It won’t be until more people become aware of the benefits that 3D printing can provide that the technology will infiltrate these places of education. One school in Washington, DC has recently proved that 3D printing within the classroom environment can have many benefits to children.
“We at GDS are admittedly newbies when it comes to 3D printing, though we have a core group of teachers and students who are very excited about 3D printing, and use the printers all the time,” Tim Lyons, Director of Technology & 21st Century Learning at GDS, tells 3DPrint.com. “At our high school campus, our students have been more individualized & pragmatic with their use of the printers, and have made custom GDS-themed smartphone cases, organizer/mounts for the various remotes & dongles in each of our classrooms, etc. Academically, several of our science teachers have printed models of atoms, molecules, organs and other biological & chemical structures. We also did a series of prints of clips that would accept a small glass bead and fit over the body of an iPhone, turning it in effect into a 300x microscope.”
One of the latest projects was one taken on by a 5th grade glass at the school, aimed at teaching students urban planning and design, while at the same time providing an extraordinary lesson on both CAD and 3D printing. The 10- and 11-year-old students really took to the project, which asked them to use their knowledge of city development to build a future city.
In the end, not only were these students provided with a fun, interactive lesson on city planning, but they also learned how to combine CAD design with 3D printing — surely tools which will all come in handy throughout their educational and professional lives.
What do you think about this incredible use of 3D printing at the Georgetown Day School? Do you think more teachers and school administrators should be using this as a plan for their own classrooms? Discuss in 3D printing in schools forum thread on 3DPB.com.