3D printing videos for the classroom

Videos to support learning are an integral part of a teachers toolkit. 30 years ago teachers didn’t have the luxury of interactive whiteboards and projectors and one of the main ways of supporting learning was the use of text books and the occasional industry visit. Fast forward 30 years and technology for the classroom has advanced at the same pace at the evolution of the smartphone. The evolution of the computer and the internet has had a direct impact upon classroom learning. The ability to play videos on a large screen has transformed the learning experience. Students can see directly what the teacher is describing in real life scenarios without students have to imagine the topic from images in a book.

One of the main resources for supporting teachers in the classroom is Youtube. Youtube has transformed the learning experience within lessons. On the topic of 3D printing, there are a whole host of fantastic videos to support teachers in their classroom. A great point about Youtube is students can then re-watch any videos at home to embed the learning further. Youtube has even provided the 3D printing community with some great channels where printers and consumables are independently reviewed. As a tool for learning, as long as you have an internet connection, then Youtube videos will undoubtedly be part of teachers lessons.

At learnbylayers we have listed our top youtube videos to support the teaching of 3D printing in the classroom.

Video 1 – Project Daniel

This is a powerful video about how 3d printers were being used in war torn Sudan as part of a project by ‘Not impossible labs‘. Project Daniel follows the story of a young boy (called Daniel) who had his arms blown off by a bomb. He couldn’t eat or look after himself due to him having no arms. The video shows how ‘Mick Ebling’ flew out to South Sudan armed with 3D printers and spools of filament to print Daniel an arm. This is truly an amazing video that shows how life changing 3D printer can be when used in the right context. This shows how the technology is a force for good in the world and will really change lives for the better. This will silence a class of 14 year olds, guaranteed.

Video 2 – Formlabs

The second video we have listed is ‘The Ultimate Guide to Stereolithography’ by formlabs. Formlabs are undoubtedly the industry leaders in desktop SLA 3D printing and they have seen impressive growth over the past five years. As a teaching and learning resource, this is a great video to show students. It’s short and sharp and straight to the point. A great way to start a lesson. An interesting discussion point would be how SLA printers print upside down when compared to FDM style 3D printers.

Video 3 – Fused Deposition modelling process by Loughborough University

Loughborough University is a design power house in the UK and in the top ten UK Universities. They have created a series of videos that have great educational value. This video explains a brief history of 3D printing and the process that is involved with designing and created a model to 3D print. What’s great about this video is the voice over commentary to support the footage along with a great time lapse video of the 3D printing process in action. There is also a final screenshot showing the model that has been post processed by sanding it down and then spraying it with paint. Another great learning resource to start a lesson.

Video 4 – Carbon3D Clip technology

This is one of the most impressive 3D printing videos on the internet. The launch of Carbon3D and their clip technology is one of the most important and one of the most watched TED education videos of all time. This is a longer video at over 10 minutes and more aimed at older students, possibly 15 years and above. The great point about this video is the real time 3D printing of a tennis ball sized object that with conventional printers would take a few hours. With the carbon printer it took around six minutes which is mind blowing when you watch the clip. People always say ‘will 3D printers make it into everyone’s houses at some point?’ The answer is probably not, but 3d printed items will make their way into homes through wearable garments such as shoes and trainers. Carbon have recently announced a collaboration with Adidas  with the intention of 3D printing 2 million pairs of trainers a year by 2020. The average tech savvy consumer who wouldn’t fork out the cash for a 3d printer will probably experience the technology by wearing 3D printed items. This video was originally published on TED education site and later added to youtube.

Video 5 – Nike Vapour Hyper agility boot

Nike is probably one of the world’s most recognisable brands. If you ever want to put your lessons in a real life setting, explain to students that what they are about to learn is being adopted by one of the biggest companies in the world. Also this youtube video features SLS printing which is part of the theory in lesson 8 (different types of 3D printers) as part of our intermediate lesson bundle. This is also fronted by Olympic superstar Micheal Johnson which make the video even more compelling. This video has some nice shots of engineers designing using 3D CAD, reinforcing even more the importance of learning how to design for 3D printing.

Video 6 – Print the Legend

This is not a native youtube video, but we had to include it due to how amazing it is. This originated on Netflix and is free to watch if you have a netflix account. It a documentary on how the 3D printing industry evolved from bedroom startups to multi million dollar businesses. Whilst this may seem like the stuff of dreams, it shows the difficulties with rapidly expanding businesses that grow beyond the control of their initial founders. If you have ever used a makerbot then this is a must watch. It’s over an hour long and for older teenagers. You can watch it on youtube but you have to pay £2.49. Just log into your netflix account for free. We have added the trailer below;

Video 7 – The Royal Collection

Another youtube classic in the world of 3D printing. Have you ever wanted to 3D print an exact copy of a royal crown? Now you can do exactly that. The Royal Collection in London are creating digital scans of all the crown jewels. Many museums are creating digital catalogues of their artefacts so they can recreate replicas of the originals if they need to. The Royal Collection showed how they go through the scanning and 3D printing of their crowns. This is excellent as it show cases SLA and SLS 3D printing in great detail. You can also download the STL file from thingiverse to 3D print your own copy.

Video 8 – 3D Printers how it’s made

How it’s made is by far one of the best learning resources to hit youtube in the past few years. Now they have released a ‘how it’s made 3d printers’ episode. The video concentrates on how LulzBot make their printers. There are some excellent close ups of the FDM process and it’s interesting to see how they are using their 3D printers to make parts for the actual 3D printers they are selling. Another good scene details how they use traditional workshop methods to drill out holes. This can clearly relate back to students direct classroom experiences in Design and Technology.

There are hundreds of videos on youtube that are great for classroom learning. We have just showcased a few that we have used in the classroom before. If you find some videos that you think should be added to the list, use the contact form below and let us know.