ERIC Number: EJ1461082
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Dec
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2731-5525
Available Date: 2025-02-10
Digital, Localised and Human-Centred Design Makerspaces: Nurturing Skills, Values and Global Citizenship for Sustainability
Ikram Sellami1; Hira Amin1; Ozcan Ozturk1; Alina Zaman1; Seda Duygu Sever2; Evren Tok1
Discover Education, v4 Article 28 2025
Maker Majlis, based in Qatar, was the first manifestation of a localised human-centred design makerspace in the Arabian Gulf region that went digital during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a coalescence of three broad ideas: human-centred design thinking, sustainability and Islamic values. The digital makerspace hosted 229 participants from 25 countries. This paper aims to outline this platform and its programs and preliminarily assess their capacity to develop twenty-first century skills based on participants' survey results of their learning experience. In doing so it also explores more broadly the role of informal digital makerspaces as a non-traditional educational approach in education for sustainable development. Overall, the findings indicate multifaceted positive benefits of these programmes on participants' learning experiences, citizenship values, personal development, and holistic growth with ethical and social values. The participants valued the human-centered design and mentoring aspects of the programs for enhancing creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Moreover, the programs promoted global citizenship by enabling collaboration across different backgrounds, and nurturing qualities such as confidence, self-respect, and respect for others. This research underscores the potential of digital makerspaces to serve as innovative educational models that support lifelong learning as well as the implementation of digital civics pedagogy.
Descriptors: Design, Shared Resources and Services, Skill Development, Values, Citizenship, Global Approach, Sustainability, Foreign Countries, Electronic Learning, Nontraditional Education, Informal Education, Learning Experience, Creativity, 21st Century Skills, Individual Development, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Civics
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Qatar
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar; 2Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Doha, Qatar