Although I have seen the TinkerCad website and have watched a printer work its magic, I had limited experience with 3D printing until this week. I must admit that I thought TinkerCad would have been easier to use. I did struggle a bit trying to design an iphone holder but after a few failed attempts I decided to explore TinkerCad another day. I am glad I did. I just finished a final project that I am proud to share. Instead of an iphone holder, I decided to create a sign for our school’s new maker lab called Cambridge Create. I have been trying to design a sign for weeks now but never seemed to have the right materials. I can’t image a more fitting tool than the 3D printer to make the sign. I figured out that my trouble the first day had to do with the view setting I was on. I could not move shapes up or down. Like all technology, I got easily frustrated but only needed fresh eyes and some good old fashion persistence to create something great. The design is rather simple and I look forward to getting more comfortable with TinkerCad.
 |
Looking at the designs my students created last year, I am amazed how quickly they picked up this tool. Many made elaborate boats and figurines as a project in art class. Yesterday, Ellen and I asked the Art Teacher to give us a tour of 3D printing. We couldn’t get it to work because of software issues with ZSuite. I guess ZSuite is a tool to help the person printing (or teacher) look for final corrections with the model before printing. Nonetheless, we learned the general process: how to turn the printer on, load and unload the plastic and tips for saving designs. She had some great ideas that included student names and color in the file name. She emphasized that the printing takes so long (hours in many cases) that students may not be available when you need to ask which file belongs to them and which color they wanted. Many great tips were learned and I can not wait to start printing!
I look forward to using the 3D printer with my 6th grade tech class and maybe some other grades in the building. I want projects to be spurred directly from students’ questions or needs. I don’t want to be just printing meaningless fidget spinners but I also know that creating anything helps student develop persistence and tinkering skills. I would like to do more research on best practices for the classroom that honor student inquiry. Some ideas I have might be to have the 4th grade design log cabins based on the book Green Mountain Hero. Students can take notes on how the author describes the log cabin and how it was built. Then they can use their notes to recreate models with the 3D printer. For my 6th grade tech class, I want to pose the questions: “What is an obstacle in your life?” and “What would make your life easier?” Students can invent and then create a object that would solve some sort of problem in their lives. Perhaps some students will create apps while others will create a physical object with tactile materials or the 3D printer.
Yeah for growth mindset! I also struggled with TinkerCad and felt I was just not very 3D spacial. Sometimes the best PD as a teacher is to do something that does not come naturally and keep at it (the way our students have to when we ask them to play in a domain that comes naturally to us, but not to them)
ReplyDeleteLove the Sign!
As you will see it will take a while to print and you may need to print it in pieces to get the size you hope for.
What type of 3D printer do you have at your school?
I hope you get it up and running and get to print something you CREATED! perhaps your sign!
Fidget spinners could be a great way to engage students with the software at first. There is a lot of precision in getting the bearings hole the correct size!
And students can be creative in the design.
This might get their fluency so they can be better positioned for the log cabin design! That way the first time they are just focusing on learning the skills, and the second time they can focus on the literature and imagining the log cabin (and be less limited by their newbie skill level)
Love the idea of physical objects to solve a problem! Have you heard of the website https://www.diyability.org/
We have a Zortraz. I agree, fidget spinners might be a great way to get students' feet wet. I will check out that website! We can't wait to have you visit CES.
ReplyDelete