So I do things like write for reviews like Make magazine,
I print lots of models and design lots of models for classroom, and I present and
write about 3D printing in the classroom and my blog designmaketeach.com.
[SOUND] Well so much of the learning that takes place nowadays is on screen.
YouTube videos and PowerPoint presentations and
sort of interactive white board sorts of things.
What I find that 3D printing brings into the classroom is
multiple means of representation.
So having three-dimensional models to show and
demonstrate three-dimensional concepts.
The other aspect of 3D printing in the classroom
is to give students another means of representation.
So students can design things that can be created and shown in the real world,
and then on the science academy side, being able to create items for research,
to research the 3D printing process, allows students
to create multiple copies of something in a kind of a repeatable fashion.
And really, out of all of the sort of digital fabrication tools,
3D printing really fits the scale of the classroom, as far a the size,
the operating cost, and the scale of objects that can be printed and
developed really work well in a classroom environment.
[SOUND] Well, I've worked with students from 4th through 12th grade and
as far as having classroom manipulatives, for having objects that represent
real world things, I don't really think that there's an age limit on that.
I think a kindergarten student that's able to touch and
hold a model of a fossil is able to be,
finds that just as rewarding as any other age.
As far as 3D modeling though, as far as developing and
making things for 3D printing and 3D design,
you can do that with first or
second graders, especially if you do sort of hand drawings and digitize those.
But I really found around fourth or
fifth grade the ability to do 3D modeling and something like Tinkercad,
it's a little bit more reasonable to happen in the classroom.
[SOUND] Oftentimes, teachers come to me with particular problems
that students are having and particularly it could be problematic
when students are given two-dimensional source materials,
flat source materials for a 3D concept.
And so one example is the nets of the cube.
And so the Virginia standards of learning, geometry standards, had a problem
involving nets of the cube, which is a 2D representation of a folded out cube.
The idea is that the students could mentally in their head be able to
transform that net into a cube in their head.
And so most students get that concept right away.
But there's some students who just have a little bit of difficulty
while making that initial transformation between
what they're seeing on a flat sheet of paper to a three-dimensional solid.
And so I was able to create a foldable cube that printed flat
that students could actually take and fold into three-dimensional space.
Now teachers have been doing that a long time with paper models.
But those paper models tend to be pretty flimsy and
don't always create the correct angles for
students, while as the three-dimensional model that I was able to create