What's Fab Lab Oulu?
Fab Lab Oulu is a small digital manufacturing working area (fabrication laboratory) that complies with open innovation concept developed by MIT in the United States. In Fab Lab it is possible to design your own product or hardware from the scratch. Fab Lab Oulu operates within University of Oulu.
See Fab Lab Oulu www-pagesMore information about Fab Lab Oulu
Fab Lab Oulu is the second fab lab existing in Finland. It provides you with a large set of tools, equipment, software, practices - shared according to the Fab Lab concept. Available for use are three 3D-printers, laser cutter, vinyl cutter, precision milling machine, electronics workbenches and open source design software.
You can build your own prototypes or fulfill your needs for different research and education projects in Fab Lab Oulu. Fab Lab Oulu provides various machines, processes, codes, and capabilities that are easy-to-use and help bring your ideas into reality. In addition, Fab Lab Oulu provides you with the possibillity to participate in various events, workshops, projects, and training activities for digital modeling and fabrication.
I am experienced educational technologist and tenured university lecturer
Helo! My name is Jari Laru. I am participating in Fab Academy 2020 from Fab Lab Oulu, Finland. I work as auniversity lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Oulu in the field of technology enhanced learning (in practise: I am teacher educator). I am also responsible for educational technology in our faculty, which has very modern learning spaces (we were relocated in the beginning of year 2019).<
STEAM, digital fabrication and making are phenomeas which are interesting also in teacher education and primary schools in Finland. That's reason why I am now in Fab Academy - I wan't to get deep level practical knowledge and expertise on these phenomenas!
Why do I participate into Fab Academy 2020?
The goal of my Fab Academy is to learn fundamentals of digital fabrication and making, which will help me as a academic teacher, but also as a research to integrate these phenomenas with learning sciences and pedagogical methods. On the other hand, I have been nerd since 1982, when I got my first computer CBM-64. I am also nerd. So I love to use technology and get familiar with new tools and technologies. I graduated 2003 from technology oriented classroom teacher education programme and I was also studuing information processing sciences in parallel, but never graduated from that degree program. However, Fab Academy seems to be quite nice combination of my earlier study experiences and nerdy, engineering approach. I like a lot...
Also I have smaller makerspace in my digital learning lab in the Faculty of Education where I will start to teach 3D printing, vinyl cutting (and possibly laser cutting) as a part of teacher education in this year. So, I think that this Fab Academy will be perfect match for me just now.
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Research on Digital fabrication and making
One reason why I am participating into Fab Academy is the fact, that I also do research exactly in this context :) This is quite hot topic also in my field (learning sciences, STEAM education and primary school teacher education). My research interests are in computational thinking, digital fabrication and maker education, but with pedagogical twist.
I got my PhD in 2012: thesis: scaffolding learning activities with collaborative scipts and mobile devices). I have been member of Learning and Educational Technology Research Unit (LET) since early 2000's.
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Fab Lab Oulu is one of my contexts and two 2018 Fab Academy alumnis are my students
So far, I already have done quite much research about this phenomena together with FabLab Oulu staff and two FabAcademy 2018 alumnis. These Fab Academy alumnis (Kati Pitkänen and Megumi Iwata) are/were my students, who actually started their digital fabrication journey with 3D printing assignment given by me. That assignment was a part of introduction to educational technology course (a part of the basic studies in educational technology and master's program in learning and educational technology). Yet, Megumi Iwata and Kati Pitkänen were the students who got very interested about digital fabrication while doing that simple task. Their interest was so strong, that they continued their fabrication activities and did their master theses in this context (I was supervisor for both of them). Now Megumi Iwata (alumni 2018) is starting her PhD studies and I am continuing her supervisor.
Selected publications
Iwata, M., Pitkänen, K., Laru, J., & Mäkitalo, K. (2019). Developing Computational Thinking Practices through Digital Fabrication Activities. in Kong, S.C et. al. (Eds.). (2019). Proceedings of International Conference on Computational Thinking Education 2019. Hong Kong: The Education University of Hong Kong.CoolThink@ JC, 223.
Iwata, M., Pitkänen, K., Ylioja, J., Milara, I. S., & Laru, J. (2019, May). How are Mobile Makerspaces Utilized in Schools?. In Proceedings of the FabLearn Europe 2019 Conference (pp. 1-3).
Laru, J., Vuopala, E., Iwata, M., Pitkänen, K., Sanchez, I., Mäntymäki, A., ... & Näykki, J. (2019). Designing seamless learning activities for school visitors in the context of Fab Lab Oulu. In Seamless Learning (pp. 153-169). Springer, Singapore.
Näykki, Piia & Laru, Jari & Vuopala, Essi & Siklander, Pirkko & Järvelä, Sanna. (2019). Affective Learning in Digital Education – Case Studies of Social Networking Systems, Games for Learning and Digital Fabrication. Frontiers in Education. 4. 10.3389/feduc.2019.00128. (Open Access)
Pitkänen, K., Iwata, M., & Laru, J. (2019, May). Supporting Fab Lab facilitators to develop pedagogical practices to improve learning in digital fabrication activities. In Proceedings of the FabLearn Europe 2019 Conference (pp. 1-9).
Sanchez Milara, Ivan & Pitkänen, Kati & niva, arto & Iwata, Megumi & Laru, Jari & Riekki, Jukka. (2019). "The STEAM path": building a Community of Practice for local schools around STEAM and Digital Fabrication. 10.1145/3335055.3335072.
Design portfolio (assignments)
Fab Academy is divided into tasks, which together will form detailed design journal. Here you will see what I have done during my fab academy journey
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Project management
Week 2. Build a personal site describing me and the final project. Upload it to the class archive.
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Computer-aided Design (CAD)
Week 3. Model a possible final project, and post it on class page with original 2D and 3D files.
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COMPUTER-CONTROLLED CUTTING
Week 4. Week 4. Lasercut and vinylcut, design and make a parametric press-fit construction kit, which can be assembled in multiple ways.
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3D SCANNING AND PRINTING
Week 6. Design and 3D print an object that could not be made subtractively, 3D scan an object.
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ELECTRONICS DESIGN
Week 7. Redraw the echo hello-world board, add a button and LED (with current-limiting resistor), check the design rules, and make it.
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EMBEDDED PROGRAMMING
Week 9. Read a microcontroller data sheet, program a board to do something.
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INPUT DEVICES
Week 12. Measure something: add a sensor to a microcontroller board designed and read it.
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OUTPUT DEVICES
Week 13. Design and add an output device to a microcontroller board and read it.
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INTERFACE AND APPLICATION PROGRAMMING
Week 14. Write an application that interfaces with an input and/or output device made earlier.
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NETWORKING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Week 15. Design and build a wired &/or wireless network connecting at least two processors.
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MECHANICAL DESIGN
Week 16. Design a machine that includes mechanism + actuation + automation, build the passive parts and operate it manually.
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MACHINE DESIGN
Week 17. Actuate and automate your machine. Document the group project and your individual contribution.
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WILDCARD WEEK
Week 18. Design and produce something with a digital fabrication process not covered in another assignment.
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APPLICATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
Week 19. Propose a final project that integrates the range of units covered.
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INVENTION, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, AND INCOME
Week 20. Develop a plan for dissemination of your final project.
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Final project
Final Project is the place where I will demonstrate synthesis of skills I developed in the Fab Academy 2020. Aim is to prove mastery of the skills gained during the program.
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