Maker education has been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. The neanderthal had to teach their offspring how to make spears and fire. The Egyptians, how to create giant stone structures such as the pyramids with simple hand tools. Making has been around for centuries.
I feel the maker community for fills all of Durrance and Fisher's definition and characteristics of Information Communities.
“Information communities exploit the information sharing qualities of technology and yield multiplier effects for stakeholders.”
- As stated above, Makers and Making have been around for thousands of years. The Egyptians made the pyramids, Romans the Colosseum, and the Great Wall of China is one of the few man made objects you can see from space. Through the use of the internet Makers can now span the globe, they are able to connect directly to experts or crowd source the community to solve a problem. Each question or comment added to the greater conscience simply adds to the communities knowledge base.
“Information communities emphasize collaboration among diverse groups that provide information and may share joint responsibility and resources.”
- Makers all share a love of learning, design, and problem solving. Because of this Makers are a very diverse group of individuals who bond over shared passions such as robotics, metallurgy, or pottery. Because of this willingness to share you will you often see an eight year old helping a 72 year old code right next to a high school dropout teaching a college professor how to weld aluminum. Every race, creed, color, and sexual orientation is present, accounted for and accepted as part of the greater community.
- There is always someone smarter than you. This is what makes the Maker community such a wonderful place. The willingness to share and collaborate on sites such as instructables.com or thingverse.com and their eagerness to have others share, enhance, comment or rework their idea is what qualifies this as an information community.
“Information communities remove barriers to information about acquiring needed services and participating in civic life.”
- Makers are civic in nature. They, as a group, are very vocal in advocating for their own needs as well as those of others.
- Again, social media and sites such as facebook, pinterest, and G+ allow Makers to share articles and ideas with others. That being said there are hundreds of sites like Make.com, events like Maker Faire, and numerous other networks that allow individuals to join, discuss, and connect with others who share their same passions.