Widening the scope of FabLearn Research

Abstract

FabLearn has primarily been concerned with studies of digital fabrication technologies in education, however, we witness an increased interest in integrating other related topics such as computational thinking, digital design and empowerment as an integrated whole. In this paper, we present a five years design research program for digital fabrication, computational thinking and design, to highlight why the FabLearn community should embrace this wider agenda to accomplish its ultimate goal to encourage a new generation to critically and constructively engage in the design of digital technology. The contribution of this paper is a number of open questions and considerations regarding the scope of European FabLearn research that we hope the community will consider and that might give rise to further discussions.