Remember your student days? Unless you were in love with your studies, chances are that the only subjects you liked were the ones that were brought alive by the teachers. Today, the medium of instruction might have changed from blackboards to rich multimedia, but the learning is still not as active as is needed because the best learning is always multi-sensory. Current techniques enhance the visual and audio experience but there’s not enough attention given to tactile, which involves the use of hands for touching, creating, and manipulating.

Today’s children are spending too much time in the virtual space, and while that is undeniably a genie that cannot and should not be put back in the bottle, we need a way to connect the digital world with the physical. And 3D printing offers us that bridge.

Let’s take an example: imagine you are studying the human organs. You could have images, photos, descriptions, audio visuals, but would any of it be as effective as actually touching a specimen. Now, it might not be practical or desirable to provide a real specimen, but with 3D printing it is just a matter of asking the students to print a model of, say the heart, and they have it in their hand for them to touch, analyse, discuss. Students can now think without limits, as also hold and test their ideas physically, resulting in increased engagement, interactivity, creativity, problem solving ability, and collaboration.

Here are a few creative ways to use the technology in classrooms

• Geography: maps showing the topography of an area
• Engineering: prototypes or parts (full or cross-section) of machines
• Biology: full body or parts of human/animals
• History: ancient artefacts, like pottery and tools
• Maths & Geometry: concepts like shapes and angles

3D printing is changing education in classrooms… are you part of that transformation? Get in touch with us today and together we will transform the way we educate our children.