On a busy afternoon at Range Lake North School, students鈥� eyes dart toward a screen in Darryl Mitchener鈥檚 class as the technology teacher dishes instructions on programming a Sphero to move in a square around the room.
Minutes later, the students are testing out their precision, drawing lines on an iPad app that tell the little round robots to move through a green maze laid out on the floor.
Meanwhile, students in another corner of the room connect an iPad to a LEGO guitar that blares with electric sounds.
Mitchener鈥檚 tech classroom is expected to become an even greater hub for youthful creativity by the spring. Right now, he鈥檚 in the midst of turning half of it into a makerspace 鈥� an area where students will experiment with different technologies and shape their own learning. The other half will remain a computer lab.
鈥淚t was a bunch of us that decided it would be kind of neat to have,鈥� said Mitchener of how the idea for the makerspace came about. 鈥淲e plan on having some woodworking, 3D printing.鈥�
Mitchener, who is also assistant principal at the school, teaches students in junior kindergarten to Grade 8 about programming, coding, robotics and Google apps through his technology class.
The goal of the makerspace is to get more students using their hands and thinking creatively.
鈥淪ometimes (with) programming and coding, you just follow a process,鈥� Mitchener explained, but with a makerspace, 鈥測ou design things.鈥�
鈥淵ou can be creative and use your imagination to build things.鈥�
The idea has also taken off at Yellowknife鈥檚 Catholic school board, although Mitchener said Range Lake North School came up with the idea for its makerspace independently.
Weledeh Catholic School opened a makerspace classroom in the fall of 2016 and St. Patrick High School followed suit in February.
But all the fun isn鈥檛 without purpose.
The technologies students are using are applicable to their curriculum.
Range Lake North students have programmed Spheros to make right angle triangles using the Pythagorean theorem, Mitchener said, adding they could apply math and science skills to build and design bridges in the makerspace.
鈥淭eachers have to be creative too, to get the kids to buy in,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I think with the robotics and the programming, it鈥檚 a pretty easy buy-in.鈥�
Mitchener鈥檚 students are constantly asking what they鈥檙e going to learn next in his technology class and have enjoyed programming and coding, he said.
The classroom is just about ready for the makerspace, with a larger area available in the room than last year, Mitchener said.
It even has a LEGO wall where students will be able to design their own projects.
Mitchener said the school is still in the process of deciding what other gadgets to order to populate the class.
A 3D printer is on the wish list, while Mitchener ordered a sand-blasting cabinet last month that students can use to design etchings on glass.
鈥淲e have a lot of things on order right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e just have to wait for it to come in and kind of put things into place.鈥�
Mitchener said he hopes the makerspace class will be ready by March so parents, staff and trustees can explore the new environment during an open house.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to make it fun and for kids to be creative and use their imagination,鈥� he said.
