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According to the New Media Consortium (NMC), makerspaces are “informal workshop environments located in community facilities or education institutions where people gather to create prototypes or products in a collaborative, do-it-yourself setting.” The NMC Horizon Reports for K-12 Education and for Higher Education have listed makerspaces as “important developments” for the last 2-3 years (2014-2016). Also referred to as hackerspaces, hack labs, and fab labs, these community-oriented spaces provide tools and resources for innovators to carry out their ideas. Makerspaces have quickly risen to the forefront in educational conversations, and many community organizations, schools, and institutions of higher education have created makerspaces in their facilities and campuses. Additionally, many are on the verge of developing a makerspace for their organization. While lists of equipment and supplies for makerspaces are readily available to those seeking to develop a makerspace, resources documenting the design of a makerspace, the philosophy that informed the design, or the programs implemented within a makerspace are considerably less plentiful. This special issue of makerspace design cases is intended to fill that void.

The rapid development in new technologies and media and widespread access to the Internet is changing how people teach and learn. Recognizing the potential of technology, schools and universities are placing more content online from fully deliverable courses to course catalogs, course registration, and college admissions. People are able to gain access to a multitude of information with one click. Online learning environments range from authentic, real-time environments to simulations, as well as 2D and 3D virtual environments. This paper explores the use of a 2-dimensional, narrative-based, virtual learning environment (VLE) created by doctoral students to orient potential students to their university departments’ degree programs, faculty, and course offerings. After exploring the environment, participants were surveyed about their experiences. Findings include validation of the instrument, possible correlations relating to learning through games, engagement, and game design. Emerging themes and suggestions for future research are presented in this paper.

The purpose of this study was to examine high school students' learning by looking at the effect of texting with friends through a computer chat program on their comprehension and memory of video lectures. Two videos were selected and two settings (texting and no-texting settings) were created. Students were asked to watch one video while being interrupted by a friend to text with them, and to watch another video without being interrupted. The results of the students' video lecture comprehension and memory quizzes showed that the students scored lower while texting with friends, and that they scored differently between the two videos when texting with friends.