Design, Observe and Tinker: A Constructionist Approach to Introduce Maker Skills in Rural Schools

The thrust in schools to impart 21st century skills in recent years has created a paradigm shift in education in many countries. This suggests a shift in the notion of literacy to include various frameworks of thinking skills that aim to develop higher order cognition in children. This paper describes our experience conducting maker workshops in rural schools in India that aim to impart such thinking skills through activities such as tinkering, virtual prototyping, and comprehending design and user interaction. The paper further discusses the lessons learnt through observing rural children to understand their preferences, challenges and their ingenuity when using such tools and technologies that facilitate thinking and learning.