3D Prints!

I can safely say that 3D printing has been a hit. I have learned so much throughout the time it took to teach and print all of my 250 4th and 5th grade students. I started out working with 5th grade and changed how I taught by the time I started 4th grade simply because I learned so much about the process by teaching and printing 5th grade work. Simple things that I hadn't even considered wound up creating fairly major printing errors. Other things that I thought would be problematic wound up being fine. 

I let my students choose to create whatever they wanted to print. We used a free online program called Tinkercad. (I highly recommend it.) I wound up having several students facing the dreaded open-ended project block. I think it was a combination of such wide choice and using a completely new media that was a little tough for some kids. The vast majority of my students had a more concrete plan and wound up creating pretty cool designs. This has been a wonderful way to integrate technology into my classroom. It teaches students new skills that are so incredibly applicable to so many jobs that will be available in the future. 

Printing is what takes the most time. I've been printing pretty much non-stop since winter break. I've completely finished printing my 5th grade work and I'm a little more than 3/5 of the way through 4th grade. The printing should be finished next week! I'm able to print 4-5 designs at a time. I start the printer right when I get to school in the morning and I'm usually able to get two sets per day. The up side is that the printer makes all kinds of futuristic sounds and I can pretend I'm in the Jetsons! 

This is most of the work from one class. It took about three days to print all of these. 

Obviously I'll be using the printer more in the future. I'm working with our gifted intervention specialist to have students create more intricate designs to print and send to our sister school in China. Next year, I'm thinking about more specific lesson ideas to use. I really like the idea of using industrial design and the design process as the basis of a lesson. Students could create designs that would be solutions to a problem they encounter in life. Who knows? The options are endless. 

3D Printing!

The future. It's here. At least it is in my art room. 

Last year, I did some fundraising and wrote a grant in order to buy a 3D printer. My 3D dreams came true and I was able to purchase an Ultimaker 2+. I wound up ordering it last spring, but I didn't plan to use it until this year. 

Prior to buying the printer, I hadn't ever used one before. I don't think I had ever seen one other than online pictures. A colleague had purchased one and raved about using it with students. 

After I got the printer, I immediately started learning how to use it and figure what it is capable of. 3D printers use a specific type of 3D image file in order to produce the print. Special slicing software takes a 3D image and divides it into hundreds of individual layers that the printer prints. There were several preloaded files that I did test prints with, but I quickly found sites like thingiverse.com that are 3D community sites in which files are available for download and there is plenty of information about printing. 

In addition to learning the hardware, there are various types of software that are available for 3D printers. I'm using a web-based program called Tinkercad. It is free to sign up and is pretty easy for students to learn. They have a whole series of tutorials that I used to learn the software. I wound up setting up 30 different accounts that my students share. I have a few students in each class who have set up their own accounts at home as well. The best part about Tinkercad being web-based is that students are able to access it from home if they really want to put extra time into their work. 

You might be asking yourself why I would put a 3D printer in an elementary art room. In my opinion, it's just another tool to be creative with. Students still use creativity to come up with their own designs. The computer just becomes another form of media. I have about 250 4th and 5th graders that are currently working on laptops in order to create their designs. Touching on my last post about choice, I set up three loose categories that students can work within. Students choose between creating dream houses/buildings, transportation, or figurines. The open choice stumped a few students, but the majority have been able to come up with pretty solid ideas to build off of. We started with a day of sketching, then did a training day with Tinkercad. I'm giving each class 4-5 additional classes to work on their projects before they download the 3D files and send them to me. 

5th grade piece in progress. His grandfather is a pilot and he's making him a model of the plane he flies. 

This project has been a really nice change of pace in so many ways. It's nice to having something so different going on in my classroom. Using Tinkercad is new and exciting for the students, so they are incredibly engaged in what they are doing. It has also given students another way to excel in my classroom. Some students who may not be the most artistic kids in the class have really taken off with this project because it uses an entirely different skill set than traditional art making. 

I made a quidditch pitch as my demo piece. I'm cool with how nerdy that is. 

Do any of you have a 3D printer? I'm super interested in hearing about projects that you've come up with to use it. It's truly an amazing technology and I couldn't be more excited to have it in my classroom.