The CCC Maker initiative has published The California Community College Makerspace Startup Guide – Preparing Students for Jobs of the Future to share the planning process used to guide college teams through building makerspace communities that complement what college students are learning in the classroom to better prepare them for the innovation economy. The open-source guide is available online at the CCC Maker website.
According to Dale Dougherty, CEO, Maker Media and chair of the CCC Maker Advisory Committee,
“Community colleges are in the unique position to democratize making by giving students in the largest and most diverse education system in the country access to makerspaces. Students develop the ability to learn, adapt and change when they join a maker community,” said Dougherty. “As students create projects that reflect their interests and abilities, and share it with students from other disciplines such as art, engineering or business, it can change the nature of their lives. They gain a sense of agency to learn, earn and live a good life.”
The California Community College Makerspace Startup Guide is intended to help other colleges make these same opportunities available to their students.
Of the 34 colleges that signed on to participate in the startup process, 28 developed detailed plans and 24 received CCC Maker implementation funding through May 2019. Those colleges just reported their third quarter results for the first nine months of implementation; the metrics are viewable on the CCC Maker website.
The true measure of the CCC Maker initiative’s success is student impact. California Community College makerspaces are affording students opportunities to discover their passion, develop their potential and recognize the valuable innovation skills and entrepreneurial mindset that they can contribute to California’s economy as they launch their careers.
You can read the full article here.
You can read more about the California Community College (CCC) Maker Initiative here
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