3D+Printing

=**3D Printing by Beth Lander**= [] The Horizon Report: 2013 K-12 Edition states that 3D printing has a time-to-adoption window of 4 to 5 years. The report defines 3D printing as “a tangible model or prototype [built] one layer at a time through an extrusion-like process using plastics and other flexible materials, or an inkjet-like process to spray a bonding agent onto a very thin layer of fixable powder” (NMC Horizon Report: 2013, 2013, p. 28). Models or prototypes are derived from computer files.

The report notes the areas in which 3D printing is currently being used: architecture, industrial design, jewelry design and civil engineering. The upswing in the use of 3D printing is aided by “online applications such as Thingverse, a repository of digital designs for physical objects where users can download the digital design information and create that object themselves, instead of starting from scratch” (NMC Horizon Report: 2013, 2013, p. 28).

The report notes that use of 3D printing allows for “authentic exploration” of objects as well as the ability to individualize student expression and provide a foundation for the development of “soft skills” such as creativity.

There is not an abundance of professional literature on the use of 3D printing in education. A 2010 article written by a marketer for a company that manufactures 3D printers highlights the use of this technology in STEM fields, and states that the technology supports differentiation of education, problem based learning, multi-disciplinary instruction and process-based learning (Lacey, 2010, p. 18).

Another example of a manufacturer attempting to influence the use of its technology in education is MakerBot, a Brooklyn-based company that is currently being acquired by Stratsys. MakerBot has a webpage (http://curriculum.makerbot.com/) dedicated to the inclusion of 3D printing in grades 3 through 8 with lesson plans tied into New York state standards. To quote the site, “[w]ith MakerBots, students participate in project-based learning that is experiential in nature and has real-world applications. The process of designing, inventing and fabricating exposes students to various career paths such as industrial design and engineering, and allows them to directly engage with the tools used in those fields ("MakerBot Education," 2013).

3D printing is part of a larger “maker” movement that is starting to influence education. “The maker movement, known to past generations as “DIY” (do-it-yourself), encourages collaboration, invention, and radical participation with a single goal: to create new things. This maker ethos is gaining a serious foothold in education, both in practice and at the policy level” (Santani, 2013). “Maker education” emphasizes the need to insert maker spaces into existing educational opportunities in order to provide students with hands-on experience. Providing students with concrete expressions of learning, particularly in STEM fields, allows them to bring abstract concepts to life, so to speak, and to see how design is translated into substance. This is of particular value for visual learners. Gwyneth Jones, who blogs at “The Daring Librarian,” is the librarian at Murray Hill Middle School in Maryland. She notes that the majority of her students are visual learners, for whom learning is made complete when they can show what they have learned, rather than write about what they have learned (Santani, 2013).

3D printing, as well as other technologies used in maker spaces, will be a challenge to educators who are threatened by extending learning beyond the walls of their classrooms, and who are leery of not being able to tightly control the outcomes of student learning. However, the ability of technologies like 3D printing to provide for individualization, differentiation and creativity should outweigh a teacher’s hesitancy to incorporate them into their curriculum. An example of how incredible this technology is can be found [|here]. Be warned – the image might be disturbing. Such applications, and the benefits they bring to people, should be sufficient encouragement to educators and schools to make the investment in maker spaces.

References Ashley, S. (2013, June 10). How 3D printing will rebuild reality. Retrieved June 26, 2013, from Boing Boing website: http://boingboing.net/2013/06/10/how-3d-printing-will-rebuild-r.html

Lacey, G. (2010). 3D printing brings designs to life. //Tech Directions//, //70//(2), 17-19. Retrieved from Academic Search Elite database. MakerBot education. (2013). Retrieved June 26, 2013, from MakerBot Education website: http://curriculum.makerbot.com/

//NMC horizon report: 2013 K-12 edition //. (2013). Austin, TX: New Media Consortium.

Santani, H. (2013, June 19). Meet the makers: Can a DIY movement revolutionize how we learn? Retrieved June 26, 2013, from The Digital Shift website: http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2013/06/k-12/meet-the-makers-can-a-diy-movement-revolutionize-how-we-learn/