Current Trends in Instructional Technology: 3D Printing

DEFINITION/DESCRIPTIONS

The manufacturing of a three-dimensional product from a computer-driven digital model. This process is additive, where multiple layers from CAD (computer-aided design) drawings are laid down one after another to create different shapes.

3D printing. 2016. In BusinessDictionary.com. Retrieved June 15, 2016, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/3dprinting.html - ixzz3D3pPUGIv

Top selling makers of 3D printers on Amazon.com include:

• FlashForge
• QIDI Technology
• Dremel
• Monoprice 

And these are all priced under $1000 now!

The more well known 3D printers, Makerbot and Makergear brands are still affordable under $2000.  This technology is really dropping in price and becoming available to the mass public. Staples has a 3D printer for $300. 

DISCUSSION

3D printing is being used today to print everything from clothing, food, machine parts, scale models of architectural design, jewelry, to even organs! The number 1 advantage of 3D printing over 2D printing is that the 3D printer prints the actual artifact, rather than just concepts and designs. 3D printing reduces number of steps needed to realize a physical object. Some specific examples and advantages of 3D over 2D highlighted during our discussion follow:

·      Medical – 2D print of a kidney shows us the kidney a patient need but does not GET the kidney for the patient – a 3D printer can create a kidney.

·      Architecture – Blueprints and 2D digital renderings of buildings can only show us so much of how a structure would look in real space – 3D print can show us the spatial relationship in a way 2D printing cannot.

·      Historical – Researchers and students can hold 3D printed replicas of artifacts in their hands and examine them in ways they could not by looking at 2D images or by handling the real artifact without damaging it.

During our class discussion I learned about a huge 3D printer in China that was used to print 10 houses in one day for less than $5000 each. You can see photos of those houses here:
http://inhabitat.com/chinese-company-assembles-ten-3d-printed-concrete-houses-in-one-day-for-less-than-5000-each/winsun-3d-printed-houses-3/

The thing that got me most excited about 3D printing is the possibilities for medical use. The ability of doctors to take cells and tissue from patients, and using a 3D printer, print new organs or body parts for the patient who has lost them. Because the 3D printer would use the patients own tissue, the transplant rejection factor is greatly reduced. I was impressed to hear that the US Military is investing in this research and technology – with the hope of helping wounded veterans. This technology could save the lives of those we know and love one day in the near future. 

With discussion to use in education – 3D printing has the ability to instruct in all the fields of study that we mentioned above. In K-12 schools where 3D printing has been implemented, traditional shop is being replaced with “MakerSpace” – where 3D printing is just one of the tools students use to create and realize their ideas into objects they can hold and use. This is very important because the skills it takes to learn to use 3D printing engages student’s spatial reasoning – which is the capacity to think about objects in three dimensions and to draw conclusions about those objects from limited information. Development of spatial reasoning skills are linked to higher performance in education, both in K-12 and in higher ed. “MakerSpace” classes and use of 3D printing engages what we call 21^st Century skills in our students and can promote their educational success.

RESOURCES

Article:

During our discussion I expressed some reservations about makerspace replacing traditional shop in schools. I think this blog by educator Jennifer Cooper shows a makerspace class that incorporates 3D printing as well as the traditional tools of shop and excites me about this type of class in K-12 schools. Maybe I want to become a makerspace teacher!

Cooper, J. (2013, September 30). Designing a School Makerspace. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/designing-a-school-makerspace-jennifer-cooper

Web URL:

The whole article and discussion about the $5000 3D printed houses in China got me thinking and I found this Movoto Real Estate blog site from 2015 that let’s you estimate how much money it would cost to print your own house by calculating your square footage and number of floors. To print my one-story, 1900 square foot home, would cost $294,384. The 3D printer would need to print 24,532 bricks. This would take 194 years, 11 months, and 2 days according to this site. You can check out how much it would be to print your own house by visiting the site here: http://www.movoto.com/blog/novelty-real-estate/3d-print-your-house/

Video:

Here is a great short video from CNN showing how doctors and scientists are experimenting with 3D printing to print organs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5xQB7Rgd98

ACTIVITY

In a jewelry fabrication art class, I can have students design jewelry pieces and use the software to generate the “pattern” necessary to create jewelry designs that are then 3D printed. Art students in fabrication may create items such as these shown below that are currently on Etsy for sale! Students are not only flexing their artistic muscle, but practicing their spatial reasoning skills as well.

CLOSING

While I was initially lukewarm to the use of 3D printing in K-12 education, through the discussion of the class, and the examples and experiences shared, I am now very interested in 3D printing and it’s application in the classroom for children. To keep up with this technology I will search for news on it frequently and take the advice of a fellow student to check out MakerSpace Charlotte.

Here is a link to my Linot on 3D Printing:
http://linoit.com/users/jkeithle/canvases/3D%20Printing%20Module%20

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