hpr-knowledge-base/hpr_transcripts/hpr2652.txt

Episode: 2652
Title: HPR2652: Liverpool Makefest 2018 - Interview with Caroline and John
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr2652/hpr2652.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-19 07:02:18

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This is HBR episode 2652 entitled Liverpool Makefast 2018, InterNew with Caroline and John,
and in part on the series, InterNew.
It is hosted by Tony Hughes aka Tony H1212 and is about seven minutes long, and Karina
Cleanflag.
The summary is, this is the final interview from this year's Liverpool Makefast.
This episode of HBR is brought to you by archive.org.
University Access to All Knowledge by heading over to archive.org forward slash donate.
So this is Tony Hughes, still at Liverpool Makefast, and I've got with me, it's Caroline
Keep, and Caroline, you helped set up the Liverpool Makefast in 2015, can you just tell
us a little bit how that process got going?
And me and the three of the founders, Mark Felton and Denise Jones, the head of the
library, set up the first makefast.
We wanted to run a culture event for young people because I'm a teacher to be in, have
a look at new emerging technologies and there wasn't anything at the time, and we asked
a few of our friends, like the current directors now, Mark, there's Sabino and Gem Phenna,
to come and run some bits, and we thought we'd get maybe 10 people, and we ended up with
five floors, and about 6,000 people, so today, four years later, we have a team of 28
there, we're on makefast, me, Mark and Denise have found in roles, so we tend to do more
observational and overseeing these days, Gem Phenna and Mark, we've done some amazing
direction this year, so they've run a lot of great event on, and I've been concentrating
beautifully on opening the first makefast based on a school, with my head teacher John
Carlin who's here with me.
So how does the make space in the school run?
Pretty well.
Yeah, did you run pretty well.
To be honest, we've just got all of our kit in, so me and John have been working on
what's called the digital creative pathway, I think we've decided with Carlin.
Absolutely, yeah.
We're going to embed make-er skills across the curriculum for every year, for every child.
So what kind of kit are you using?
Oh, currently we're using 3D printers.
Yeah, which we've just worn.
Yes.
Fabulous.
Thank you to all the make-up.
Thank you.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you, great educational to make-er.
We've got 3D printers that I could build, and we're running as well, and Raspberry Pi,
Santorino's, MicroBits, electronics, laser cutting, pretty much your typical make-est.
We've got a lot of don't-so-so-sof wearing don't-sof hardware as well.
Yeah, well we do.
We've got quite a lot of relatively broken sausage here, and it paint this.
Yeah, well, I think the idea is that if we utilize our sauce, then it means that people
just can get access to themselves outside the school, so it's not about having an expensive
kit that they have to then go and buy our sauce to continue that outside the school.
It's available to them, and I think Spark is really there as sort of the first footsteps
of them, to sort of excuse the point, Spark, something in them, and a passion for them
that they can then continue beyond school, really.
Can I just ask, do you use that ethos in other aspects of the school curriculum, like
with word processing and things like that?
A number of things really, I mean, as a school we're really interested and focused on
some of those higher impacts, sort of strategies that we're identifying at the JMU conference,
for example, about sort of engaging learners in sort of thinking, processing, metacognition
around the learning, and really providing them with opportunities and risks and activities
that mean that they're not just academically developing their roles, developing holistically,
which means that they've got a level learning, a passion for learning, and really, it means
that they're going forward, they've got an interest in things beyond just a classroom-based
scenario, and that's really important to me, to make sure that we build the right type
of learning characteristics in our pupils.
So what kind of software would you use in the classroom as well as the makerspace?
I use things like Autodesk, Autodesk 360, do a wonderful program, we use things like
CURA for 3D printing, we're currently use things like pretty much a lot of the open-source
software has come with education, so using things like Unity's platforms for developing
for VR and AR, and all of the platforms, obviously, Raspberry Pi and coding and PICING and C-Sharp.
So we use a lot of the free platforms because they are accessible to every school, and
what we wanted to do with Spark, Me and Jenna Greed was muddle it so that every school
could do this.
Yeah, a lot of loopering there, and for a minimal cost because a lot of the software is
open.
Yes, and you know, we spend minimal amounts of funds on our makeshift space, we're
very fortunate that we add a lot of support from making communities to start, and obviously
with us have a make-fest as well, and that helped our support in putting one into a school.
That is something every library can do, they now have a national mandate, we're looking
with the libraries that's forced to have them, so every library has a mandate now to
want to make first.
So, you know, you can't go to your local library, ask them to pull your community together,
and then ask your headteachers, well, here's my community, can we open a make-erspace?
When you say every library, you're talking about Liverpool area, or every library in the
country.
You know, you're talking about the London Stoken, Chaffey, at all, every library.
I think to go back to your original question, that's exactly the point, you know, what software
do we use predominantly?
It's offers based off, so it's the Microsoft suite.
And why is that?
Because obviously, the curriculum's so narrow in terms of what we've got to deliver,
what the kids have got to retain in terms of knowledge that we're trying to provide
them opportunities outside the classroom, they're broad and those are rising.
Because otherwise, the experience they get is predominantly web-based or office, and that
is, I mean, obviously, we're looking at some of the Microsoft suite to be able to get
people to work in a different way, collaborate outside the classroom, so things like Microsoft
Teams and things like that.
But predominantly, our curriculum, you know, directly to people to use Microsoft, and that's
about it, really.
But that's pretty much every school.
So, you know, and it's quite difficult to give young people that experience.
Have you thought about moving over to maybe open source office suite, slight labour office
and things like that?
Yeah.
And I mean, I think...
We have thought about that.
I think one of the biggest issues that is, obviously, we want to prepare people's well
for when they go into employment, and obviously, employment suite is predominantly the
being used in Microsoft, and that type of office environment.
So, I think we need to prepare them for college, university and beyond, and that will be 80%
of their experience.
So...
At the moment, we're trying to use the more predominant ones that we know they're going
to find in the industry in the future, and a lot of the ones that they're going to use
in universities.
So, why are we trying to use this much open source software as we can?
Right.
If the pro-dominant uses a particular one like Microsoft Office, we do stick with that.
Yeah.
I think the key really is to sort of develop them on the bog standard generic stuff that
they're going to have to use right on a day-to-day basis, but then provide them with
why the opportunities, so the best prepared across, you know, the scope is wide, I guess,
is the best way for you, really.
Yeah.
Because we do have that massive digital, it's got the digital skills, got them, we all know
about them.
You know, and we're not preparing our students well enough for the jobs that they are going
to aspire to.
And probably don't exist.
And probably don't exist.
Well, as I said, I said to you, I don't really want my kids doing jobs that don't exist
all of them events in the jobs that don't exist.
So.
And I think that's what we're getting our kids to do at the moment though.
I think to do as well is, it's more than just obviously what software needs to work with.
It's also those learning characteristics, independence, resilience, curiosity, you know, we need
to develop those things in our people, and that's what they make here.
Of course.
And also just, you know, general enrichment does as well to provide them with a wide scope
of opportunity.
Sorry, I'm just keeping an eye on my two-year-old.
It's all a good one.
But yeah, it's really, it's really that's what we're trying to provide.
So it's a big scope for young people to engage with a wide range of curriculum that will
benefit them.
And it also does benefit their learning and their progress at school.
Yes, well, thank you very much.
Very welcome.
Thank you everyone so much.
I look forward to hearing it.
Thank you.
I'll look forward to the next episode.
Thank you.
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