Refers to an educational approach in which learners acquire knowledge, skills, and competencies by designing, building, experimenting with, and improving physical or digital creations. Emerging from the broader Maker Movement of the mid-2000s—which celebrated do-it-yourself (DIY) innovation, digital fabrication, creativity, and collaborative problem solving—Maker Learning adapts these principles to educational settings.

Beginning in the early 2010s, schools, colleges, libraries, museums, and community organizations increasingly incorporated makerspaces and maker-centered experiences into teaching and learning. Over time, the emphasis shifted from providing access to tools and spaces to designing learning experiences that foster creativity, innovation, and the application of knowledge.

The term is rooted in the theories of experiential learning and constructionism. Maker Learning emphasizes learning through creating as opposed to relying primarily on lectures or memorization. This approach enables learners to investigate authentic problems, prototype solutions, test ideas, learn from failure, and continuously improve their work through reflection and iteration. Learning may occur in classrooms, makerspaces, fabrication laboratories (Fab Labs), libraries, community organizations, workplaces, or virtual environments using tools that range from craft materials to robotics, coding platforms, artificial intelligence, and advanced digital fabrication technologies.

Maker Learning is often associated with STEM and STEAM education, but it has expanded into many other disciplines, including workforce education, entrepreneurship, healthcare, the humanities, and lifelong learning.

The growing interest in Maker Learning reflects broader changes in education and work, including increased emphasis on competency-based learning, innovation, entrepreneurship, human-centered uses of artificial intelligence, and preparing learners to adapt to rapidly changing technologies and careers. Maker Learning has become an important instructional approach for preparing learners to succeed in an innovation-driven economy where the ability to create, apply, and continuously develop knowledge is increasingly viewed as being just as valuable as acquiring it.