Hi Group 11,
Thank you for your engaging and fun activities based upon 3D printing. I learned a great deal. I especially enjoyed experimenting with the different programs to create different shapes and commenting on other classmates creations in Flickr. I also enjoyed the discussions for both elementary and secondary students after learning about the different case-studies you offered. I knew 3D printing was around but didn’t realize the prevalence in the market and its exponential growth in use in numerous high-schools already.
The implications for 3D printing in architecture, industrial design, jewelry design and science and engineering is fascinating and wonderful! It has such relevance to teaching, learning and creative inquiry that lend to authentic exploration of different subject areas for our students of the future!
Some additional ideas I thought of for use in my classrooms would be having students create models not only of human organs for biology but also complex organic chemistry molecules and proteins (crystals) to be able to visually see all of the nuances of their design and formation. Students learning about history could also interact directly with fossils and artifacts from the past without destroying the original entities or even create/duplicate historical artifacts to study. It still seems to be an expensive venture for many public schools but slowly becoming more affordable to students and the public as a whole. I am interested to see how far this technology will go and to what extent for our future students. I think it does add to their creative inquiry and authentic learning. So fascinating! Thank you for a very informative week!
Cheers Leah