PBS NewsHour aired a wonderful piece from Miles O’Brien on Maker Faire, the DIY culture event series with which many Boing Boing readers are familiar.
Some disclosures: I consider the Make magazine and Maker Faire folks friends (heck, Boing Boing founder Mark is the mag’s editor-in-chief); I consider many of the exhibitors and attendees friends; I’ve covered Maker Faire myself for Boing Boing Video and for the blog—and finally, Miles is a friend, and I hung out with the NewsHour crew as they were shooting and producing this piece.
With all that out of the way, I encourage you to watch this story, which presents the case for Maker Faire as a potent antidote to the lack of truly engaging science and technology education in American schools. They’ve also managed to cram in more of the magic and wonder of Maker Faire than any TV coverage I’ve ever seen.
Video and transcript are here at the NewsHour website, and don’t miss this out-take with Miles and “Mythbuster” Adam Savage. More on the conversation with Adam here.
Miles talks to Savage about the importance of encouraging kids to get their hands dirty and embracing a little danger. Can this movement replace shop class, and play a role in the so-called STEM crisis, we ask him?