The benefits of using 3D printing in education.

The benefits of using 3D printing in education are well documented. Schools up and down the UK are integrating 3D printing into lessons.  In the business world nearly everyday we hear about another use of 3D printing in industry and how it is disrupting the traditional way of manufacturing products. If you are a classroom teacher wanting to keep up to date with new and emerging technology, then integrating a 3D printing into your lessons is a key tool to ensure that you are preparing students for life in ‘the real world’ once they leave education. Teaching students to be ‘digital literate’ is a key focus of today’s education system.

One of the biggest factors when starting out with 3D printing is the question of what do you teach? What will your classes design and 3D print in lesson? How will they do this and what will the outcome look like? What benefit will your classes see by using a 3D printer in their projects? This is the basis for these blog posts, to share the benefits of using 3D printing in education.

Over the last month we have published ‘Using 3D printing in lessons’ and ‘Using 3D printers in the classroom’ all focusing on what teachers are creating with their classes. This is the final blog post as part of the series of case studies highlighting the benefits of 3D printing in education. We would like to thank all the teachers for sharing their amazing work and also thank Magigoo for sponsoring these blog posts.

                1.Phil Worsley – Joseph Whitaker School

Phil Worsley is one truly exceptional Design and Technology teacher. He uses 3D printing in his lessons to design and 3D print the nose cone for his bloodhound SSC models that his classes make. Bloodhound is a well known project in UK education. It is widely delivered in schools up and down the country who have supported the quest for the bloodhound team to race a car over 1000mph and become the fastest car ever. As part of the campaign is a national drive to embrace more students in STEM and many Design and Technology teachers now run a mini blood hound project. This involves students designing and making their own rocket powered cars. But Phil Worsley has taken it to the next level. He and his classes have the world record for the fastest rocket powered blood hound car in the world. Be sure to subscribe to his youtube channel to follow his updates. Phil your a legend!

                    2. Phil Hall Windsor Boys School.

Phil is another prolific teacher of 3D printing having been at the forefront of the technology for the past few years. Phil was awarded the 3Dprintingindustry.com community advocate award in 2017 for his use of 3D printing in the classroom. Looking at the outcomes that Phil is producing with his students it is clear that they have fully embraced the benefits of 3D printing in education. Phil has also been a speaker on the international scene having presented at the Zest conference in Malta in 2017. He 3D prints using Makerbots in the classroom and by looking at the prints here is is certainly putting them through their paces. We’ve embedded Phil’s speech into the blog highlighting his passion for all things 3D printed. Take a look below.

                 3. Simon Wood – Kellet School 

Simon has been using 3D printing for a vast array of different projects. From speaker cases to bespoke designs as part of larger projects, it is clear the benefits of having a 3D printer are evident here. What’s impressive about the designs on show here is the complexity of the prints. These would require some challenging CAD skills to design and develop these components. This requires a top class teacher. Well done Simon and your classes, these are great and thanks for sharing.

                       4. Nick Dudderidge – Designedtechnologies.co.uk and teacher.

Nick has been a Design and Technology teacher since 1992 and has taught thousands of students over the past 26 years. Respect to being in the classroom for this long. There are not many teachers that have racked up this amount of time in the classroom.

We would like to give a shout out to Nick’s latest project called ‘DesignEd for a digital future’. Teaching students how to be digitally literature is a core principle of learnbylayers and we are glad to see Nick starting a new venture to help more students.

Alongside this he is also a DATA consultant in the North Wales region and taught at The Kings School Chester.

What’s great about these prints above is the creative nature of them. It’s also nice to see the design work of students before the actual 3D printing takes place. Great work Nick.

We’d like to thank all of the teachers who have contributed and shared their work with us at learnbylayers. We have reviewed all the work and we will be sending a Magigoo stick to Phil Worsley for his world record breaking efforts using his 3D printer. In all of these three blogs we have seen some truly amazing work by UK teachers. Lets keep sharing and celebrating the work of our amazing teachers and students.