3D printer manufacturer has been specializing on the education market, and wow, they’ve developed some very interesting programs for students!
We spoke with Noah Li-Leger (image above) about their educational program. He explained they’ve developed school projects involving drones for several reasons, not the least being extreme interest in drones by students.
But there are reasons beyond mere fun. Tinkerine has learned that teaching students can be challenging, as they have limited attention spans and time to complete the work.
This is particularly difficult in the world of 3D printing because of two reasons: 3D printing objects typically takes a VERY long time, usually far longer than the time students would have to complete a project. Secondly, printing something interesting typically requires multiple, complex and large parts printed and assembled. Again, this is something that just doesn’t fit within the lesson plan time envelope.
The result is that many student 3D printing projects are printed overnight, leading to a mental disconnect; students aren’t seeing the whole process from beginning to end.
Meanwhile, Tinkerine realized they could design a functional drone project that could actually fit within time envelopes! here we see an incredibly simple design that Tinkerine says can be printed in a single hour, “even on a slow printer”. This is a wonderful way to make the best possible use of 3D printing for education – design for the usage.
The project thus permits students to visualize a design in 3D software, print the parts and assemble a fully functional drone in record time – about two hours. Ideal for learning! They even break up the topics into five minute chunks to fit within attention spans.
Currently Tinkerine offers this workshop in person only, but we understand they’re developing a way to “mobilize” it so that teachers and students worldwide might be able to more quickly learn the magic of 3D printing.
Via Tinkerine
