This week we dove into 3D printing. Although 3D printing is brought up between my housemates regularly, I had never tried designing anything or using a 3D printer. Having spent this week’s class getting to design our own mini projects and seeing the printers creating projects in person was a really great experience!
3D printing in the classroom can be used amongst many of the subjects. In Math, 3D printing may be used for creating different objects replacing counters- students could even design personalized ones for Math activities and class based games (such as Bingo). In Learning languages, 3D printing can be used as a kinaesthetic learning oppourtunity by having the physical letters in front of the students. In studies such as: History, Social Studies, and Cultural studies, students may design an existing land mark as a project and learn about its history in the process. Taking Science into consideration, 3D printing enables fast and low cost customized machining for prototyping.
As for the pros and cons of 3D printing in class-based learning, I believe the biggest con is that the cost for the printer itself and the upkeep of supplies is too great for many schools. It is a privileged oppourtunity to design and print one object, let alone multiple students in multiple classes having the chance of such an experience. Another potential con is the lack of knowledge around technology. If students have access to computers or tablets regularly, with some practice, using websites such as tinkercad will be doable. For students who do not have the resources to do so, using a 3D design program can be tricky, frustrating, and very time consuming.
All this being said, the pros are endless, because the creativity that students can have with such technology is unlimited. For grades 4-7, the grades I hope to teach, 3D design and printing would be invaluable and could direct students into entering STEM fields.
Another website for designing is LucidChart.
Here is my creation from this week! It is a fish skeleton keychain!
