Mar.2, 2012
The Stenden, a high school in Emmen, the Netherlands has recently purchased a 3D printer. The school hopes that students could get excited about learning technology. Student assistant Serisma Parmesardien said that technical education should get a better image. "Especially girls should have a better understanding of technology," said Serisma. "Most people think a hands-on learning with technology is to get your hands dirty from plastics, metal and oil. But it is not like that. You can sit behind a set of devices with a suit and you don't get a dirty hand."
(images courtesy:rtvdrenthe.nl)
Why a high school needs a 3D printer? 3D printing stimulates student's mechanical-spatial awareness in ways that textbooks cannot. By this special hand-on learning young students are able to see the beauty of the engineering process, take an initial idea all the way to completion. This will influence all the way in their educational experience.
While we are all excited about this education reform for new generation, Aaron, Eugene and Jason from Stanford d.school come up with a project that could help the use of technology in education growing even more quickly.
You will find this very cool: with a delivery truck full of cutting-edge maker tools and software (3D printers, laser cutters, vinyl cutter, an auxiliary generator, hand tools, etc) the three young men plan to travel from school to school in Bay Area bringing teachers and students the resources and equipment as well as their own expertise in making, education and technology.
Right now this project, the SparkLab has already raised $7,152 of $25,000 goal on Kickstarter. And it got a lot of encouragement from supporters including industry leaders. Here's what they've said about the project:
"It's really exciting to see you bringing this creative confidence back to the classroom... this is the kind of learning that really sticks with kids."
- David Kelley, Founder of IDEO
"I love the truck. This is a great way to bring the tools and materials for making to more young makers."
- Dale Dougherty, Founding editor of MAKE Magazine
"This is an incredibly cool idea – getting these tools into the hands of kids!"
- Carl Bass, CEO of Autodesk and fellow Maker
"Having a resource like this would be so empowering to teachers and students!"
- Marcy Barton, 5th grade teacher and education pioneer
By bringing tools and 3D printers to schools SparkLab is hoping to get young students excited about engineering and innovation.
Yet this probably represents only the tip of the iceberg in terms of bringing technology to the young generation, but this hand-on learning can definitely restore a group of young people's luster to engineering by helping them learn in very real and tangible ways and inspire them to pursue a career later in engineering.
Source: smartplanetPosted in 3D Printing Applications
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