The eCraft2Learn project has researched, designed, piloted and validated a learning ecosystem based on digital fabrication and making technologies for creating computer-supported artefacts, supporting both formal and informal learning settings. The overall ecosystem is composed of four central parts:
- a pedagogical methodology for deploying digital fabrication and making as part of STEAM education following five stages: ideation, planning, creation, programming and sharing
- a technical infrastructure constituting a physical learning environment for enabling digital fabrication
- a digital platform to support the pedagogical methodology: the unified user interface(UUI) for students and the learning analytics system interface for teachers, and
- an online educators community to enable them to connect and share experiences or questions on deploying and running the eCraft2Learn ecosystem or similar initiatives in the field.
To enable teachers and learners to deploy and work within the ecosystem, the project has created a large number of support materials which can be found on the digital platform and the official project website. To provide an overview of the ecosystem and get started with deploying it, the project has created a user manual containing 10 user guides for educators that are accessible through the project website, including use-cases and personas. The digital platform contains 100+ OERs on using electronic devices, using 3D printing and 3D modelling, using A.I. programming, worksheets, troubleshooting, and additional materials from the Ultimaker and Arduino Communities. Additional 30+ video resources are available on the project YouTube channel describing good practices, sample projects, introducing the UUI and the pedagogical methodology, as well as testimonials from teachers, students, coaches and parents involved in the project pilots. To answer technical questions for educators, Arduino has additionally provided 45 live-casts on educational aspects of their devices.
To raise awareness of the project result in the scientific community, in the broad educator community, as well as in policymakers and additional groups, the project has presented its outcomes in more than 55 conferences, events and exhibitions across the planet. The project has also released 26 scientific publications accessible through the project website. To enable the future exploitation of the ecosystem by deploying it in the classroom, the project website, the social media channels and the digital platform itself, contain abundant information on all of the components of the learning ecosystem.
