Maker Space: In The Corporate Training Room?

Introduction

"Omaha Mini Maker Faire @ Do Space (26)" by Travelin' Librarian is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

One of the hottest trends in learning is the Makerspace movement. It seems that no matter where you turn you are being bombarded with images, commercials, ads, and YouTubevideos all about Makerspace and how enriching the learning is for students. For one to understand the movement and the impact you first must know what, exactly a Makerspace is. It is defined on the Makerspace for Education web page as, "To define a school makerspace by its purpose and simplest of terms, it is a place where young people have an opportunity to explore their own interests; learn to use tools and materials, both physical and virtual; and develop creative projects" (Laura Flemming Worlds of Making). What this definition alludes to but does not emphasize is that the makerspace movement is very STEM (Science, Technology, Electronics, and Mathematics) focused. Areas that have all received varying levels of attention and focus over the past decade in education as the U.S. has continued to lag behind other countries as noted by the PEW Research Institute in “U.S.students’ academic achievement still lags that of their peers in many other countries” by David Desilver published February 15, 2017. While the evidence clearly shows that the U.S. is lagging in these very critical areas, short of these same areas of focus, there does not appear to be an obvious link to this same STEM focus in corporate learning. Does that mean if you are not utilizing a STEM approach to training that you are somehow missing the proverbial boat? Does this indicate that the STEM areas are a ‘niche market’ of jobs and therefore the majority of workers will have no reason to explore them? Or does it mean that the populous of the United States not working in STEM does not realize the impact that pushing our children to these fields can have? All very good questions and ones that have no easy or obvious answers.

Corporate Training Environment

"I've waited for virtual reality for -what- twenty years? Now it's sitting on my desk and I'm too busy to try it." byNargopolis is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Corporate learning can be essentially separated into two major categories, operations learning and Human Resource learning. This basic split would provide some rationale to answer the question of not being in a STEM profession and not applicable to a majority of employees but does not answer the root question. To level set the definition of operations or job role learning, would be learning geared specifically to how you perform your work on a day to day, shift to shift basis. It does not matter if you are a CEO, waitress, or cashier at a big box store EVERYONE must learn how to perform in their roles as every job. Human Resources (HR) learning can be thought of in terms of learning that is done on an annual basis for legal reasons and depending upon the industry that can be everything from Sexual Harassment training to training dealing with Anti-Money Laundering, and for on-boarding. Let’s look at what might be included in those last trainings. HR is responsible for on-boarding new employees to an organization as well as conducting the annual trainings. Generally HR is not responsible for operations training, that is conducted by a separate group of trainers with specialization in those particular work roles. A major focus area for many companies, large and small is an area that is a constant point of irritation both with consumers and providers of goods, customer service. We can all think of examples of really poor customer service and, if pressed, can think of some really outstanding ones. If we revisit the definition of Makerspace provided above, specifically on the, “learn to use tools and materials, both physical and virtual” part. One of the areas of Makerspace that is growing quickly, is Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality also known as VR/AR. 

"Virtual Reality auf der Boot 2017" by wuestenigel is licensed under CC BY 2.0

In extremely basic terms VR provides a 3-dimensional virtual space where a person wears goggles, headphones, and either gloves or some type of remote-control device, if they are going to be interacting with their environment. If you were to search YouTube and watch some videos on VR, most are simply viewing something, generally scary, (there are videos with some minor offensive language so be prepared) in the immersive environment, not interacting with it, however that is only a portion of what this type of technology can do.

Add capt"SAFER training in Virtual Reality Lab" by AstroSamantha is licensed under CC BY 2.0ion

Leveraging VR In Training

Now, imagine you are a new hire at a big box store and you are going to be working as a cashier on Black Friday. Oh no! What will you ever do? Start by relaxing because this store has invested in VR technology that allows you to immerse yourself in a simulated environment where you can practice logging on to your cashier terminal and attempting your first transactions. As you become more proficient perhaps the controls provide a difficult customer or a customer with a competitor coupon and is demanding you price match. Now what do you do? Again, relax the system can coach you through both scenarios in the comfort of an office in the back of the store. What do you think that cashiers’ level of comfort will be after taking this training and begins his/her first shift? Quite different than if they were simply given a couple of shifts with a mentor and then expected to perform on Black Friday. This type of scenario is not restricted to only a cashier, this can be replicated with bank tellers, pharmacy technicians, car salespersons, or really any role that you can think of.  In an article by Lisa Terry on July 31 of this year, “Timberland unveiled a virtual fitting room using Kinect and digital signage technology that enables passersby to virtually try on ever piece of clothing available in the store using hand gestures.” There are also many retailers that utilize this same technology so that you can try out paint colors on your walls, all you have to do is rotate the camera in your laptop, phone, or tablet and the computer will recreate your room virtually and you can ‘paint’ the walls and floor using any number of combinations. In an unprecedented leap into the VR world and customer experience one must consider the Marriott Teleporter explained in this YouTube video in conjunction with Framestore VR Studio. To combine the STEM with the makerspace, imagine for an electrician to pass their licensing test they are immersed in a VR space and are given instructions to properly wire something or diagnose an issue with established electrical lines.

VR In Medicine 

To combine the STEM with the makerspace, imagine for an electrician to pass their licensing test they are immersed in a VR space and are given instructions to properly wire something or diagnose an issue with established electrical lines. A pharmacy student could practice mixing medications without fear of injuring a single patient. A nurse could practice medication delivery, again with no fear of causing injury to a patient. Imagine a physician being able to practice surgical techniques prior to ever picking up a scalpel. While the electrician, pharmacist and nurse may not be something happening just yet, the VR surgeries are. According to the American Journal of Translational Research the recent increase in physicians in training has stretched the resources and ability to train new surgeons. In response they have begun using VR surgical simulators for procedures in such specialties such as orthopedics and general surgery. The authors noted, “Trainees can interact with all the anatomical structures, including skin, muscle, bone, nerve, and blood vessel. Whole performance can be recorded, compared and analyzed, making data permanently available for trainees.”

Other Makerspace Technology

"Drones world." by Vladimir Shelest is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

However, if we begin to focus on some of the other areas of makerspace such as robotics, the applications get a little narrower. Arguably Amazon would not be the company it is without the use of robotics, automotive plants would not be nearly as efficient, and there are robotic assisted surgeries for the extremely delicate and complex procedures that require unparalleled precision. In the near future we hope to have fully automated vehicles that can drive us to work and home and wherever else we need to go, but outside of these their applications begin to shrink rapidly. Another area of consideration is drones. While drones are fun to fly and can take some amazing pictures, they also care a massive risk to not only the public on the ground but those in the air as well. As the federal government struggles to implement regulations on who, where, and when individuals can operate drones their use is pretty limited to a niche market as well. On one side we hope that companies such as Amazon can begin leveraging drones to make deliveries even sooner because we have become such an immediate gratification society, however what downstream impact would be felt by companies such as FedEx and UPS? Or can they adapt quickly enough to perhaps begin moving into those spaces as well to remain competitive and relevant. The last area of focus is on coding or the language utilized by pretty much everything computer related to communicate. How many have no idea what COBALT or PYTHON (not the snake) even means? That pretty much sums up the argument for the push to makerspace to the corporate environment.

"live coding (fluxus)" by Peter Coen is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Conclusion

We have explored some very interesting applications for the expansion of makerspace into the corporate learning environment. We have also explored some very real limits on the use of makerspace in corporate learning. There are no easy answers to the questions that we posed at the beginning. We will find ourselves continuing to work with these questions and more as technology continues to expand what is possible outside of the traditional brick and mortar classrooms. If the steady and rapid rate of technological advance is an indicator of what is to come there is potentially no limit on what can be done. There is no escaping the march of technology and change. Our jobs are to ensure that we remain in the forefront and part of the conversation about these changes and what we can do to help those we are charged with teaching. We do that not by running from what we do not understand, but rather embracing it and finding ways to keep our learning new.

Works Cited

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5 Incredible Uses of Virtual Reality In Medicine. (2018, March 18). Retrieved December 07, 2018, from https://www.newgenapps.com/blog/5-incredible-uses-of-virtual-reality-in-medicine

Carson, E. (2015, March 10). 9 Industries Using Virtual Reality. Retrieved December 02, 2018, from https://www.techrepublic.com/article/9-industries-using-virtual-reality/

Daly, K. (2018, April 06). We Used Virtual Reality as a Training Tool. Here's What We Learned. Retrieved December 05, 2018, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/311288

Holger, D. (2018, May 17). How Businesses Are Cutting Employee Training Costs With VR. Retrieved December 09, 2018, from https://vrscout.com/news/vr-employee-training/

Li, L., Yu, F., Shi, D., Shi, J., Tian, Z., Yang, J., . . . Jiang, Q. (2017). Application of virtual reality in clinical medicine. American Journal of Translational Research,(9), 3867-3880. Retrieved December 08, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5622235/.

Marriott Hotels' Virtual Travel Experience[Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved December 07, 2018, from http://framestorevr.com/marriott

Martinez, S.L. & Stager, G. Ph.D. (2013).  Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the classroom. Torrance, CA: Constructing Modern Knowledge Press

Terry, L. (2018, July 31). VR in Retail: The Future of Shopping Is Virtual and Augmented. Retrieved December 02, 20108, from https://insights.samsung.com/2018/07/31/vr-in-retail-the-future-of-shopping-is-virtual-and-augmented/