Creative laboratories : A new CADRE21 training course

As of last week, a brand new self-study is available on the platform of CADRE21, a professional development organization for all school personnel. The training Creative laboratories aims to enable teachers to better understand the values behind the implementation of such prototyping environments and to place themselves in the posture of the "maker" teacher.

The design of this self-study is the result of an important collaboration between CADRE21 and Creative Labs / Brillant LabsThis is an organization that supports teachers in the Maritime Provinces in the development of creative projects. We had already introduced you to the organization in the pages of École branchée. Labos Créatifs has also collaborated in recent months with the Laboratoire de formation et de recherche sur la littératie numérique at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) to produce a series of posters that can guide the implementation of a creative lab in a school.

"In order to respond to the needs expressed by the educational community, where many creative laboratory projects are being developed, it became essential to offer self-training on this subject with a view to making links between theory, research and practice. This training also contributes to the deployment of the government's Digital Education Action Plan," says Sébastien Stasse, Director of CADRE21.

The self-study was developed by Natacha Vautour, coordinator of Francophone projects at Labos créatifs, and Patrick Giroux, professor of educational technologies and head of the UQAC Laboratory, in collaboration with Roberto Gauvin, educational consultant at Édunovis. It is part of a context where more and more teachers are interested in developing creative and innovative "maker" projects while exploring technologies in interdisciplinary contexts.

Like the other CADRE21 training courses, this one is presented in 4 levels: 

• Explorer: understand the values at the heart of the maker movement and brainstorm projects and resources to develop a lab-like space in a classroom or school.
• Architect: develop or adapt a learning activity and experience it with learners.
• Virtuoso: implement a creative space in your school by mobilizing other teachers, administrators, learners and any other actors in your environment who can help you.
• Innovative: leave a record of your actions to demonstrate your leadership and active participation surrounding the creative labs.

The training is available free of charge to all school personnel in Quebec, as well as to all teachers in French schools in other Canadian provinces. All you need to do is create an account on the CADRE21 platform with your institutional email address.

The creative thinking behind creative labs can be applied to all academic subjects and all levels of education. It allows for real, authentic problem solving while giving the learner permission to explore, prototype, and reflect in the classroom and to develop disciplinary and cross-curricular skills. Finally, the creative lab allows students to work in teams and unleash their creativity, in the process, they can also be introduced to a variety of technologies.

In addition to the subject of creative laboratories: 

(Re)read : 

• our file :
  • The creative laboratory at school: beyond the equipment
• our articles :
  • Creative laboratories in Quebec schools: inventory and questions
  • Support for the deployment of creative laboratories in schools in the Maritimes and collaboration with Quebec 
  • From the creative laboratory to sustainable development 
  • The creative laboratory explained in infographics
• Creative solutions for the 4th industrial revolution (or how to change the world today) (Exclusive to the magazine's subscribers)
  • Creative Solutions for the 4th Industrial Revolution(or We Want to Matter Now)  (Exclusive to the magazine's subscribers)

• a practical guide :
• The maker movement for learning, living and sharing: a guide now available