Hackerspace School

by RAMGarden

After reading the letter in the Summer 2018 edition of 2600 about having to hack Blackboard software just to get around the rigid structure of school and the curriculum to match the student's learning style, I came up with this idea.

Instead of fighting the system to change it, why not supplement your learning after and outside of school?

The best place I can think of is at your nearest hackerspace or makerspace.  They usually have free classes that are totally unstructured or at least slightly formal in that there is definitely a set topic.  The main idea with learning at a hackerspace is that everyone is basically learning from each other all the time even if not in a specific class or lesson.  If you see someone is working on a project and welding something together, you can ask them to teach you how to weld.  You don't want to stop them in the middle of their work, but they will most likely explain what they are doing as they go.  You can then set up a different time later for them to show you and let you weld some scrap metal to get the hang of it.

If you see someone working on 3D printing, you can ask them to show you how to design something in CAD and print it.  Or, in my most recent real world case, I dropped my Nintendo Switch wireless controller and it landed on the trigger button.  That button no longer worked and of course it was out of warranty.

So, instead of throwing it away and buying a new one, I went to my local makerspace and got some help from some of the electrical engineering members.  We took it apart and found that the shoulder button and trigger press buttons on a small printed circuit board.  The edge of the plastic trigger had cracked the edge of the PCB and broken the copper trace that connected the ZL button to the hole where the wire was soldered into that connected the small PCB to the main board.  They taught me how to use a knife to scratch the coating (solder mask) off the top of the trace to expose the copper underneath.  I then soldered a very small scrap wire across the broken gap.

Broken          -->          Ready to Fix

Fixed!

Another great part of a makerspace is having scrap wires and parts like that on hand.  They also taught me how to use the multimeter to test the continuity between the connection points.  After pinching on some alligator clips and pressing the little button on the small PCB, I could hear the meter beep each time I pressed the button.  Screwing it all back together and testing it out proved it was indeed working great again!

I was able to not only learn a new skill and fix my own broken controller, but it was all free and I didn't have to sign up for any class or other structured lesson!

To pay it forward, I help teach others how to program and build desktop, web, and mobile applications and games during our weekly Code Jam events every Saturday.

Free and open to the public! I also help with our Coder Dojo (coderdojo.org) where we teach kids how to program and sometimes even make robots (melbournemakerspace.org/2018/12/coder-dojo-robotics-class-recap).

By simply hanging out at your local hackerspace, you can accidentally learn new skills and things you would never learn at school.  I would recommend to anyone who's not getting what they need from school to do their assigned homework and do the normal school stuff but also hang out at the hackerspace after school and on weekends to learn the other cool stuff.

I also learned how to use the sewing machine to make the curtains for our house at my local makerspace.  Then I was able to use the sewing machine to make simple costumes for a sixties-themed party.  Since I broke the sewing machine by trying to sew through too many layers, I also learned how to fix the sewing machine after you break it!

The next thing on my list to learn is how to use the metal forge to melt metal into molds to make my own custom metal parts to replace broken ones or create brand new parts for robots and other projects.

In conclusion, I highly recommend visiting your local hackerspace to learn new things - especially if you aren't getting enough from your structured schooling.

And if you don't have a local hackerspace, you can find a few other like-minded individuals on meetup.com or other social websites and start your own!

The worldwide wiki for all hackerspaces can be found at wiki.hackerspaces.org.