The maker movement in education promises to offer authentic learning that can help students develop 21^st century competencies. Our multi-phase participatory action research program on maker culture in education studies the development of competencies required to turn experiential learning with technology into maker experiences that meet 21^st century needs. Our data suggest that maker competencies in education include concepts such as collaboration, iterative design and co-design. The development of these competencies also underlie several maker attitudes such as taking initiative, learning to adapt, learning to work interdependently, tolerating failure and not shying away from over-resourcing.