Creating future classrooms with 3D printers 

The one rule of the universe that will pass the test of time persistently is that there will always be the survival of the fittest. With transforming times, the way of learning also kept on evolving continuously but with the advent of smart classes and digital ways of learning, the concepts and ideas started getting clarity but one can yet sense a gap, the gap of learning ideas and designs in a practical form that develops the cognizance level of learners from an early age. 

3D printers, post transforming the manufacturing arena are all set to fill the gap in learning by providing learners with the liberty to play with ideas and develop them from rough sketches to a lively model. 3D printers also facilitate improved learning, skills development, and increased student and teacher engagement with the subject matter. Further sparking greater creativity and collaboration in problem-solving. 

 How 3D PRINTERS can be inducted into learning? 

3D printers have utility at each stage of learning. From evoking interest in kids at the junior level and making them clear the concepts practically to engaging in constructive discussion about the ideas and their pragmatism at the secondary level to ultimately using 3D printers in their projects at the university level, 3D printers hold a future encompassed with ideas and designs. 

Broadly there are some main use cases for 3D printers in educational settings- 

1. Printing artifacts and laboratory equipment for a better understanding of concepts. 

2. Improve learners’ creativity and designing skills 

3. Informing educators, about the scope of 3D printers and the way to incorporate these according to the curriculum. 

4. Teaching students about 3D printers, the technology behind them, and their application in real-world scenarios. 

The need is to introduce a plus course that will make learners well acquainted with 3D printers and the revolution in learning that they can bring and how the designs can be created on 3D printing software with ease. 

 3D PRINTERS IN STEM Education 

• Enhances the purpose of STEM learning, an approach to educating children from an early age with knowledge and skills in four key disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, by making learners go beyond memorizing facts and figures and rather use creativity, critical thinking, knowledge, and skills in real-world scenarios using 3D printers. 

• It helps in building prototypes of ideas to visualize and improvise with clarity. 
• Teaching complex geometry concepts with 3D printing visualizations enhance spatial imagination. 
• Creating a strong foundation for astounding engineering works by making students think and design machines in software and bringing these designs to life by 3D printers, resulting in a mind well acquainted with machines’ technicalities from a young age. 

People engaged in STEM fields change the world daily with their ideas, whether it be coming up with technology to strengthen connectivity, medicine to treat illness, or finding cures for life-threatening diseases and in all these creating a prototype is the first step which is made easier by the proliferation of 3D printers and not only prototyping but 3D printers also help at all the major steps in STEM fields.