3D Printing

The use of 3D printing and design in the classrooms provides many educational opportunities that have never been seen before. For example, 3D printing allows students to express their creativity in ways that they have never before been able to. As I was not a particularly artistic child, I know that a program like this would have captivated me much more than traditional painting and drawing. Further, students are evidently far more likely to be engaged with a lesson that they can relate to. As children spend more and more time on screens, a lesson that incorporates technology such as this is a great way to allow students to do an activity that is at the same time educational and interesting to them.

Of course, 3D printing is not a plausible lesson plan for all students or schools. The machines that are used are extremely expensive, and while 3D printing can be great learning tool for students, for schools with limited financial resources, there are many necessities that must be acquired before considering additions such as these.

By using the Tinkercad website, I was able to design and submit my own creation. I was able to choose essentially any form that I wanted, and alter it in size, shape, and colour so that it would fit in with my design. I really enjoyed the experience of formatting and finalizing a design to be printed. In all, this program was much easier to use than I was expecting. I had a bit of a tricky time with alignment, but when I realized that I could input coordinates manually, I was able to get all of me letters to match up in size and positioning. I have included a photo of my design below, and I am very excited to see how it turns out!