STEP 1 – RESEARCH SCHOOLS USING 3D PRINTING.

The focal point of my future vision is the impact of 3D printing on kids, thus in step one the research is focused on collecting information about how institutions and companies are eager to include 3D printing technology in schools.

3D Printers Coming to Every School in the UK – UK is one of the countries that are ambitious to include 3D printing programs in the schools. According to this article 3D printing has a huge potential in schools because it can influence kid’s motivation, their learning, their careers, their creativity, and even entrepreneurialism. It highlights very important aspects:

• Kids find 3d printing very exciting,
• Kids are eager to learn about new technologies
• 3D printing is a learning tool to promote innovation     http://3dprint.com/12436/3d-printing-education/

Printeer – a 3D printer for kids and schools – Companies such as PRINTEER are focused of produce 3D printers for kids, and they also developed an easy interface to design in tablets. PRINTEER’s products are specifically focused on children’s development and creativity. They are actually partnering with local schools in California to bring PRINTEER to after-school programs and in-classroom demos.                                                                                                    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2001363001/printeer-a-3d-printer-for-kids-and-schools

MakerBot Academy: Why 3D Printing Belongs In The Classroom – MakerBot believes it is important for children to learn this pioneering technology at an early age, and is calling on the power of crowdfunding to make its dream a reality. They are trying to persuade individuals and companies to donate money to public schools through the crowdfunding to help teachers raise money to afford a MakerBot Academy 3D printing bundle for their school.           http://www.ibtimes.com/makerbot-academy-why-3d-printing-belongs-classroom-1467134

MakerBot Replicator 3D Printers for Teachers, Only $98 – MakerBot announced a partnership with Donorschoose, a donation based crowdfunding platform, in which they too, offered to fund teacher’s 3D printers down to the $98 level in California.             http://3dprint.com/526/makerbot-replicator-3d-printers-for-teachers-only-98-thanks-autodesk/

Chicago Magnet School to Launch $40,000 3D Printing Lab – Walt Disney Magnet School in Chicago is ready to launch a “Makers Lab” of $40000 in equipment for kids. Their vision is to engage kids in projects that that are going to make the world a better place and improve the lives of people.                                                                        http://3dprintingindustry.com/2014/02/21/chicago-magnet-school-launch-40000-3d-printing-lab/

STEP 2 – INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF 3D PRINTING ON CHILDREN’S CREATIVITY

I personally could perceive the positive impact of 3D printing on children when I visited the Makes Faire in Flushing. It is obvious that 3D printing will become soon in one of the tools to create and innovate for kids. In step 2, the research is focused on collecting information about how this technology is impacting children’s development.

Why I Love My 3D Printer – MakerBot is one of the companies that focused also its attention to kids at the moment to create their products. In this video we can see a kid who shares his enthusiasm about 3D printing and how 3D printing can push the limits of kids’ creativity.                                                                                                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyZxzkd-Jsk

Children making robots for 3D printing – This video collects parents and children insights about 3D printing. In most of the cases they value creativity as the most important part of 3D printing.         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsTDEel9TBk

3D printer for creative children – A kid explains the process of creation of his inventions, and also the printing process. The video highlights that children can become in inventors of toys and architectural models.                                                                                 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsdDCjyMBzg

Think3D Presents 3D Printing Art Exhibit at India’s Oakridge International School – Think3D set up a program for the exhibit featuring student artwork that was transferred to the 3D printer. The focus is the event was to let the kids express their imagination, creativity, and the way they envision the world.                  http://3dprint.com/32004/think3d-3d-printing-exhibit/

STEP 3 – IF POSSIBLE MAKE AN ART WORKSHOP WITH CHILDREN USING 3D PRINTING.

The main goal of this project is to make a 3D printing workshop with kids. Although this workshop has not become in a reality yet, my plan is to make a workshop with the children of the “Escuela Aprendiendo de mi Ecuador” (School of Learning about my Ecuador). It is a program of the Ecuadorian Consulate that promotes education for Ecuadorian children or Ecuadorian’s descendant children in NY. This educational program pays attention to cultural, historical and civic aspects that children have to learn about Ecuador in order to maintain children’s connection with our roots. The program is carried out every Saturday in the mornings.

The idea of creating this workshop is to invite children to get involve with 3D printing technology, but at the same time learn about their country. Two of the professors in that program were excited about the idea of making an art workshop with 3D printing.

The basic idea of the workshop was structured as described below:

1) Get permission to use the scanner of Baruch to reproduce the national symbols of Ecuador. Those are: the coat of arms and the national flag.

2) Obtain authorization to use the Baruch printers.

3) Print the national symbols of Ecuador in small scale.

4) To buy brushes and painting that can be used on plastic.

5) Set a date for the workshop with the art professor of the Ecuadorian School. That class has 12 students.

6) Help the students painting the national symbols. At this point the students can learn the meaning of the colors of the national flag and the meaning of the elements of the national coat as well.

7) Plan another workshop focused more on learning about 3D  printing and how they can use it.

STEP 4 – DOCUMENT THE KID’S WORKSHOP

To keep the track of how 3D printing impact in children’s creativity, the workshop is expected to be documented. Although the workshop has not been done yet, I want to share a video that documents the results achieved by a group of students that use 3D printing to reconstruct dinosaurs. This is part of a program of the American Museum of Natural History.                                                   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KBxG1_WO8k

Additionally, I would like to share a short video of one of the classes of the Ecuadorian House.                                               https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=814709348572157&set=vb.641057025937391&type=2&theater

STEP 5 – MAKE A REVIEW INCLUDING PHOTOS, VIDEOS, AND WRITINGS TO SHOW THE IMPACT OF 3D PRINTING IN CHILDREN EDUCATION.

The final step consists on collecting information and obtains insights from the kids. I would like to know how 3D printing impacts their ideas and creativity. What do they like more about 3D printing? Who do they help using this technology? In other words, I would like to know what do they think about 3D printing and how can we apply the use of 3D printing in kids’ education.

Although I found very interesting information about 3D printing and its relation with education, most of that information was more linked to Universities rather than children education. In fact, I could not find enough information about how to apply 3D printing technology in children education. However, today many companies are focused in developing 3D printing programs that involve children. One of those companies is MakerBot. This company launched the MakerBot Academy that is an initiative to put a MakerBot 3D Printer in every school in America.

The potential that children have in using new technologies is astonishing, and 3D printing is not the exception. That is why companies and schools are fundraising money in order to make this technology available for kids. The expectations are not only limited to private companies or schools. My research also shows that that some governments are planning to introduce 3D printing as part of the education program for public schools. For instance, United Kingdom is a nation planning to introduce 3D printing technologies in schools. They want to make it become part of the curriculum creating material that teachers can use easily, such as lesson plans and learning tools, so that all teachers can make effective use of 3D printing.

Another important lesson is that UK is not only planning to provide 3D printers to schools, rather UK want to offer interrelated 3D

After a semester learning about 3D printing I can say that it has been an enriching experience. I have gone through a process that started from knowing nothing about 3D printing to understand better the strengths and weaknesses of 3D printing. The course also helped to be aware that 3D printing will overcome traditional manufacturing in the future and we should be prepared for that. In general terms I think this class helped to appreciate better how influential 3D printing will be in the life of future generations, and also the potential that it has in entrepreneurial businesses.

Moreover, my 3D printing journey has had a positive impact in some of my skills, but at the cost of others, for instance:

As a student, I feel very satisfied with the things I have learned during this 3D printing adventure. Through the readings I had the opportunity to reflect about the positive and negative things that 3D printing provides. I felt scared about the idea of terrorists or organ traffickers using this technology to make money. But on the other hand, I also saw that 3D printing can have a huge positive impact in the world. That is why my final project was focused on children education. I really believe that including 3D printing technologies in the curriculum of children education will help to avoid and reduce the negative aspects that this technology can bring in the future.

From the entrepreneurial point of view, I also fell that I have learned a lot. The creative process to develop potential solutions was very interesting. I learned that generate ideas are only a little part of product development. I realized that in order to make a product successful we require deep analysis in many key areas such as: marketing, finance, engineering, design, management, or identifying stakeholder.

Finally, as a designer I feel a little disappointed because I expected to learn more about 3D design. I think we did not have enough time to work with SketchUp tools and share ideas as I usually do in my design courses. Although for me it is worthy the entrepreneurial material I have learned, I would rather prefer to develop my design skills more. I believe that focusing on my area I would have provided a better design solution for the water project, which for me was very interesting.

3D Printing and Children Education

My goal is to understand how 3D printing can become in a tool for a better education on children – specifically in art. I would like to be familiar with the topic through:

1. Research schools or education institutions using 3D printing.
2. Investigate the impact of 3D printing on children creativity
3. If possible make an art workshop with children using 3D printing
4. Document the kid’s workshop
5. Make a review including photos, videos, and writings to show my future vision with children education and 3D Printing.

1. Google information about 3D printing and Children education
2. Gather information from articles of schools using 3D printing
3. Watch videos about the impact of 3D printing on Children
4. Gather children insides through interviews
5. Create an article or manual describing the positive impact of 3D printing in early stages
6. Make a 3D printing workshop with children
7. Learn from previous steps and receive feedback

Primary Sources

• Interviews
• Video Recordings

Secondary Sources

• Journal Articles
• Internet research
• Videos

The potential of 3D printing technologies is astonishing. Medicine, design tools, and productions processes will be revolutionized by 3D printing. For instance, bioprinting will be the keystone of medicine in the future. The idea of fabricating living tissue to produce human organs or cure diseases will transform the boundaries of medicine. Moreover, organic design which is a method to bring concepts to physical reality, will allow the recreation of artificial limbs, cartilages and living tissues through the use of complex algorithms. Furthermore, design tools will become more intuitive. It means that design tools will have a friendly interface in which human and computer will brainstorm ideas together. But most compelling is the idea of reactive blue prints in which the computer will be able to create shapes that can adapt easily to environmental conditions.

However, the area that captures my attention more than any other is education. The impact of 3D printing in future generations depends on how well our children are educated. I was aware of that after attending to the maker faire. Observing children involvement in the maker fair was fantastic, they were ambitious to create by themselves whatever their imagination dictates. So why not to think in an integral education system in which children get involved with 3D printing technologies at early stages. The immense potential that 3D printing has in education is not only about encourage creativity among children but also to prepare them to be social responsible from their own creations. We do not need sky rocket science to understand that if our children are educated with integrity today, a better future will come tomorrow.

Furthermore, I believe that education in early stages will help to solve the problems entailed to 3D printing. For instance the wrong use of this technology is a huge concern. What if 3D printing technologies are in the inappropriate hands? Let’s say terrorist, black market dealers, or any unscrupulous doctors that use this technology only for business purposes. Moreover, the lack of regulations that we have today over 3D printing technologies, still requires a profound attention in order to avoid the inappropriate use of this technology in the future. Additionally, green manufacturing is still a challenge that 3Dprinting technologies have to solve because the use of plastic, as the main raw material endangers the nature. In short, all this problems described above can be alleviated by the appropriate education of our children.

3D printing course has become in an enriching experience that has brought many positive things to me, but also many things to reflect about. During the semester we have gone through many topics about the potential of 3D printing in the future and how it will be very influential in human life. It is not difficult to imagine that 3D printing processes will overcome the traditional manufacturing processes and its limitations; and will become in the main form of production in the next decades. It will be a tool of limitless creation across the borders, in which the use of digital files will allow a fluid movement of information and the widespread ideas over the globe. It will be a world surrounded by many thinker spreading solutions in minutes, and the mobility of intellectual resources will become in a process of back and forth in internet platforms.

Otherwise, this course also has increased my abilities to develop ideas. We have learned through a series of processes how to develop solutions for a problem. Many times people believe that the development of solutions and the generation of ideas is a natural process. However, it is not true. It requires strong efforts to find not only one solutions but a set of solutions to solve different problems. In fact, the process of generation of ideas was for me the most challenging activity during this course because it moved me out of my comfort area.

Five Forms x Five Materials

Attending to the Maker Faire was a very enjoyable experience. Visiting the stands and observing many creative ideas was rewarding for me because sometimes we are so immersed in our daily routine that we are not aware of those things that are happening around. It was a moment for disconnecting myself from the conventional world, and to learn from this bunch of crazy creators.

At first glance, everything was crazy and crowded because people were moving around like ants visiting the stands. So, I tried to look for 3D printing stands to start my journey, and ScketchUp and Shapeways were the first stands that I visited. However, many of the things I saw there were familiar to me because we have learned them in class. So, I felt a little disappointed because I wanted to learn new things from those stands. However, while I was walking around for about 3 hours I realized that new technologies are having a huge impact in education.

For instance, in the Maker Bot Replicator stand children were allowed to paint 3D printing pieces. But what I found interesting was the children’s interest for printing their own 3D creations and to paint them with brushes later. In other words, children were involved in the whole process of creation and they look very fascinated with that. So, my mind started to wonder around the idea of the impact of 3D printing in future generations. I think that the potential of 3D printing to propel creativity in children will be limitless in the future.

Another interesting program that put together education and 3D printing was the NASA initiatives, in which young thinkers are involved. NASA challenge of creating the first 3D printer aboard international space station is amazing. Although that is not new because NASA announced that program in the media a few months ago, what I found exciting is the fact that they are involving young thinkers and inventors. The NASA program “Future Engineers” is about creating digital 3D model of a tool that they think astronauts need in space. The point is that 3D printing will help astronauts to be less reliant on materials from Earth in space exploration.

http://www.nasa.gov/content/printing-challenges-for-first-3d-printer-aboard-international-space-station/#.VFJlV-fY9Fq

In general, I could say that Maker Faire visit was a delightful experience. After walking for a long time I saw many crazy thinkers showing their ideas; and I really like the fact that many of the these thinkers were not afraid to share their ideas even when their ideas can be seen as crazy. Otherwise, I believe that 3D printing will become a powerful tool for future generations’ education.

First 3D Blocks

These two blocks represent my first steps in 3D printing and these were designed in ScketchUp. The designing process was not difficult because these are simple geometrical forms. However, it requires precision in the measurements in order to not overcome the printer capacity. Additionally, the printing process was interesting because I could observe how thin layers build up the blocks little by little, giving form to a new creation. The raw material (plastic filament) was injected over the platform of the printer giving life to my first designs.

Merging Blocks

This block is a consequence of merging my classmates’ designs in one piece. The process of designing was similar to a photo collage, in which I take different figures and put them all together. This was a process of experimentation and I did not know what direction to take, so I just tried to build a public space. Additionally, at this point I realized that we were able to access to unlimited forms from other authors in the ScketchUp warehouse. I found this 3D warehouse exciting because it boosts our creative process.