The last bit of my life has been spent creating a website designed for the absolute beginner to learn how to use a 3D printer for education. This project really challenged my skill set, but I am so glad I did it. Introducing:
DIMENSIONS: Beginner's 3D Printing for Education
This TED talk by Stephen Elford might help spark your interest in 3D printing in education.
Creating this project really combined and built on many skills I have learned during the LIBE 477 course.
I decided that the best way to make a tutorial on how to 3D print for teaching would be to actually go through the steps of trying to do it myself. One of the most important skills I built up during this course was how to develop, maintain and take advantage of my own personal learning network. It's incredible the help people are willing to offer if you just ask. A good friend has a 3D printer, so I enlisted his help to try setting up a print myself. He recommended software and helped me when I got stuck. Plus, his 2 year old daughter acted as a model in some of my pictures. So huge thanks go to my dear friends Mike, Angela and Mika.
I chose to build something small, but that would still be interesting to me. As a science teacher, I love that there are models out there for just about anything you can think of - I chose a model of an anatomical heart from Thingiverse.
I am incredibly glad I chose to try this myself first. I learned so much along the way and got to try out something I have always wanted to do. In Richardson's Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information are Everywhere, we looked into how project-based learning and students pursuing their interests can really spark learning and passion, and that's definitely what happened to me here. I put an incredible amount of work into this project because I thought it was interesting and useful. I created a website that I believe could really help my fellow educators, and even walked away with a little teaching aid to boot. Making learning meaningful can really engage our learners.
Some things were more complicated than I thought (making sure the print would support itself), while the overall experience was actually quite simple once I had adequate instructions. And that was my issue and why I am extra glad I created this project. There are tons of resources out there, but I had a hard time finding one that held your hand through the process of creating your first print. Now that I have one project down, I feel like I could do so much more, and I can't wait to pass that feeling along to others! Here is a video of the printer in action, building up my heart:
You can see both the internal and external support structures the program designed to help support it during printing. I had to scale down the original file and make the print layers thicker so that it would print in a reasonable amount of time and I could leave with the print in hand, so this little heart took 2 hours and 35 minutes to print. In the land of 3D printing, that is FAST.
I also love that this project brought together a bunch of other skills I have learned in the recent past. I needed to remind myself how to make a website using the Weebly platform (which had been recommended by a teacher friend), I got to play around with my new phone's camera, I used the touch screen of my Lenovo laptop I taught myself to use earlier this year, and of course, learned to 3D print. I was also surprised to learn that you can buy a ready-to-use 3D printer for only a couple hundred dollars. Isn't technology grand!
Looking back at just how much I learned during this course, brings to mind one term: empowered learning. I feel like I can grasp that concept so much better now. I have built up an incredible skill set using my own research and personal learning network. More important than that, I feel much more confident and capable than I did when I started. I am less afraid to tackle new technology and am more likely to research new concepts on my own. I feel like anything is possible if you try, and that is exactly what we want for our students.
This feeling of being able to learn and create things for yourself is the spirit of many of the 3D printing lesson plans I discovered while creating the website. It gives them a tool to create something all their own, only limited by their imagination. They can get real life feedback about their designs and idea, and go back to their file to make changes and try again, which gives them a sense that learning is ongoing and design is an iterative process, just as I did while creating both the website and this blog post.
Now that this resource has been created, the next challenge is to get it out to the world. I intend to share it on social media for all of my teacher and librarian friends, not to mention anyone else who wanted to try but always thought it was too complicated. I will also have to circulate this at schools where I work. I would gladly run a workshop to go over the how-to of setting up a file, as well as discussing lesson ideas for using the 3D printer in classrooms. There are some great lesson plans separated by subject and I could make a specific note of what's out there for each department in the school, and have a few educational objects made so that the teachers can see the potential in the classroom.
The following resources were used to make the website and this blog post:
Chaos Core Tech (2015). How to Make Models for 3D Printing - Tinkercad Beginner's Tutorial. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsz2PNcAcPA
cicerone (2015). Anatomical Heart. Retrieved from https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:932606
Elford, Stephen (2016). Why Teachers Should Bring 3D Printers Into the Classroom | Stephen Elford | TEDxRosalindParkEd. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yRCUIbl_Do
Leapfrog (2019). 3D Print in Education. Retrieved from https://www.lpfrg.com/applications/education-and-3d-printing/
Learn By Layers (n.d.). 3D Printing Curriculum for Schools. Retrieved from https://www.learnbylayers.com/
MatterHackers (2018). How to Choose The Right 3D Printer // 3D Printer Guide. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-6Ond_p5KI
MatterHackers (2018). How To: 3D Printers For Beginners. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbIoKadLIuw
Monoprice (n.d.). Monoprice Select Mini 3D Printer V2 P/N 21711 User's Manual. Retrieved from https://downloads.monoprice.com/files/manuals/21711_Manual_170328.pdf
National Geographic Kids (2018). How 3D Printers Work | How Things Work With Kamri Noel. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlvK6DLwCz4
Neilson, Sonya (2019). LIBE 477 Inquiry 2: Learning to Use My Lenovo Flex 5 - An Example of Developing my ICT Skills. Retrieved from https://svneilson.blogspot.com/2019/02/libe-477-inquiry-2-learning-to-use-my.html
Richardson, Will (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere. TED Conferences Publishing.
Simplify3D (2019). Simplify3D Video Tutorials. Retrieved from https://www.simplify3d.com/support/videos/
Snikhovska, Kseniia (2018). The Best 3D Printers for Kids. Retrieved from https://penandplastic.com/best-3d-printer-kids/
SprintRay (2018). Tips & Tricks - Removing Supports. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIR0AISivF0
The 3D Printing Zone (2018). Revised: 3D Printing - 13 Things I wish I knew When I Got Started. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvGKfevdf_Q
Thingiverse (2019). Thingiverse Education. Retrieved from https://www.thingiverse.com/education
Tinkerine (2017). Meet Our Educational Resources. Retrieved from https://u.tinkerine.com/
Ultimaker (2019). Lessons and tutorials by subject. Retrieved from https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/21893-lessons-and-tutorials-by-subject
Ultimaker (2019). Lesson ideas and starters. Retrieved from https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/21890-lesson-ideas-and-starters
Ultimaker (2019). Ultimaker Cura Software. Retrieved from https://ultimaker.com/en/products/ultimaker-cura-software
DIMENSIONS: Beginner's 3D Printing for Education
This TED talk by Stephen Elford might help spark your interest in 3D printing in education.
Creating this project really combined and built on many skills I have learned during the LIBE 477 course.
I decided that the best way to make a tutorial on how to 3D print for teaching would be to actually go through the steps of trying to do it myself. One of the most important skills I built up during this course was how to develop, maintain and take advantage of my own personal learning network. It's incredible the help people are willing to offer if you just ask. A good friend has a 3D printer, so I enlisted his help to try setting up a print myself. He recommended software and helped me when I got stuck. Plus, his 2 year old daughter acted as a model in some of my pictures. So huge thanks go to my dear friends Mike, Angela and Mika.
 |
| Bright young mind interested in 3D printing. |
 |
| My new heart! Actual size around 4.5 cm. |
Some things were more complicated than I thought (making sure the print would support itself), while the overall experience was actually quite simple once I had adequate instructions. And that was my issue and why I am extra glad I created this project. There are tons of resources out there, but I had a hard time finding one that held your hand through the process of creating your first print. Now that I have one project down, I feel like I could do so much more, and I can't wait to pass that feeling along to others! Here is a video of the printer in action, building up my heart:
You can see both the internal and external support structures the program designed to help support it during printing. I had to scale down the original file and make the print layers thicker so that it would print in a reasonable amount of time and I could leave with the print in hand, so this little heart took 2 hours and 35 minutes to print. In the land of 3D printing, that is FAST.
I also love that this project brought together a bunch of other skills I have learned in the recent past. I needed to remind myself how to make a website using the Weebly platform (which had been recommended by a teacher friend), I got to play around with my new phone's camera, I used the touch screen of my Lenovo laptop I taught myself to use earlier this year, and of course, learned to 3D print. I was also surprised to learn that you can buy a ready-to-use 3D printer for only a couple hundred dollars. Isn't technology grand!
 |
| My fancy skills using my new touch screen. Modified screen capture of 3D model in Cura. |
This feeling of being able to learn and create things for yourself is the spirit of many of the 3D printing lesson plans I discovered while creating the website. It gives them a tool to create something all their own, only limited by their imagination. They can get real life feedback about their designs and idea, and go back to their file to make changes and try again, which gives them a sense that learning is ongoing and design is an iterative process, just as I did while creating both the website and this blog post.
Now that this resource has been created, the next challenge is to get it out to the world. I intend to share it on social media for all of my teacher and librarian friends, not to mention anyone else who wanted to try but always thought it was too complicated. I will also have to circulate this at schools where I work. I would gladly run a workshop to go over the how-to of setting up a file, as well as discussing lesson ideas for using the 3D printer in classrooms. There are some great lesson plans separated by subject and I could make a specific note of what's out there for each department in the school, and have a few educational objects made so that the teachers can see the potential in the classroom.
The following resources were used to make the website and this blog post:
Chaos Core Tech (2015). How to Make Models for 3D Printing - Tinkercad Beginner's Tutorial. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsz2PNcAcPA
cicerone (2015). Anatomical Heart. Retrieved from https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:932606
Elford, Stephen (2016). Why Teachers Should Bring 3D Printers Into the Classroom | Stephen Elford | TEDxRosalindParkEd. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yRCUIbl_Do
Leapfrog (2019). 3D Print in Education. Retrieved from https://www.lpfrg.com/applications/education-and-3d-printing/
Learn By Layers (n.d.). 3D Printing Curriculum for Schools. Retrieved from https://www.learnbylayers.com/
MatterHackers (2018). How to Choose The Right 3D Printer // 3D Printer Guide. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-6Ond_p5KI
MatterHackers (2018). How To: 3D Printers For Beginners. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbIoKadLIuw
Monoprice (n.d.). Monoprice Select Mini 3D Printer V2 P/N 21711 User's Manual. Retrieved from https://downloads.monoprice.com/files/manuals/21711_Manual_170328.pdf
National Geographic Kids (2018). How 3D Printers Work | How Things Work With Kamri Noel. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlvK6DLwCz4
Neilson, Sonya (2019). LIBE 477 Inquiry 2: Learning to Use My Lenovo Flex 5 - An Example of Developing my ICT Skills. Retrieved from https://svneilson.blogspot.com/2019/02/libe-477-inquiry-2-learning-to-use-my.html
Richardson, Will (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere. TED Conferences Publishing.
Simplify3D (2019). Simplify3D Video Tutorials. Retrieved from https://www.simplify3d.com/support/videos/
Snikhovska, Kseniia (2018). The Best 3D Printers for Kids. Retrieved from https://penandplastic.com/best-3d-printer-kids/
SprintRay (2018). Tips & Tricks - Removing Supports. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIR0AISivF0
The 3D Printing Zone (2018). Revised: 3D Printing - 13 Things I wish I knew When I Got Started. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvGKfevdf_Q
Thingiverse (2019). Thingiverse Education. Retrieved from https://www.thingiverse.com/education
Tinkerine (2017). Meet Our Educational Resources. Retrieved from https://u.tinkerine.com/
Ultimaker (2019). Lessons and tutorials by subject. Retrieved from https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/21893-lessons-and-tutorials-by-subject
Ultimaker (2019). Lesson ideas and starters. Retrieved from https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/21890-lesson-ideas-and-starters
Ultimaker (2019). Ultimaker Cura Software. Retrieved from https://ultimaker.com/en/products/ultimaker-cura-software
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