W11: 3D Printing Launchpad

Week 11, I thought your group did a great job on your OER. I found the case studies to be valuable, as they put 3D printing in a practical context. The questions on the case studies also brought out key discussions in this area. I really enjoyed the activity that allowed us to create our own work because it helped me understand and see how fun designing could be. Your OER made me realize that 3D printing can be beneficial to student learning and attainable in a school setting. Thanks!

Week 11, thank you for this really interesting OER! I must admit, I had never really thought about 3D printing in terms of K-12 education before, or really much at all. The videos you shared were really useful in helping me to understand the different perspectives and types of 3D printing options that are becoming available to us. The activity where we were to design our own object was especially useful because it gave us that hands-on experience in seeing how easy it is design something, which was helpful in getting me to envision more possibilities for this technology in an educational setting. It is an area I will be exploring further this year. Thanks again!

Thanks Week 11 for the opportunity to update us on the latest in 3D printing niche. You provided decent overview of 3D printing and its practical usability in education and other different, I’d say “ultimately creative environments”. Looks to me that as whole society at this point we’re not fully aware of the many possibilities of 3D printing in future. Recently, using 3D printing technology hardworking experts started building big houses. When we synergize the AI, nanotechnology, robotics and 3D printing, the result is so positively disruptive, and at this point the effects are not easily imaginable, as well as the possible reach of these combined technologies, and its huge impact to the society, and the lives of all of us. I am looking forward to it! Regards, Milorad.

Thanks for an interesting topic and week! I was skeptical of 3D printers at first but the case studies you chose are what convinced me that it is an interesting venture. I don't think the device itself has a ton of value in my elementary teaching position but I think that all the factors surrounding the device give it value. In the podcast from the fifth grade teacher, the students had to be experts on the printer for when visitors asked them questions. They also discussed how they could use the printer to do good in the community and what a project like that would entail. Like Aviola, I wish there had been more discussion about how schools could go about getting a printer through grants or other funding. That said, your presentation was well done. Your questions were thought provoking and I would be interested to know the results of my classmates.

Prior to this week, my knowledge of 3D printing was quite limited, particularly in relation to its educational applications. Your OER effectively explained and illustrated the world of 3D printing with a good balance of text and video. Presenting both the benefits and potential risks providing a balanced picture of this technology. The site was easy to navigate and the tabs were appropriately labeled. I appreciated the integration of choice for each of the activities. Although it is valuable to broaden my understanding of other fields and areas of education, I like the ability to apply my learning to my current teaching assignment. For this reason, I preferred the option to choose between elementary and high school case studies and discussion forums. Providing options for 3D software was also beneficial. I was able to try out a couple of different programs, expanding my understanding of product creation and broadening my options for potential classroom use. Thanks for a great week! Monique

Thanks for a great week. I like the the clean, simple lines of your site and as others have done, the inclusion of the week’s activities as an overview. I like the way you framed the focus for the week and gave a context to 3D printing for education. In terms of navigation I like the way you included the linear (tabs on the left), sequential (buttons on the bottom of the page) and free access through various links and buttons throughout. This inclusion of pathways, allowing each learner to experience the site based on their interest and method of exploration, was a good application of adult learning principles and required a great deal of thought to get all the links to work correctly. In addition, the case studies were an effective way of providing examples of 3D printing, allowing the user to dig deeper into the cases as desired, in preparation to responding to your questions regarding 3D printing application and challenges. The “hands-on” activity allowing us to experience the design of a 3-D resource, posting it to Flickr and then consider its application to learning was engaging as well as challenging. You achieved a nice balance with this activity. I'm sure someone has already posted but I noticed a couple of typos :) With this change looming on the horizon, it is important that examine how 3D printing is currently changing and shaping education, and preview what this could mean for education in the future. http://etec522-3dprinting.weebly.com/brave-new-3d-world.html Through 21st century learning initiatives and many partnerships in both Canada and the Unites Stated, many schools are exploring the benefits of 3D printing. http://etec522-3dprinting.weebly.com/elementary---middle-school.html

@courtneyoc, ruddy28 & aviola - Missed your comments at first because they were below the divider on this page. Thanks for your reviews and suggestions for improvements to our OER. We have made the changes as suggested: rearranged the text and video for 4D printing, removed the asterisk in question 2 and justified the alignment of the paragraphs for a more professional look. Courtney, I'm like you in that I did not pay that much attention to 3D printing initially even though I knew it existed. This group project is beneficial for me personally and professionally because it is an eye-opener. Colleen, I agree with you that 4D printing is quite terrifying. The video looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, yet it is real. Thanks, Angela, the Educause site on Makerspaces is very helpful and relevant.

Thanks Week 11 for your OER. 3D printing is something that I’ve been aware of but not something that I’ve really thought about using in an educational setting. I have a friend who currently owns a 3D printing business and he does tours throughout various schools teaching kids how to use the program and prints a couple designs. I like that you provided the opportunity to play around with a 3D image. It’s always nice to gain first hand experience of the topics or programs that we are learning about. I have to admit that it was a little painful for me at first, but I can see how repetition/experience would make the process go faster. Additionally I enjoyed the use of the case studies. It was great to see how schools are currently using 3D printing in their curriculum – this allowed me to really think about how I could potentially use it in my practice if I ever had the opportunity. The only comment I have to make is about your survey at the end. Question number two has a red asterisk above the “if other, please specify” part – requiring us to put an answer there. Since I selected one of the choices listed above I was unsure of what to put here. If possible, it might help to remove the mandatory answer from that part. Question #10 asks us about our interest in purchasing 3D printers. Since the survey asked us questions about use in teaching practice and personal use – I was unsure if this question was related to an academic setting or personal setting. These suggestions do not affect the overall experience of your OER but perhaps it would help make it a bit more seamless. Thanks again and great job!

Beautifully designed website with well-chosen videos that were focused on the subtopics you wanted us to discuss. A formatting note, I personally prefer justified text over unjustified. I just find it looks more like a professional publication when it is justified so I would change that for final submission. Structure and pacing of activities were balanced and accessible for all. I played around with Tinkercad for my activity 1. Personally I am not a fan of having to sign up for things just to try them out unless I plan on using it in the future, it increases my spam. It was great being exposed to a new tool that I can pass along to my colleagues and friends who are more creative than I. I liked that you touched on ethical issues and patents. When I started watching the 4D video I wasn’t sure what I was watching until I read the paragraph beneath it. Perhaps moving the text up so that it leads in to the video would be a good idea. I was struck by the implications of 4D printing. How will we ever be able to get on a plane again with anything if materials change shape after exposure to water or temperature changes?! Security would not know what to search for and people who mean to cause harm to other would have better, stealthier tools to accomplish their task with. The benefits of 3D and 4D printing are incredible, especially as they apply to health care, but the risks are equally as terrifying in the hands of the wrong people, but I suppose the same thing has been said about every new innovation throughout history. I really enjoyed the case studies and appreciated being exposed to how 3D printing is already spreading in to schools, something I was not previously aware of. The questions were thought provoking. I didn’t enjoy the platform Nabble. There was a lot of scrolling involved, we couldn’t customize our posts and it was just hard on the eyes. I can see it being useful as an outside UBC blog host but style wise it did not capture me. However, I appreciate you exposing us to a new tool. Overall, you have created a really nice OER that expands and adds value to the field of 3D printing. Thank you for an engaging week and I look forward to seeing the results of the survey.

Thanks week 11. I enjoyed getting a chance to play with some design software and explore some of the case studies about how 3D printing is being used in schools already. I think that your focus was interesting but was very much focused on the opportunity for educators as opposed to the emerging venture. There was some mention of partnership with private investors to provide 3D printers for schools. I wonder if Makerspaces (http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7095.pdf) would have been a really appropriate emerging market in relation to 3D printing. This would provide room for partnerships with investors (industry) and educators and students. As an introduction to the technology and it's uses in K-12, the OER was excellent. Thanks again.