great way for you & your students focus in on a goal and work to find solutions. For example, consider SDG #4: Quality Education, students can research the problems faced by youth their own age and then work to consider ways they can help slove those problems.

Opportunity

We're Here To Help

We have a tremendous opportunity in Atlantic Canada right now to connect youth with the UN SDGs, to spark action through learning in an authentic and impactful context and create innovative solutions and develop growth mindsets. Engaging our young people to boldly

Brilliant Labs is here to help you and your students develop tools, processes or prototypes that can help reach the 2030 SDGs. Let's connect and start Making Connections for Global Change.

Contact us today!

BrilliantLabs.ca/SDG

What You Can Do! JOIN “Alliance 2030” and share the work of your students “to build a better Canada and a better world with no one left behind.”

AMPLIFY the work of your students globally by joining the #TeachSDGs movement, featuring over 250 global ambassadors and tens of thousands of engaged educators.

ENCOURAGE global competence in youth – critical to achieving SDGs. www.un.org/youthenvoy/2015/07/globalcompetence-amongst-youth-critical-achieve-sustainabledevelopment-goals/ ACCESS to superb, free #TeachSDGs course from Microsoft Education (1 hour)

LEVERAGE these helpful lesson plans for all ages in multiple languages. http://worldslargestlesson.globalgoals.org/ WATCH inspiring videos and learn about SDG targets. https://www.globalgoals.org/Global Goals videos. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRfuAYy7MesZmgOi1 Ezy0ng ENGAGE with the UNESCO Associated Schools Network. https://aspnet.unesco.org/en-us Canadian Commission for UNESCO. https://en.ccunesco.ca/networks/associatedschools-network

Make The Connection

Your Students Can Help To Transform Our World www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment

Hey !

Hey !

LOOK

W hat

's h a p

p en i n

g in

Communicating information and ideas effectively and clearly has taken on a new look thanks to a project initiated by Pattie Furlotte, a kindergarten teacher at Parkwood Heights Elementary School in Bathurst, New Brunswick. After seeing some interactive 3D displays that were created by some middle school students, Pattie wanted to construct a similar bulletin board that showcased the work of her students throughout the year while focusing on language development.

She reached out to Brilliant Labs and applied for and received funding to support her project idea.

Bulletin board displays of student work can be found in any school across the country, but what makes Pattie’s kindergarten class’s display unique is that it can talk. Each student in the class has a square on the board that contains a black dot that, when touched, will play an audio file produced by that particular student. Engaging in and responding to simple oral presentations and other text is a general curriculum outcome in kindergarten literacy. In addition, students are expected to use writing and other forms of representation to explore, clarify and reflect on their thoughts, feelings, experiences and learnings. Much of what is done in the early months of kindergarten encompasses oral communication and developing vocabulary and early prewriting skills. What better way to display this work than through a talking bulletin board.

Pattie’s initial board was constructed using two Bare Conductive Touch Boards (www.bareconductive.com), conductive paint, alligator clips, and copper tape. The base of the display was made from corrugated plastic and it hung by hooks on top of an existing corkboard. The display looked great but the technology did not work flawlessly.

The Bare Conductive Touch Boards are very sensitive and the corrugated plastic is prone to static electricity. After some

The Talking Bulletin Board is now a fixed to an existing corkboard. It was divided into squares using electrical tape, and copper tape leads to each student’s spot from the Bare Conductive Touch Board.

The entire setup now allows for the students to see how the board functions and where the information is stored. It also makes for easy access to update the audio files. The most recent display is a number guessing game where the audio file plays the clue and the answer is on the card.

The audio is recorded using Audacity, saved as an mp3, and then copied to an SD card that goes into the Bare Conductive Touch Board. The teacher, Pattie Furlotte, reviews Claire’s audio file with her before saving. Each student gets to listen to their file and provide input as to whether they want to rerecord or edit what they have produced before the final copy is saved.

Each student has their own dot which, when touched, will activate an audio file and play their recent recording. Amos is testing his to make sure the description of his Halloween costume will play.

troubleshooting and rewiring, the board was up and running with the first project on display, a “Who Am I?” Halloween costume guessing game.

The students were excited to have their creations on display in the school’s cafeteria, a high traffic area visited by both parents and students.

Each square on the board contained a photo of the student and a drawing of their Halloween costume. When the conductive dot was touched, an audio file played that was a recording of the student describing their costume.

The display was updated in December in time for the school’s annual Christmas concert. The kindergarten students created Christmas cards as an art assignment and then wrote a greeting in their

respective cards. The greeting cards were placed in each students’ section on the display board. The teacher and I worked to record the students saying their greetings and transferred those recordings to the SD card that inserts into the Bare Conductive Touch Board. The students were very excited to show their cards to their families and have their greetings played over and over again.

Due to some issues with the touch board short circuiting again, it was decided to transfer the entire setup directly onto the corkboard bulletin board.

The connections on the new display are made with conductive tape and are no longer hidden on the back of a board.

Everyone can see how the circuits connect from the board to each students’ dot making a great learning tool for others.

The current display is a Guess the Number quiz and students are becoming quite creative with their descriptions. For example, one student described his number as being equal to two high fives!

Another student described his number as being one five frame plus one. In addition to seeing an improvement in word choice, the students also spoke with more confidence, clarity and voice.

The kindergarten class was asked what they liked about their bulletin board.

Lia said that she liked doing the number guessing game, and several indicated they liked that it talks by itself. There were others who really liked the Halloween costume guessing game, and the teacher’s favorite display was the talking Christmas cards.

Future plans for the board include displays that will highlight STEM structures, natural or constructed features of the community, and activities that promote a healthy lifestyle. The possibilities are endless as to what the talking bulletin board can say.

Curious about this project or other STEAM opportunities? Let's connect.

Students gather around the display and patiently wait to paint their conductive dot on their bulletin board display. The Bare Conductive Paint covered a piece of copper tape that lead to the connections on the Touch Board at the back of the Coroplast board.

Lesa Scott is a Maker Educator located in Bathurst, New Brunswick.

She works with Brilliant Labs to bring hands-on technology and experiential learning to students & their educators by supporting the integration of creativity, innovation, coding, and an entrepreneurial spirit within classrooms and educational curricula.

Lesa@brilliantlabs.ca Twitter: @LScott_15

The portable board is hung in the school’s cafeteria and is accessible by all students and anyone who visits the school. Due to the static electricity that is sometimes evident in the board, the display has been transferred directly onto the corkboard bulletin board.

#MakeSomethingBrilliant

BEST TOOLS FOR M A K I N G

Over the past school year we've asked you to share your projects, ideas and celebrations with us. Now we're excited to share your stories again and hope you will continue to inspire others to #MakeSomethingBrilliant.

Au cours de la dernière année scolaire, nous vous avons demandé de partager vos projets, idées et succès avec nous.

Maintenant, nous sommes heureux de partager à nouveau vos histoires et espérons que vous continuerez à inspirer les autres #Soyezcréatifs.

THANK YOU | MERCI We would like to thank the students & teachers who are inspiring innovation everyday and to the contributors & staff who helped create this fall issue: Make Something Brilliant Nous aimerions remercier les élèves et les enseignants qui inspirent l'innovation tous les jours, aux contributeurs et aux membres de notre équipe qui ont contribué à la création de ce numéro d'automne : Fabriquez avec créativité BRILLIANT LABS | LABOS CRÉATIFS JEFF WILLSON JACOB LINGLEY SARAH RYAN JOHN BARRON CARRON MCCABE KENDRA HAINES RACHAEL MACKEIGAN NATACHA VAUTOUR LESA SCOTT LISE GAGON JOHN WONG JOSH KEYS

EDITOR EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL

CONTRIBUTORS | CONTRIBUTEURS DAVID COLE ASHLEIGH HUDSON CALEOB JAMES WCT NEWS TWILA STURGEON ANGELA MOODY ALLAN CARTER

ABOUT US | À PROPOS DE NOUS Brilliant Labs is a non-profit, hands-on experiential learning platform based in Atlantic Canada. We support the integration of creativity, innovation, coding, and an entrepreneurial spirit within classrooms & educational curricula.

Labos Créatifs est un organisme sans but lucratif du Canada atlantique offrant une plateforme d’apprentissage expérientielle mettant l’accent sur l’expérience pratique et la technologie. Nous appuyons l’intégration de la créativité, de l’innovation, de la programmation et de l’esprit de s’entreprendre dans les salles de classe et dans les programmes d’études.

ROBERT LEHNERT AARON JOHNSTON ASHLEY HALIHAN CAITLIN FURLONG VIKTOR FREIMAN MICHEL LÉGER MANON LEBLANC XAVIER ROBICHAUD

PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN | PHOTOGRAPHIE & DESIGN Photography was provided by staff and contributors. Professional images were sourced at Unsplash.com and Deposit.com. Magazine design and original art was created by Brilliant Labs Communications, while vector art was licensed from www.vecteezy.com.

La photographie a été fournie par les membres du notre équipe et les contributeurs. Les images professionnelles ont été prises depuis Unsplash.com et Deposit.com. La conception du magazine et l'art original ont été créés par les Communications L bos Créatifs on peut trouver de l'art comme l'échantillon à droite à l'adresse www.vecteezy.com.

LET'S CONNECT info@brilliantlabs.ca www.brilliantlabs.ca

CONTACTEZ-NOUS info@brilliantlabs.ca www.brilliantlabs.ca

FRONT COVER: Brilliant Cloud Created by Brilliant Labs

COUVERTURE AVANT : Espace nuagique créé par Labos Créatifs

BACK COVER: Blackville School Makerspace

COUVERTURE ARRIÈRE : Le labo créatif de Blackville School

MARK GARNETT BRADLEY WATT BEN KELLY TY-NISHA WILL ETHAN ZATT JOSHN LIVELY

Brilliant Labs is a non-profit, hands-on technology and experiential learning platform based in Atlantic Canada. We inspire creativity, foster innovation, and help develop a socially responsible entrepreneurial spirit within Atlantic Canadian Youth and Communities. www.BrilliantLabs.ca Labos Créatifs est un organisme sans but lucratif du Canada atlantique offrant une plateforme d’apprentissage expérientielle mettant l’accent sur l’expérience pratique et la technologie. Nous appuyons l’intégration de la créativité, de l’innovation, de la programmation et de l’esprit de s’entreprendre dans les salles de classe et dans les programmes d’études.