Maker Party and Making Learning Connected mooc to Launch This Weekend

After a Department of Education kick-off at the Reimagining Education Conference and initial practitioner learning opportunities by partners Scratch, the Afterschool Alliance, and Mozilla Webmakers, the Summer of Making and Connecting kicks into even higher gear with the launch of  Maker Party 2013 and the Making Learning Connected mooc on June 15.

Maker Party consists of hundreds of meet-ups and learning parties where all kinds of people can teach and learn how to make things on the web. The Maker Party website will offer dozens of tool kits and project plans so that anyone can host a maker party where participants at all skill levels can build something, remix an existing project, and publish to the web. The design and spirit of Maker Party is informed by Connected Learning design principles.

Educator Innovators interesting in pairing their “making adventures” during the Summer of Making and Connecting with an opportunity to learn more about Connected Learning should consider joining the Making Learning Connected mooc, a massive open online collaboration that will explore the making/learning connection and support participants in rethinking their practices to enact Connected Learning in their educational settings. Participants can sign up at the Making Learning Connected blog, join the Making Learning Connected community on G+, and follow #clmooc on Twitter.

Both the Maker Party and the Making Learning Connected mooc emphasize enjoyable summer projects and learning opportunities that will appeal to the creative side of summer, but will also open up directions for learning and teaching all year long. So sign up now to get in on the fun!