PROJECT
Alquimétricos: Open Source Building
Blocks for an Affordable STEAM Education
We are a 4-years-old international community of educators, makers and communicators developing and sharing affordable alternative to commercial building blocks systems targeted for Global South quality STEAM education on vulnerable communities. Alquimétricos are open source, DIY, inexpensive educational materials made out of natural, locally abundant, recycled and/or cheap materials you can find around.
Author
Fernando Daguanno
Maker, artist, informal designer, and inventor. Creator of Alquimétricos, an open-source, DIY, collaborative and community-held collection of didactic building blocks targeted for vulnerable communities. Initially developed as a set of connection hubs to teach how to build geodesic structures using recycled materials, the project gained acceptance and development and became a full collection of DIY constructive systems meant to have the minimum technological, economic and cultural entry barrier. Tested and deployed in many communities in Argentina and Brazil, the initiative became a full set of technology, science, and arts teaching resources targeted for those communities that cannot afford a box of Lego’s or are interested in producing DIY and/or alternative building blocks systems that matched their possibilities, needs, and interests.
Mentor
Viviane Vladimirschi
Dr. Viviane Vladimirschi is a researcher, educational consultant, instructional designer, project manager and teacher and staff trainer for use of distance education, blended learning, open educational resources and practices and information and communication technologies. Since 2002, she is director of E- connection, a small company based in São Paulo, Brazil that renders instructional design, consulting, project management and training services for institutions all over the country that wish to implement distance education, blended learning, mobile learning and open educational practices. Her company clients include: Khan Academy, UNESCO IITE, Iniciativa Educação Aberta, Athabasca University/Commonwealth of Learning, ITS Rio, MIT Media Lab, to name a few. Her work allows her to interact and collaborate with a wide range of domestic and international academic and corporate institutions, having conversations about how they can best meet their educational goals. Currently, she is working as a consultant for the Open University of the UK.