Design and implementation of digital fabrication laboratories in schools, supporting teachers in the creative integration of these technologies into the classroom.
Schools for the 21st Century was part of auLAB, an initiative by LABoral Centro de Arte aimed at introducing new teaching and learning methodologies through the multidisciplinary and cross-curricular use of digital technologies and laboratory culture.
Between 2018 and 2020, María Castellanos and Alberto Valverde participated in the development of the programme alongside Daniel Romero, working both on teacher training and on the conception, configuration and implementation of the digital laboratories installed in the participating schools. These spaces were developed according to the characteristics and needs of each school and incorporated tools for digital fabrication, electronics, creative programming, audiovisual creation, sound and robotics, with particular attention to open-source hardware and software and to accessible, replicable technologies.
The work with teachers combined technical training in these tools with the development of methodologies based on experimentation, creativity and project-based learning. The laboratories were conceived as spaces for research, creation and production integrated into the schools themselves, providing environments in which to explore new forms of learning and encourage a critical and creative use of technology across different subjects and educational levels.
During the two editions in which Castellanos and Valverde participated, the programme was developed in eight secondary and arts education schools in Asturias, in Avilés, Gijón and Oviedo. These editions were part of a three-year project that reached ten schools, more than 4,800 students and over 500 teachers.