Home 3D Printing in Education 3D Printing – Coming to a Classroom Near you (Sooner Than you...

3D Printing – Coming to a Classroom Near you (Sooner Than you Think)!

19
SHARE

3D Printing is less Costly and More Readily Available Then Most People Realize.

Did you know that you can buy a 3D printer from Amazon.com for $1200 and start creating thousands of different items in your home or classroom today. Seriously – here's a link to the FlashBorge 3D Printer on Amazon ($US 1,199.00 as of the writing of this article), and here's a link to Thingyverse, where you can find thousands of different designs that tell the printer what to print – anything from a frog dissection kit to an automatic transmission model. Everyone I talk to about this is pretty amazed that this technology is that far along and available for affordable purchase and use. The potential for the use of this new technology is education is vast and exciting.

3d printing in education(Image composite of pics from NSF, Amazon, Thingiverse)

Forbes reported that “3D Printing Will Transform Education” in 2011, and now the 2014 Horizon Report from NMC and EDUCAUSE has stated that 3D Printing is a technology that will see wide spread adoption in the 2 to 3 year time frame.

The Potential – What 3D Printing Will Make Possible in Coming Years

The possibilities for 3D printing and how it will be used in the coming decade and on into the future are pretty mind boggling. Printing human organs, foods, and sadly, things like weapons. This news video from GlobalNews provides a great overview of these exciting and occasionally controversial innovations. Holy Star Trek fabricator, Batman! Before we know it, we will move from downloading music and movies to downloading objects.

The Reality – What Schools are Doing With 3D Printers Today

3D printers are being used right now is schools across the world. Here's a bunch of examples:

These are just a few of the many examples out there. As the technology continues to improve and become even more affordable and capable, 3D printers are sure to become standard equipment in schools and classroom everywhere … it's only a matter of time.

How about you? What would you use a 3D printer for in your classroom?

Related Posts (if the above topic is of interest, you might want to check these out):
Collaborative Learning on Touchtables: Engaging Students with Group Work
5 Ways Google Glass Can Be Used in Education
7 Ways Holographic Technology Will Make Learning More Fun

19 COMMENTS

  1. […] 3D Printing – Coming to a Classroom Near you (Sooner Than you Think)! 3D Printing is less Costly and More Readily Available Then Most People Realize. Did you know that you can buy a 3D printer from Amazon.com for $1200 and start creating thousands of different items in your home or classroom today. Seriously – here’s a link to the FlashBorge 3D Printer on Amazon ($US 1,199.00 as of the writing of this article), and here’s a link to Thingyverse, where you can find thousands of different designs that tell the printer what to print – anything from a frog dissection kit to an automatic transmission model. Everyone I talk to about this is pretty amazed that this technology is that far along and available for affordable purchase and use. The potential for the use of this new technology is education is vast and exciting. 6 Strategies for Funding a Makerspace. […]

  2. […] Related Posts (if the above topic is of interest, you might want to check these out): How Digitally Enabled Educators are Using Technology and What They Want to Learn More About 5 Tech Savvy Teaching Tools That Your Students Will Love and Your Peers Will Envy 3D Printing – Coming to a Classroom Near you (Sooner Than you Think)! […]

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here