This post has been republished with permission from Dr. Melissa Hughes, a curriculum and instruction expert. In partnership with Dr. Hughes, VariQuest delivers professional development webinars to valued educators. To learn more about this offer, visit our professional development page. The Maker Movement, as it’s called, is finding its way to more and more classrooms today. STEM and STEAM initiatives have promoted a learning culture that flips the priority from the consumption of information to the production of innovative and creative meaning. According to some educational experts, the Maker Movement could actually be the impetus for the next industrial revolution.

The 2015/2016 school year was one for the books (an open-educational-resource book, that is). With the federal government embracing a rather laissez-faire approach toward education, with the student learning experience shedding its spectator skin for a more "doing" dermis, and with the virtual world continuing to grow in opportunities (for better or for worse), VariQuest has highlighted the top 5 topics in education.

I remember how fascinated I was by Morse code when I first heard about it as a young fry. I can only imagine the proverbial lightbulb (well, probably a candle at that time) that went off in Samuel Morse’s mind as he came up with the idea for nonverbally telecommunicating with others. No offense Sam, but boy, finger tapping conversations have come a long way.

The Maker Movement is, we admit, a buzz-worthy phrase, but it is a movement that has the power to truly transform education and learning. After President Obama hosted the first ever White House Maker Faire this summer, more schools are working to implement maker spaces in their own halls.