5 reasons why you should be jelaous of your child using 3D printer
Thanks to advancements in technology every subsequent generation has it easier. Our grandparents had no calculators, the current 20-to-30-year-olds had some computer classes at school. Nowadays children learn coding and use 3D printers. We actually have reasons to be jealous.
3D printing makes learning more fun
How much time can a person spend in a classroom and listen to teachers? To many people the memories of their school years are painful. These days, on the other hand, lessons at the early stage of education are made more appealing through fun and games and older kids are offered projects, experiments, field trips and other activities.
Schools are equipped with multimedia boards, many also provide tablets or educational robots. 3D printers are revolutionary as well. Thanks to them the learning process becomes more attractive and more efficient at any level. Here’s five reasons why we ought to be jealous and five reasons why 3D printers in schools are a good idea.
#1. 3D printing unchains creativity
The most important argument for using 3D printers as early as possible is creativity. Children can get to know the technology from every angle, starting with simple 3D modeling software, selecting pre-made models and adjusting them to their needs. Next, the children can observe the printing process and use the items they created themselves.
These might be toys, ornaments, gadgets or teaching aids. 3D printers such as the Zortrax M200 and M300 can print out objects of different sizes and made of various materials. Children can test the durability of these materials. Nowadays, when everybody has a computer and a smartphone, 3D print is something fresh, new and incredibly developing.
#2. 3D printing can be used in many subjects
A 3D printer won’t just be used in art classes. It’s interdisciplinary. For biology lessons you can print elements of the skeleton or cellular structures, for chemistry, models of chemical compounds and for maths, unusual geometric shapes. Computer classes will provide a good opportunity to teach 3D programming.
Everything depends on how inventive the teachers will be, but 3D printers can be used in virtually any field at any level of education. They will add something new everywhere, whether it be helping to explain how the human body works or how chemical particles are built.
#3. 3D printing teaches teamwork and entrepreneurship
Usually one class or group will only have one printer. This means having to split up tasks such as designing specific elements. Some children will monitor the printing process, others will connect the elements into one whole. Afterward, the children might do an auction of the Christmas ornaments they printed or start thinking about creating new devices, prototyping the machines of the future.
#4. 3D printing is essential for rapid prototyping at the university level and in STEM education
Prototyping becomes especially important at the university level and in high schools, primarily technical engineering schools. Zortrax 3D printers are used in the agricultural technical school in Stare Lubiejewo, Poland. Students use them during classes in mechanics to create sleeves, cogwheels, and hubcaps, and learn how they perform in practice. Printers are also invaluable in art schools.
The School of Form in Poznań, Poland, has five Zortax M200 3D printers. Students use them during classes in computer programming, robotics, product design and parametric programming. They also use 3D printing for their diploma projects. 3D print allows you to prototype quickly, efficiently and inexpensively, which in turn lets you present your projects, models and visions easily.
#5. Schools with 3D printers help young people actually develop
All the aforementioned aspects are building blocks for the development of children. Access to 3D printers lets them work creatively, practically, and experimentally. This improves logical thinking, creativity, and decision-making. Such lessons are completely different from monotone lectures, they encourage being independent and developing oneself. And this helps in subsequent stages of life.
We live in interesting times
3D printing is not just about quick prototyping, it’s also present in medicine and robotics. Children who start working with 3D printers early on and learn the basics of coding will find it a lot easier to get satisfying jobs. There are too few people skilled in technical and computer stuff.
The economy needs engineers. On the other hand, 3D printing teaches entrepreneurship and process management, so it will be attractive to less technically inclined students as well. Today the potential in the field of education is enormous thanks to new technologies.