Late last year Paras Gonzales, Design and Technology teacher from Chelsea Academy in London UK , decided to take the plunge into 3D printing with her classes. Paras teaches high school ages from 11 – 18 and is one the many teachers in the UK who has embraced the new Design and Technology GCSE qualifications.

The reformed qualifications encourage the use of new technologies and iterative design principles, and the study of 3D printing is now specified by each exam board. In the UK, children taking Design and Technology must study 3D printing to full-fill the requirements of the subject content of the GCSE.

With 3D printing being such a great tool for rapid problem solving and being embraced by most schools in the UK, Chelsea Academy invested in learnbylayers to assist in the teaching of 3D printing. Here’s what Paras had to say about her journey with 3D printing and learnbylayers.

“We started using Learnbylayers over a year and a half ago and we have not looked back. I was a novice, playing with a 3D printer and was clueless. We started using it with KS3 and it literally was plug and play.

The sequence of lessons, power points, worksheets and activities allow students to have a clear appreciation of CAD and 3D printing. The resource gave me the foundations to build my confidence. Being a teacher can be tough on a good day, so having a resource that we all can tap into and use is great! The beauty of it is it’s got theory and practical applications of using 3D printing.

From the onset it has had the students engaged and wanting to learn more. When reviewing the resources as a team, we decided it was essential we purchase the whole resource, so we can deliver the content at KS4 and KS5.

The lessons challenge students and allowed them to think about ethical design. All relevant in becoming upcoming designers and engineers. It’s great to finally find a resource pack designed by teachers for teachers that is clear to understand and work with! Definitely a 5* rating!”

We are so happy to hear that we have helped with Paras and her team and look forward to hearing more about their journey in 3D printing. To learn more about how learnbylayers can help you, download the free lesson and we will send you all the files to lesson one and a log in to the online demo. Here you can preview all of the lesson content before making a decision about investing in the resources.

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