In addition to conducting foundational research in the learning sciences, the TLT Lab works to translate research innovations into practice through partnerships with educators and policymakers across varied socio-economic and cultural contexts.
A program that disseminates ideas, best practices and resources to support an international community of educators, researchers and policy makers committed to integrating the principles of educational makerspaces and constructionist learning into formal and informal education.
A growing network of educational digital fabrication spaces around the world developed in collaboration with K12 schools and university partners, which put digital fabrication and other cutting-edge technology for design and construction into the hands of middle and high school students and provide models of implementation across varied communities.
The premier research conferences for Making in Education, held in 15 different countries, bring together key influencers and thought-leaders from around the world in education, policy-making, academia, design, research, and maker communities to learn, present, and discuss digital fabrication in education, the maker culture, hands-on learning, and instructional tools.
Competitively selected to two-year cohorts, top educators in formal and informal learning spaces world-wide who contribute to research about making and makerspaces in education and the development of open-source educational resources for their peers.
A collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Education’s research arm, the Institute for Innovation in Education Research (INDIRE), to redesign science education in Italy by challenging children to examine relationships between physical experiments and computer models in parallel.
A partnership with a national level practitioner and research community supporting changes to Danish national education standards, curricula and teacher training to incorporate principles of digital fabrication and design based education in conjunction with the TLT Lab’s FabLearn initiative.
Now entering its 10th year, a collaboration with the Suksapattana Foundation, through the Candlelight Initiative for Innovation in Thai Education, focused on furthering the constructionist approach to education through the development of models for improving learning outcomes in public schools, particularly for low-income students, and the development new kinds of learning opportunities inside and outside the public education system.
Partnering with a national Finnish network to help schools use educational technology to support learning and teacher professional development.
Working with the city/municipality of Sobral in the Ceara state of Brazil to design and pilot a new science program for Brazilian primary and middle schools. The program encompasses the design of new science standards for the city, a professional development program for technology teachers, and the implementation of maker/STEM spaces throughout the public school network.
Partnering to create a district level model for successful and impactful makerspace education across a large, low-resource public school district serving predominately ethnic minority (98%), non-native language speaking (60%+) and homeless or housing insecure (30%+) students in East Palo Alto, California, U.S.A with support from Google Making & Science.
A multi-year collaboration to define and integrate constructionist computational learning pathways across academic disciplines and grade levels in a preK-12 school through the reimagining of computer science, data science and maker education.
Taught bi-annually by the TLT Lab, the 5-day class provides participants with a comprehensive understanding of curriculum development and integration within makerspaces and educational fab labs. The course deeply integrates theory and practice, addressing inquiry-driven, project-based learning in makerspaces and digital fabrication settings, as well as issues such as assessment and integration into broader school goals.
A 5-day class taught bi-annually by the TLT Lab to provide comprehensive training for strategic planning, design, and implementation of educational makerspace and fablab programs, The class is designed for educational leaders who strive to systematically integrate the principles of constructionism and maker education into formal and informal learning spaces. It is specifically designed for educators, policy makers, directors of maker programs, and educational administrators who are charged with planning and implementation of maker education programs within their organizations, districts or states regardless of size or country; and are responsible for strategic planning, development, curriculum design and support training for project-based learning environments.
TLT Lab custom designed intensive professional training experiences for small groups of educational practitioners and/or policy makers typically from 1-3 weeks in length and focused on one of a wide variety of topics related to technology in education ranging from innovative pedagogy to policy implementation.