encouraging cooperation between schools and their local communities for their commitment in projects
and the development of better attitudes; developing connections between families and school by supporting projects which address actual needs expressed by youngs and families, and sharing
project documentation.
the local community in order to show opportunities provided by Fab Labs, tinkering and active teaching, such as the motivation of learning and the empowerment ; to inspire local initiatives for multidisciplinary projects ; to stimulate commitment in active citizenship for public of all ages.
Project
engineering
Public
knowledge
Fab Lab
Professional
network
Science
and technology
Fab Facilitator, Casemate Nomade Mediator,
Assistant Project Manager
OSHub-FR works as a community hub that supports teachers and students developing new practices and projects using digital fabrication tools, to improve science and technology teaching, empower student’s agency in their communities and promote connections and collaborations between local partners and schools.
Target public:
Teachers and students, particularly from Villeneuve, a low socio-economic background neighbourhood from Grenoble.
OSHub-FR is a collaboration between La Casemate – CCSTI Grenoble and the third place La Machinerie located at Villeneuve, a low socio-economic background neighbourhood from Grenoble. La Machinerie works as a concierge and meeting place in the heart of the neighbourhood, where it hosts an open space for meeting and learning by doing, promoting the exchange of know-how and local initiatives by residents and actors from the neighbourhood (DIY, repair, homemade, reuse, digital, etc.). In addition, it provides access to several digital fabrication tools, such as 3D printers or laser cutters, allowing to develop and prototype projects and to create all kinds of objects.
As such, the collaboration between La Casemate and La Machinerie works as an effective synergy, where La Machinerie brings the space and mindset for community collaboration, and La Casemate the open science framework, tools and resources, thus creating the conditions to develop projects based on relevant issues together with the local inhabitants (youngsters, families, associations, etc.), by using a multidisciplinary STEAM approach and digital fabrication skills and tools. Furthermore, this participatory space also provides training and resources for educators, and organises workshops, meetings and events, bringing together the different kinds of local actors.
The role of OSHub-FR is to promote teacher’s autonomy and skills that allow them to:
- Develop and implement a project-based learning approach in a Fab Lab, creating opportunities for their students to explore, invent and transform abstract ideas into tangible objects by using digital technology;
- Create new resources and tools that can be easily shared, adapted and used by the teacher community.
For that, OSHub-FR uses a combination of approaches, which comprise intensive training programs for teachers and/or in-class follow-up sessions.
To help build a community of teachers working on open science projects in Fab Labs, OSHub-FR organised teacher training sessions to illustrate the potential of a Fab Lab for them and their students. Teachers worked together to make game kits intended to carry out mathematical activities with their classes. In addition, OSHub-FR also supports teachers integrating a project-based learning approach in a Fab Lab together with their own class and organises maker workshops for children.
Read more
Resource pack to support teachers to use the
Fab Lab to prototype the design of tools to teach mathematics to children aged between three and eleven years, and to test out how to use these tools in the classroom.