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Week 1. Maker culture in education

Assignments

  • Task 1: Setup the learning diary in GitLab. Complete the “About me” page.
  • Task 2: Record an introduction video and post it on the learning diary.
  • Task 3: Setup a Lesson Plan portfolio in ScopesDF.

Setting up the Learning Diary

To get familiar with the documentation site and Markdown language, I first tried working on the recommended web editor.

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This was fine for quick text and images edits, but I found this environment limited in the sense that I could not resize the images and that I didn’t have control of where the uploaded files where saved. Additionally, the navigation between the .md pages felt unreliable.

Therefore, I decided to clone the project to my computer and work locally. This is a process I’ve already done for the Fab Academy course. Working locally lets me preview the site, catch issues, and commit clean changes to Git.

The tools I need to install to work locally on the website are:

  • Git (or Git Bash on Windows)
  • Code editor
  • Mkdocs
  • Python 3.13 (with pip)

Git Bash can be downloaded from here.

To install Mkdocs I followed the steps explained here: https://www.mkdocs.org/user-guide/installation/

I run into a conflict with Python because I had Inkscape installed and comes with an older version. I fixed this by editing the path in the System Environment Variables in Windows, and moving the Python 3.13 paths above the Inkscape one sample photo

After that, I used the following command lines in Git Bash to check the latest versions of MKDocs and Python. 

mkdocs --version 
python --version
pip --version
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To clone the repository to local folder on my laptop I followed the steps on this Git Simple Cheat Sheet from Fab Academy.

I generated a new SSH key, although this step may have not been necessary because I had a previous one for Fab Academy.

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I used the following command lines to generate the SHH key and display it: 

ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "$your_email" 
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
I copied that SHH key and I added it to my profile in the GitLab web version.

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Then, I created a folder to put the repo, and in Git Bash I navigated to that folder, and cloned the repository using the command line: 

git@gitlab.fabcloud.org:academany/fab-learning-academy/2025/labs/barcelona/students/david-fernandez.git
Now that the folders and content of the repository are cloned on the desired folder, I can use a code editor such as Visual Studio Code or Phoenix Code to edit the content of the repository.

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To see a local previw of the site, from the repository root path (the folder that contains mkdocs.yml), I start the dev server: with the following command line: 

source .venv/Scripts/activate
mkdocs serve
When I am happy with the changes I can upload the local repo to the online Git repository. Below is the workflow of commands I use:

  • git status: to check status of your local/remote repository
  • git pull: to download the latest version of the remote repository to your local
  • git add . : Add new files/changes
  • git commit -m “COMMIT MESSAGE”: adds a description of the update to keep track of changes
  • git push -u origin main: Uploading repository

Fablab session: familiarise with your Fab Lab / Maker space

In the makerspaces where I work, I have access to typical equipment and digital fabrication tools found in most fab labs. This includes:

  • Laser cutter
  • Vinyl cutter and heat press
  • Sublimation printer
  • Medium size CNC machine
  • FDM 3d printers
  • Resin 3D printer
  • Electronic components
  • Robotic kits
  • Microcontrollers: arduinos, SP32, raspberry pi, Microbit
  • Audiovisual gear: camera, tripod, microphones, chroma, teleprompter
  • A selection of portable tools and hand tools
  • Vinyl cutter
  • 3D printers
  • CNC
  • Laser cutter
  • Laser cutter
  • Laser cutter

Reflection

This week focused on familiarising ourselves with the tools and applications we will be using throughout the program.

I hadn’t used Markdown before, but I have some experience with local repositories and creating a learning site with HTML5. This helped me clone the site locally and edit it using a code editor.

However, I noticed that the local URL for the site does not automatically update when I save changes in the code editor. I have to disconnect and reconnect using “mkdocs serve” each time I want to see the latest changes. While this is a minor inconvenience, I plan to fix it, but for now, I am satisfied with the workflow of editing and updating the remote repository.

As part of this week’s activities, I joined the WhatsApp group and created a Scopes-DF account, although I could not complete the registration process as it is still pending approval. Additionally, I used other tools such as Handbrake to compress videos and GIMP for image editing.

Tools

These are some of the tools and references I used this week: