Maker Spaces, Fabrication Labs . . . it's been going on for some time now, but it's all the buzz in education these days. And with good reason.

I've been thinking about all this more and more since walking in on a session called "Digital Fabrication in K-12" at Educon this past January. One of the presenters that day, a fellow named Jaymes Dec, said, "I wish every classroom was a Maker Space."

Student debate has the capacity to both deeply engage the students in relevant learning, and to encourage students to be deep thinkers. Debate is more than simply arguing. It has structure and rules that are designed to keep both sides calm.

In my family, Father's Day was never about letting Dad sleep in and then getting him grill dinner later. After all, Dad tended to be an early riser, and our BBQ sat untouched for years until there were some son-in-laws in the picture. But while he may have not been much for a grill, my dad was, and is, a writer. For which I am grateful. Dad has given me much, not the least of which is a love of the written word and a passion for those who are brave enough to reflect and honest enough to learn from their reflections. In other words, my father is an educator.

What do programmable books, multimedia poetry and DIY clubs have in common?

They're all examples of ways that a growing number of educators -- in school and out, at libraries, museums and other cultural institutions, at home and at community gatherings -- are engaging in making things and leveraging the learning associated with that very human impulse to create.