3D Printing OER

Hi Marshall and Ebru, What a fantastic resource. Thank you for this wonderful OER about 3D printing. To be honest, I am very inexperienced with 3D printing. This summer when I worked in summer school, it was the first time I saw 3D printing in action. A teacher had created his very own 3D printer because of the high cost of purchasing one. It was interesting speaking with him about how passionate he was about 3D printing, but how it wasn’t in his reach to purchase it, and his school would not set the funds aside for it—so he created it instead. He used it in summer school and the children went nuts! They were so engaged in learning, and it was all they could talk about. The buzz and excitement around 3D printing made me want to look a little more into it, and I thank you for this informative resource. I enjoyed how you made the information easily accessible. From the perspective of someone who is very inexperienced with 3D printing, I really enjoyed your “home” page where you went over the basics! I’m a very visual learner, so the only feedback I would give about this section would be to have the pictures correspond with the paragraphs, as I found myself scrolling back and forward after each paragraph that you described the FDM, SLA, and SLS types of printers (since I have no experience with them). Nevertheless, I found this section very informative, and helped me peruse the website with more ease. I really enjoyed how you presented both positives and negatives of the technology. I believe it’s important to be fully aware of both the positives and the pitfalls before implementing new technology in educational environments. Outlining the applications at the different ages (preschool, K-12, ect.) was very informative as well. As the maker movement is increasing, it was great watching the YouTube video about how 3D printing is helping the children create and learn about form and function in the process. As others have mentioned, the activities section would have been nice to have a tutorial. As someone with limited experience with 3D printers, I was quite frustrated with Activity #1, and moved on to Activity #2 rather quickly (but thank you for the option to do so). A tutorial would have given a bit more guidance for those lacking experience. That being said, I look forward to learning more from the various website you provided. With time, and scaffolding skills, I think it is something that can be very beneficial. I believe that 3D printing is an amazing technology and can be used in a variety of ways and professions. It is a great way for children to use their creativity and imagination in constructive ways, and see the product first hand. Thank you for a great OER. -Kat

Hi Marshall and Ebru, Great site you have put together about 3D printing. The information was presented in an easily accessible and readable format. I have had a lot of experience working with 3D printers in and outside of the classroom and can definitely say I support the full use of 3D printing technology in almost any application of learning. The part I enjoyed about your website is the fact that you present positives and negatives of the technology, but were able to present it in a format where the negatives did not take away the shining points of the positive nature of the technology. In my opinion, what 3D printers boil down to in terms of being negative introductions to the classroom is startup costs. I'd also like to mention that a potential "pitfall" (if you can even call it that) to 3D printers in classrooms, especially in K-12 is inexperience. 3D printing and modelling is a whole new language, especially for individuals who have little to no experience in computer software, or technical aptitude. I've heard from many teachers in my school district and neighboring districts that their biggest push back against the technology is their fear to dive straight into the deep end and begin to learn a whole new subject. Contributing factors include age, subject area, comfort with technology and more but there are teachers that are unwilling or uncomfortable with putting the work in to learn all the ins and outs of the tech before applying it to their classroom and students. In my opinion, it takes the right mentor and possibly a tech liaison in the district to smooth out these fears, but to start up using 3D printing technology is not as daunting as one may think. Students these days, especially, are really keen to learn and have subtly become masters of Google. Otherwise, great website and guiding activities. The content demonstrates a wide variety of applications of 3D printing and provides enough insight into how to get started and why you would like to get started. Thanks! Derek

Marshall and Ebru, Thank you for sharing a highly informative resource on 3D printing. One aspect that I appreciate about your resource is your "About" page. Both of you offer excellent bios addressing your relevant experience and interest in 3D printing, and this helps to qualify your project even more. As for the effectiveness of your OER, I think that for someone like myself who has very limited experience and knowledge related to 3D printing, that you provide a good introduction into the possibilities and ways that 3D design and printing can enhance learning, and is currently represented in the marketplace. I appreciate the variety of information that your site contains, but am wondering if there is room for more depth, particularly in guiding the educator into incorporating 3D printing in meaningful ways. The Padlet activities help to build knowledge in this area, and are valuable to gather further purposes for 3D printing - an excellent aspect of your site. I appreciate both the examples that you shared in your site as well as the ideas shared within the Padlet conversation, but feel like there is still room for more. Overall, excellent OER - you both should be very proud of your work!

Hi Ebru and Marshall, Thank you for your contribution to this week's learning! I think our classmates have already provided many useful suggestions for your site, so I won't regurgitate. I will piggyback onto Brian's comment, however. For the activity, I contacted my school's 3D printer expert and she highly recommended the Fusion360 program, since that is what her students use. I do not know to what extent this is used in school's, but it may be fair to assume that my school is not the only school using it. Because schools actually use this program, I really like Brian's suggestion of reworking the activity page into a step-by-step tutorial page, that have all future students use Fusion360. In the end, this is what I did to "survive" the learning process. Not having any experience with this, I felt a bit useless diving straight into a project. I had their Sketch Tutorial Video on my laptop screen and the program on my big screen. Step-by-step, I created my masterpiece, but this would not have happened any other way. Regardless, I very much appreciated spending the time creating my own copper hockey stick. I love activities that take me out of my usual learning space. Kudos to both of you!

Hey guys, Great work on the 3D printing OER!I have been interested in 3D printing tech for a long time and really think it is a great tool to help students learn about a wide variety of subjects. One of the things that has scared me in the past away from this investment has been (and I guess this is a few years ago now) the newness of many of the companies involved and I wanted to be sure they would be around for support and supplies later. On you section about the Market potential of this tech you cleared up my fears. One tip I might give when it comes to your activities is for # 1 – instead of just saying to participants – “try out one of these pieces of software and design something” maybe identify a tutorial or two people could work though first. Many people have not had much experience with 3D design software and a tutorial is way more helpful than a time to free play. It is easy to make so many mistakes that it gets frustrating. A tutorial or two would really give people a feel for the potential of the software that goes with 3D printing. Just my 2 cents (though I enjoyed the activity because I have pervious experience with SketchUp). You guys really got me thinking 3D printing and then I saw this news story today: https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/saskatoon-man-develops-largest-3d-printed-camper-1.3817387 I think there is a really exciting future for 3D printing tech and you guys did a great job presenting that and the educational potential. Brian

Hi Cassy, Most BC school districts, at least the ones I have spoken to, give specific amounts to each department for upgrades, materials, or tooling each year. Often schools will apply for additional funding from companies who are willing to sponsor them such as Chevron or Best Buy. Having a 3D printer in your classroom costs approximately $500 for a DIY kit where you build it but prices can go up from there. Some schools I have visited have multiple printers 4-6 and they have invested around $10000 in total over several years. Material costs of filament for FDM style printers range depending on brand and style but the typical filament is about $30 a for 1 spool (500g of material). Typically teachers will buy this using their class budget or will have students pay for prints by the number of grams of filament used in a print. 3D printers are quite reliable and are often run with minimal maintenance other than unclogging the nozzle and general cleaning. In my experience, uptime can be as much as 16+ hours a day but I do know some post secondary institutes who run 3D printers virtually 24/7.

Marshall and Ebru, I've really enjoyed reviewing your OER on 3D printing -- particularly the summaries for First Robotics (MindFuel supports First Robotics teams and I can't speak highly enough of this program!). I also appreciate the insight into how the 3D market has ebbed and flowed, and the 'trough of despair'. I think this provides valuable insight into market phases and against product developments and evolution, and think the Kickstarter backed Tiko is an exemplar, demonstrating that getting to market isn't just about the capital -- it's the team, access to advisors, ability to pivot and shift, and understanding the rapid evolution of the 3D printing landscape. I just downloaded software for 3D printing designs -- so will come back for more feedback once I've moved my way through this activity. Some of the questions I have: What are the required costs for implementation in the classroom (in K-12). Specifically, the cost of the actual printer (capital cost) and the cost of the materials? What is the up-time for the printer, and is the use of it offsetting the cost of acquiring it -- i.e. cost per student over lifetime of printer? Who pays for the materials costs? Teachers? Departmental budget? Students? Thanks for this insightful OER on 3D printing!