Reflecting on Technology in the Classroom

            On Tuesday, November 3, 2015, Adam McBride came into the university classroom to discuss 3D printing and technology use in the classroom.  His instruction was insightful and really connected the future teachers to applications of technological use in the classroom.

A laptop and 3D printer.

Image from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons

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3D Printing

I have seen 3D printing in the university library, as well as the local middle school where I do some of my teacher licensure classes; and finally had the chance to see the programing behind the magic of 3D printing.

            I had recently discovered Blender, a free opensource 3D rendering program (available at blender.org), and was fascinated with how CGI movies were made, not just the “big name” movies, but short films available on YouTube created by smaller creative teams.  Adam explained how 3D rendering programs, like Blender, have files that can be used to print those renderings in the real world using 3D printers.  Wow!  I can print models I make in programs like Blender (did I mention free?) on 3D printers in a variety of materials based on the capabilities of the printer! 

            Considering I already knew a little bit about building items in Blender, seeing a 3D printer print a model helped to connect how helpful 3D printing can be in manufacturing.  Discussions in the classroom also included how this technology can greatly reduce waste in manufacturing because only the required raw material is used instead of having unused portions that are cut away from a mold thrown away.  I hadn’t thought about 3D printing and sustainability, but it makes sense that factories would want to create primarily plastic parts a pieces with as little waste as possible.

A SparkFun Inventor's Kit with Circuit Diagram
Image from: http://www.flicker.com

SparkFun

            Another great item Adam shared was SparkFun’s Inventor’s Kit (found here) that combines electronics, circuitry and coding all in one laboratory experience.  I took electronics long ago in high school, and even became an Aviation Electrician in the Navy, but I had never been exposed to coding (C++) until that day.  I was drawn in to the lab placing resistors and polarized LEDs in the circuit board (no soldering required), connecting wires and plugging the board into the laptop.  I understood some coding based on HTML (which is a different language entirely), so understood that there would be very specific commands that would have to be followed to make the program work. 

            With some help from Adam, the LED came on, and with specific instructions my lab partner and I made the light flicker on and off at regular intervals.  After this intial task, we were given the opportunity to create our own flicker pattern and wrote the code so the light would transmit S.O.S. in morse code.

            He went on to explain other products that can turn handrails on a stair case into a piano, or create a lighting design on a poster or even for apparel.  There is so much out there that can be used, it’s really incredible.