“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
~ Scott Adams ~
An Indian Makerspace
A maker space provides hands-on, creative ways to encourage students to design, experiment, build and invent as they engage in science, art and other aspects. However, such concepts are a luxury for many Indian children. The act of making still stays out of reach for children because of the lack of access to resources. Children don't have access to spaces where they have the freedom to make. On the other hand, the rigidity of the Indian education system doesn't provide much scope for children to indulge in making. With Prayogshala, we aim to build a culture and practice of low-cost maker spaces that can be used anywhere. In addition, we shall be developing activities that can help children get into the process of making. In short, Prayogshala will be a maker space, specifically designed for Indian children.
"Our aim is to provide the Indian education sector with a prototype of maker culture that can be easily replicated and iterated across various socio-economic settings"
Need for Prayogshala
Maker culture impart 21st-century skills to the children
Most 21st-century skills are not, and cannot be taught theoretically, but only contextually. Therefore, it is important that the context is one that is relevant to children, and something that the child can engage with actively. Maker cultures in school play a major role in setting such context.
Hands-on learning leads to school and community success
Studies suggest that dedicated spaces for hands-on learning lead to student success in many different ways. Prayogshala helps students develop a mindset to handle failures, and extend the skills learned in a prayogshala to the real world. A community of makers is always a successful community.
Existing models for maker spaces are expensive to setup
Current models for maker spaces involve costly equipment and resources which make it highly inaccessible to a low-income setting. With Prayogshala, we will be creating a model with cheap and easily accessible resources. This enables everyone to set up a prayogshala on their own.
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Project Prayogshala aims to make learning fun and interesting for students so that they do not steer away from education. It also aspires to bring together ideas and resources in the form of a playbook, which will help future makers develop a makerspace in an Indian context.
How are we going to do it?
Download the PrayogBook to get started with your Prayogshala
Download the guide book, PrayogBook, for guidelines and help on getting started with your Prayogshala. The guide book contains information on basic resources needed, sample activites, building maker culture and cultivating required skills and hands-on experience in students.
Build a Prayogshala in your organization using our resources
Get experience by having built Prayogshala at your organization using various resources provided on our website like activity lesson plans, experience blogs, discussion forum etc. Share your experience with us by contributing your story, best practices and new activities and learnings.
Engage and Connect with online Makers community
Engage with the online community of makers by participating in discussion forums. Contibute by providing your experience and expertise. Provide feedback on new content uploaded. Learn from other's stories and best practices.
