Power of Digital Stories

In makerspaces, the communication of science processes is challenging as often the final products overshadow the messy process of making. In this session, I will present dynamic digital stories and will showcase the hidden processes of making through the lens of Learning Practices of Making (LPM). The digital stories inspired by Reggio Emilia's documentation process were developed during several Pop-up makerspace STEAM studios where community members of a high-poverty rural county in the US were engaged in the making of a solar lantern. I will discuss how some LPMs were easily revealed through photos alone, and others needed accompanying words to capture the designs and redesigns of making processes. This session is part of a larger research project funded by NSF where we focus on engaging the community in working towards a common, STEAM-oriented goal through the informal science education series of art-inclusive pop-up makerspaces.