The Case for a Campus Makerspace

What will the college campus of the future look like? How will technology change how we teach and learn at universities? When we attempt to answer those questions, we often emphasize the impact of the digital and the virtual. But new technologies offer ways for us to rethink our offline physical learning spaces, not just our online ones. Growing out of the recent revival in hobbyist "hacking" (both hardware and software), Makerspaces have become interesting community learning places where people can play, make, and hack together in areas like 3D printers, electronic textiles, robotics, programming, and design. As we consider the future of the college campus, can we make room for Makerspaces?