Imagine the most community-based technology center possible. Imagine it in an unhealthy, immigrant farmworker community. It exists. It thrives. In California. Inside a grouped community Research Workshop. A few months ago, I visited a grouped community Science Workshop for the first time in Watsonville, CA. I was awestruck. A small room, packed with gadgets, packed with fossils, packed with tools, filled with PEOPLE making and exploring and building and learning all over the place. The people were of most ages–moms with babies strapped with their fronts, six year-olds using skillsaws, pre-teens building robots, teenagers doing homework.
There was a heart of conviviality and purpose and helpfulness and Spanglish in the air. The design and feel of the place was unique of any science middle I’d ever experienced. I understood I could learn a great deal from it. I sat down with Emilyn Green, Executive Director of the city Science Workshop Network, to learn more about their history, design, and engagement strategy.
Can you give me the summary of Community Science Workshops? What are they and where do they result from? A grouped community Science Workshop is a location for kids to tinker, make, and explore their world through research. The first one was started in 1991 by a San Francisco educator, Dan Sudran, in his garage area.
The Exploratorium is excellent, but it wasn’t super-accessible. There are several great technology museum resources, however, not where these kids can walk after school. In most cases, they’re not places where kids can go by themselves whatsoever. Therefore the grouped community Technology Workshop model is to place a drop-in, FREE community research center in a location that is walkable to kids’ lives and institutions.
- $algoname: is the name of the machine learning algorithm
- Confirming the movie (and overlooking ads for commuting and forthcoming movies)
- A View may be used to simpl
- Competency based interview
- Global reputation and impact
In a place where kids already are walking around after school. The primary program is a long lasting, dedicated physical space, full of interactive hands-on physical exhibits, as well as a tinkering and making space, and recycled materials. Most Workshops also run a wide range of additional programs – supplemental school day programs, afterschool programs, mobile systems that go to casing projects. There are a whole bunch of programs to disseminate the research however the central workshop space is the center from it. Where do Community Science Workshops fit in the informal research landscape?
It’s kind of complicated. We don’t fit the more prevalent templates. Given that there is a new emphasis on “ecosystems of STEM learning” – for all of us, that’s really helpful. Our programs finish up being the hub of the local research learning ecosystem–especially in neighborhoods where there isn’t any science middle for miles in virtually any direction.