How can 3D printing change the way we think about education?
This past year I was able to see a 3D printer in the classroom and the process and purpose behind it. Having this real perspective of the potential of a 3D printer has made me think a lot about what this will mean for the future of education. The most important being more possibilities- perhaps ones we haven’t even thought of yet.
It is exciting for me to see a tool such as the 3D printer in the classroom because of all the uses we will begin to discover by using it. Tech insider noted its uses ranging from a chip bag clip to replacing a piece on your headphones to a combination lock (Eadicicco, 2015). Life as we know it is changing with the invention of the 3D printer. If the way we live and how long we live is going to drastically change, then the possibilities seem endless when it comes to education (Federico-O'Murchu, 2014). Biology can take a more physical approach and print the actual object being studied. Learning about the flow of blood through the body? Elementary kids could learn how to print an actual heart and see a physical representation of what they are learning. 3D printing could allow physics in high school to build replicas of bridges, cars, or light sources to better understand force or electricity. Of course this is all in the far future. As mentioned before, this year I was able to see it in action and there is a lot of potential right now for this tool in the classroom. It brings excitement and curiosity to the classroom. I saw students gain a deeper understanding of the technological world as they watched this machine transform their computer prototype into a real tangible object. Students can take a unit further by creating a 3D object instead of the traditional cardboard, recycled materials, drawings, or paintings. Teachers can assign more open-ended projects or put students to the test by asking them to solve real world problems (Kane, 2017). My research on this week’s question to me to video after video and below are a few quite intriguing uses of 3D printing.
1 Comment
Dr. F
7/11/2017 05:19:15 pm
It would be interesting to hear about what you learned about 3d printing. Good blog.
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