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New York-based Adafruit is working to help reverse that trend, and to make it so that people aren't afraid of what's inside their devices, and instead become more comfortable with electronics components and the concepts behind how gadgets actually work. Adafruit founder and CEO Limor Fried was on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt NY today, and talked about how her company is going about achieving that goal. The mission helps the company generate revenue, by priming an audience early on to become buyers of the components, DIY kits and open-source devices Adafruit sells through its online store. The key is to start young, Fried says, and to take advantage of urges that children already have around exploring their environment and the things around them.

The idea is simple. Online and DIY learners unite at a beautiful mountain resort to live an extraordinary lifestyle in a dynamic community of smart and motivated people.

A collection of step-by-step tutorials on how to do anything yourself... Something that could be used for manual skills training or simple object manipulation.

"I was inspired by how they actual artist was teaching others how to play their song.  Many people, including myself, are self taught to play the guitar because of the resources on the Internet from sites such as Ultimate-Guitar.Com, and YouTube, but it is a totally different vibe when you are learning from the artist themselves.  Funny thing was that song "Live and Die" was probably not even in my top five on the album, yet when it feels like the performer is actually talking to you, and teaching the song, you instantly have a different connection. "

Berlin filmmaker Sam Muirhead has come up with an ambitious stunt: He'll live without proprietary goods for one year in an effort to immerse himself in the open-source maker movement. Muirhead will be something of a fish out of water-he doesn't code and isn't a die-hard DIYer, but he's excited to spread the gospel and benefit the community.

This Degree of Freedom web site will document my one-year experiment attempting to take all of the courses needed to learn the equivalent of what I'd get from a liberal arts Bachelors Degree entirely through free, online resources (with a focus on the Massive Open Online Classes, or MOOCs that have been in the news lately).

"But how completely can online courses reproduce the college experience? Lexington writer and entrepreneur Jonathan Haber wanted to find out. This January, he set out to earn a "one-year MOOC BA." He is trying to cram about 32 courses, all free, into 2013-with enough breadth and depth to fulfill the distribution requirements for a bachelor's degree in philosophy. Already finished with his "freshman year," Haber has completed or is currently taking about a dozen classes."

"If you want to learn a new skill, a great way to start is to create an outline for exactly what it is you'll learn, why you want to learn it, and how you plan to do so. Consider this your personal learning plan. It is your guide. It keeps you accountable and helps you stay focused. And it only takes a little bit of time to create!"

Learn new skills. Share your skills. A community marketplace to learn anything from anyone

After several months, the kids in both villages were still heavily engaged in using and recharging the machines, and had been observed reciting the "alphabet song," and even spelling words. One boy, exposed to literacy games with animal pictures, opened up a paint program and wrote the word "Lion."

"If you're interested in discovering more about do it yourself learning there's a new group with authors, experts, parents, educators, and young people who are passionate about empowering individuals to take ownership of their learning. If you are frustrated with traditional schooling this group is a great...

""The way do-it-yourself learning is depicted in her guide, it substitutes presentations, resources and materials from professors and books for presentations, resources and materials online through videos and online documents," he says. "There is no sense that it is do-it-yourself learning; it's just putting digital in place of traditional learning materials.""

"It speaks to students learning at their developmental level - what is right for them at that particular time (differentiated instruction, maybe even restructuring the grade system). Even as an adult, learning benefits when you have someone there to guide you through the process. My tile job is far from perfect. It would have been much better had there been someone to model the processes and give me feedback towards my performance. For other types of learners, videos would suffice (something which Salmon Khan banks on)."

"While it may be true that there are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going, there certainly are ways of needlessly prolonging the journey. We often waste lots of time because nobody ever taught us the most effective and efficient way to practice. Whether it's learning how to code, improving your writing skills, or playing a musical instrument, practicing the right way can mean the difference between good and great."

Thousands of Video Lessons on Every Subject

I am not sitting here, 15 whole feet away from my kids, because I am too lazy to get up. I am sitting here because I didn't bring them to the park so they could learn how to manipulate others into doing the hard work for them. I brought them here so they could learn to do it themselves. They're not here to be at the top of the ladder; they are here to learn to climb. If they can't do it on their own, they will survive the disappointment. What's more, they will have a goal and the incentive to work to achieve it.