3D printing creates a physical 3-dimensional object from a 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) file. Once an object has been scanned it passes through a software platform called a "slicer" which converts the 3D model into a series of thin, 2 dimensional layers. It also creates a series of instructions, also referred to as a G-Code which can be tailored to your 3D printer.
3D printing’s in education allows students to bring objects out of the computer screen and into the real world, physically manipulating and inspecting their digital creations.
Limited only by their imagination, students can 3D print their own version of historical artefacts from ancient Egypt, physical architectural models of their visual communication designs, typography maps of geological locations, molecule, and cell structures for examination. Alternatively, like the astronauts on the international space station, students could explore ways in which they could repair broken items by designing and printing replacement parts.
Applications for the ways in which 3D printers can be used in the modern-day classroom are only limited by the students, and the teacher’s imaginations.3D printing is a key tool in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Mathematics) Education giving students the ability to conceptualize and visualize their designs while modelling the process of moving through the development process, from the design stage to the final product.
Creating not only an exciting and engaging learning activity, student’s creativity, problem-solving, inventive, and original thinking skills are developed, preparing them for the future.
FlashForge
Inventor2, Creator Pro2, Creator3, Inventor1, Hunter, Guider 2-S
MakerBot
Replicator Plus, Replicator Z18
Raise 3D
Pro2, Pro2+, E2
