Moon Makers of Mexico

Dale Dougherty interviews Camila and Diego Luna of Moonmakers at the Fab 24 conference in Puebla, Mexico. Moonmakers is an educational non-profit focused on promoting science, technology, STEAM education, and the maker movement. They share their journey from starting with robotics and participating in international competitions, to creating content and resources for teachers and students. They highlight the importance of peer-to-peer learning and the challenges faced by the maker community in Mexico. They also discuss their involvement in the Fab 24 conference, showcasing workshops and the importance of breaking language barriers in STEAM education.

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Transcript

Dale: Hi, I'm Dale Dougherty here on MakeCast. And my guests today are Camila and Diego Luna of Moonmakers. And we are in Puebla, Mexico at the Fab24 conference. It's exciting to be here, but I'm in a room, we're using their recording studio equipment. And I just wanted to turn the tables a bit and ask them a few questions about how they got started and what they're doing, what the experience has been like for you. And also talk a little bit about the conference.

The Origin of Moonmakers

Dale: So what was the impetus for Moonmakers and what you were doing?

Camila: For sure. First of all, thank you so much for having us or having you, I'm not sure, but we are really glad to see each other again after such a long time.

I'm really happy to be here because you are visiting now Mexico and enjoying all the amazing food too, right?

Diego: Yeah, the climate here, it's beautiful now.

Camila: Moonmakers is an educational non profit. We like to promote science, technology, maker movement, like really core values that we have learned through our paths or our lives, even if you're a little bit young.

We like for more people to know about creating and these mindsets around creating things by your hands and learning and actually be part of our daily life. After all, we have learned a lot about the maker movement and we love to share that with more people. So we start Moonmakers to make that and we make content and we do alliance with different companies and even schools and teachers to make this technology and more close to more people, right?

Diego: Yeah, it's something we really like it because we are focused in the maker moment and also in the STEAM education because we think in the life, how is it going to see math? How is it going to be science? The human things about art is so important because the way you want to express your ideas to someone, like your friends, your brother, family, and this is so important and the other parts is cool. But you have this base of this team is gonna help you to manage the things because right now You can find a lot of things in internet and also these other barriers. This is the bad thing about the internet, but we want to make part of the change positive of this

Dale: What was the first thing you did as Moonmakers? Was it the recording or did you, you create a space?

Camila: So we started doing robotics and because of our work and our effort, we become this team and we start doing international competition. So one of that competition allowed us to be in the Bay Area, right? And we met the Maker Faires there, and it was something mind blowing. An amazing experience to actually get close to this amazing community and see a lot of crazy stuff, right?

You go to one side and there's like creations and there's people creating things. So actually it was really important for us to know that and it was one of the first steps that let us understand the maker movement and wanted to become part of it, right?

Diego: Yeah, because we really like the concept of the maker movement to share with everyone.

In this moment we are in the competition, we participate in one international to represent Mexico in China. After this experience, we want to say, hey, this amazing experience for us, this changed our mind to see the things we, we going to do the same for our friends or the people in our city, in our town.

Yeah. Because this is opportunity, but also is gonna be option to everyone to do this change.

Camila: And I think after the competition and knowing the maker movement, we look to YouTube as a great platform to share with a global community. So we use content to make it go further than just our cities and our community.

We want it to go as far as we can. And we do a lot of content and we try to subtitle and put a lot of things. And I think it's quite important to take out that barrier sometimes in the internet when it comes in Spanish or it come in English, right?

Dale: That's great.

Challenges in the Maker Movement

Dale: So what do you think some of the challenges are for the maker movement in Mexico?

Camila: That's a great question, actually. I think the maker community here is really kind and lovely and really welcoming, right? At least when we started doing things here, we were really young and they were really amazing, and all the activities and all the makerspace around Mexico. It's such a great community, and it's still communicated all the time and making activities together, right?

Diego: Yeah, because in Mexico, in our experience, when we started with the maker community is the people say, okay, guys, you want to learn? Okay, let's go. We're going to learn together. You want to learn about robotics? Perfect. You explore for yourself. Make questions because this is most important of the maker community.

Not always it's a teacher. You need to be your own teacher because you know your own teacher is something where is there and after you have question you have the mentors these people of the community possible You never see this person, but this person is gonna be open for you to explain the concept.

Camila: I think one of the biggest challenge here is the mindset around learning or around even the world of making things, right?

I think we are curious in creativity as well as everyone else, like every human being since the beginning, right? But sometimes when we grow up we lose that curiosity or welcoming trying something new, right? You have to try. It doesn't matter if you're good at the beginning or not, right? And I think sometimes the idea or these ideas just start at such an early age and then you grow up and doesn't want to try new things. So I think it's just about changing a little bit the mindset of, let's do things because there's something that we are passionate and let's share things too.

Dale: I think the other side is, people are actually good at learning, but they don't believe they are sometimes, right? They're used to being taught, or waiting to be taught something. And I think part of the making thing is you gotta start somewhere, and again, you might start from a video, or a set of instructions, a recipe. Think like cooking and things you just have to try it and in conversation you'll ask and meet other people who can help you. We're upstairs taking a machine learning workshop here, and it's just a matter of just sitting down and trying it.

And I think that's at the heart of this. And so when did you feel that what you were doing was making a difference.

Impact and Community Engagement

Camila: Hard questions, Dale. Hard questions. Do you want to start on this one?

Diego: Yeah, for example, when we start to make videos, we see people see that. We hear the one of history, or the one of our young kids say, hey, because one of the first videos is going to be about the climate change and how this can affect, because it's in Mexico.

When in Spanish it's YUPI ACIDA, is the acid, acid rain.

Camila: About contamination, we use this feature of just sharing signs as little clips in animation and more,

Diego: and the kids say, hey, I learned about this concept because my teacher showed you our video. And now I understand that because before I don't like to read.

But now the video I have, you, you laugh, I see you, you interact with the animation. And this, I really like it..

Camila: And I think one of the points is actually not just making content, but doing resources for teachers to help them use project based learning or exploring more, not just about showing the kids all the steps, but actually making things for them to learn.

So receiving comments, how Diego say, or even be connected to the teacher from around the world saying Hey, I'm doing this with my kids and this is their results. And we are trying to upgrade this new knowledge and this new methodology for them to learn. So I think you sourcing that and we love to be in person in events and more.

So sometimes we need to go to far away communities and see that you can change their perception of the future or the decision they are making, right? Because we are young, we like for more people to join the community, but not because we wanted to make a bigger community in the maker movement. It's because they have such a cool mindset and such cool values.

For example, one time we went to this really far away community in Oaxaca, and we were doing this talk about It was to promote kids to keep learning to keep starting because they leave Like they finished elementary school and a lot of people doesn't continue learning, right? So we went there doing a talk and showed them some of the projects and more. And you can see how they see the projects and it's like it's really easy We can do it together and we showed the steps and they are like I can make that I can do something like that. They are like, now I want to try computer science, I want to try this, or, you know what, that project could work for my uncle, and they are like, I'm going to make it.

I think that's quite an important and significant part of our work.

Educational Content and Language Barriers

Dale: I think you're also I've wondered in the past whether, there was a lack of good instructions and content in Spanish for Spanish learners, right? They may watch a YouTube video or whatever, but I think part of where you're really pioneering is creating more Spanish language content.

And for kids, that's really important. And American kids we've got quite a few Spanish speakers there. And what's also cool, I this is more in the American context, that I think one of the things when you're learning to make, you watch people do it, and you learn from that, and it doesn't have to be highly, a highly verbal set of instructions that you learn. It really can help break a language barrier that you can be competent and do things just by watching someone else who can show you how to do it.

Camila: Yeah, and I think it's quite interesting, too, because some time ago, we do this collaboration with Science Friday, and we tried to do the content in the two languages, Spanish and English, and how you say it. We do the workshop, the resource, the project, we do it in one high school in New York.

Because they were this multi language school, right? So there were students who just speak Spanish and those who just speak English. So they were like, okay, you are the best person to do this because you speak both. So it was interesting to see how they actually get involved, even the students get involved with each other, even though they don't speak the same language.

So I guess that's the same thing that you were saying, like we learn by looking at each other. And I think we were talking before the podcast started.

And I think we learn it by hearing it and seeing all this different stuff. If you don't speak the language, you can use hands and gestures to explain yourself, right?

Family and Collaborative Learning

Diego: Yeah, other example I like about this, in some moments, the people know you don't have a teacher and other moments can be your family.

One project we make is a cardboard with a dinosaur. It's very beautiful for the kids because we have a little sister. And one person sent her video moment. He is the father and make the project with his kid and the kid play with the dinosaur. And this is amazing because for us, this is one of the part of the maker moment.

Some moments, You don't have a teacher, it's always your family, your, in this case, the father is the teacher. In other context, it's also the same. You need to see the person, and the moment you collaborate together to make the project, you can see the happiness in his face, because he makes something together.

Dale: I think that's such a big opportunity that I've seen from doing Maker Faires-- schools are one of the ways, we were talking earlier about sports and music and other things, but family is very powerful means of and if you can show how parents can engage their kids and they can have something that they both enjoy to do,

Camila: Yeah, and I think it actually, making things is just something that connects to a bigger community and even to the close people around you. At least for us as brothers, we have found that making things, robots or projects or playing with AI or coding, it's such a better experience doing it together.

I'm like, I don't know how to do it, but Diego knows how to do it. So I just see how he's doing it, right? And I start learning and he starts explaining. And it goes the other way around too, right? And I think it's part of the process and part of the maker movement it's connecting to, right?

Diego: So I like in some projects, Both we don't have idea how to make it, and this is the best part, because it's moment to learn, it's moment to send message to everyone, to see the community maker in Mexico, with other parts of the world, and to say, hey, how you can fix the problem because a lot of projects you can make a lot different ways.

You can do the way you can feel more comfortable with that. And this is part of the experience.

FAB 24 Conference Insights

Dale: So let's shift a little bit and talk about the conference here, FAB 24. And have you been to a FAB conference previously?

Camila: No, this is our first one and we are really glad because we are part of the ambassadors.

So we are doing a lot of stuff and we want to actually see everything because it's amazing.

Dale: Yeah, so for the first time. Those that don't know, the conference is bringing together the FabLab network, and there's people really from around the world but particularly from Mexico, from Central America and Latin America, which is great, and it's a time for them to share what they do.

There's workshops here, there's speakers, talks about technology, talks about education. So a lot of good people here.

Camila: Yeah, definitely. And I think it's such a good opportunity to connect with people and do things. Definitely we are doing the podcast when we interview great people like you, Dale and try to share more about Fab24 and all the activities that's going on.

And we're doing a workshop, right? Yeah, we're going to do a workshop for a teacher, thanks to the kids, how to make artificial intelligence with his games. Games with Artificial Intelligence. The kids really like to play with that. In this case, we're going to use a microwave to connect with your computer.

Diego: And now you want to have three pins. And now you can connect for whatever conductive material, and then you can create gestures or write in that. You're going to learn with Artificial Intelligence, and then you can play your games, interact with different materials, with the conductive or other materials.

This is something very cool, because the kids can experiment not only in the computer, also with his hands.

Camila: But the point of all of this is part of the tracks of Fab 24, it's technology 5. 0 and we wanted to bring AI in a different setup of interaction and not just, this is AI and this is how it works and you can talk with it.

So the idea is to make interaction and activities for play around with it and explore it.

Dale: That's great. I don't know where you are academically, but this is an academic conference.

Academic Pursuits and Future Plans

Dale: And it shows you that there's a lot of people doing cool stuff in a lot of universities around the world, including the one we're at. Which is Ibero but but there's some others around the area. Are you finished with school? Are you in school? I don't know.

Camila: I really love the Dale didn't know it. And he's curious now, right? He was like, let's talk about it. And then yeah, that's a great question actually. We are right now starting university. I'm studying Adunam.

It's a really important university here in Mexico and Latin America, and I'm studying education because that's part of making stuff at MoonMaker, a subject that I really enjoy. Because it's not just about methodology and all of that. I think I really like the personal part of education and how we can jump from different parts of the world, right?

And how about you, Diego?

Diego: Yeah, for me, I also studied in UNAM, but right now, I study at two schools at the same time. In this case, in Mexico. And the most important for me is 42 Paris. This is a concept of the schools. These are completely different to the normal way, because this is based on projects learning, and also peer to peer learning.

This means you are with your partners there, with your friends, or people it's possible you didn't know before, and start to learn together. And this is part of the importance, because this school is the number 6 in the world, the most innovative school in the world, and also the number 1 in accessibility.

Because in this world have different mindset; you don't have problems, you have opportunities to learn, and you need to make something to explore with your hands and your friends .And the people there to make solutions.

Camila: Yeah, I think we connect so much with the school and the mindset between this peer to peer collaboration, and it's an international school. There's like French conversation here, Spanish conversation there, so it's such a good combination of all the stuff we were discussing right now, right?

Dale: The fact that you're doing this and you're so successful at it, even while you're in school, is amazing. It can only point to a future where you're doing even more interesting things. It's I, although I hope you keep doing what you're doing. Yeah, it's, you mentioned kind of ; it's something that, again, it's a practice.

The more people we can teach that practice to, the more they can innovate and create change. It doesn't have to be a big business to do that. You don't necessarily need a lot of money to innovate. It's really a mindset. It's a way of thinking that things could be different and I could figure it out.

It's wonderful that you're figuring out all this technology at the same time you're applying it. Because it's one thing to learn something yourself, but when you share it with other people you affirm that you understand it a little better. But it means a lot.

Closing Remarks and Social Media

Dale: I wish you well in what you're doing, and just finally, tell people how they can follow you.

Camila: Of course, and thank you so much, Dale. Actually, you've been a really inspiring person for us to make all of this, and as part of our work, we try and do our best, and honestly, I think being part of the maker movement, that's really important.

Global communities are already amazing. And there's a lot of amazing people here. But yeah, you can find us in every social media as moonmakers. So yeah, Facebook Instagram, Twitter, you can go toward YouTube. We have a lot of content in tutorials, right?

Diego: Yeah. In both language, Spanish and English. And something new, the name moon is because it's our last name in Spanish.: Luna

Dale: Didn't make that connection, but now I do.

Diego: And also we like this constant moment the human is going to be in the moon. The president of the United States say, We're not going to do this because it's easy. It's because it's difficult. It is going to be the best of us to make these things.

Camila: And I think it's part of what we like to do. We like to go outside of our comfort zone and try new things and experimenting and creating. And I think we have learned from the best.

Dale: Okay. Thank you so much for being here.

It's a delight. A real pleasure to talk to you. And best of you at this conference in the future.

Camila: No, thank you so much for having us, Dale. Thank you so much to everyone who listened.