Bringing 3D printing and design to the classroom

Making designs come to life.

That’s what 22 educators in Southeast Idaho are spending time doing in Pocatello – learning the ins and outs of 3D printing.

Imagine Superman’s ring or a replica of Harry Potter wand.

Now, you can do more than imagine – you can create.

Educators are learning how to make computer 3D images come to life through 3D design and fabrication.

It’s all part of a three-day workshop put on by the Idaho Stem Action Center, who is working to train the next generation of stem leaders.

“The reality is that in Idaho and nationwide, stem jobs are incredibly hard to fill,” said Erica Compton, program manager for ISAC. “So there’s a huge need for a better, educated workforce and that is one of the biggest initiatives that the Idaho Stem Action Center has.”

In 2017, there were 6,000 unfilled STEM jobs in Idaho, according to ISAC.

In hopes of lowering that number and bringing more into the workforce in the future, ISAC holds workshops like FABSLAM, which stands for Fabrication Student Learning Apprenticeship Model.

The skills learned in the workshop will be taken back, along with their new 3D printer, to each educator’s classroom or library.

Those who are a part of the workshop said it’s been a great learning experience and think it is a great educational tool for students – even beyond the STEM careers.

“One of the things we’re talking a lot about is design thinking, which is taking a problem from a sketch to a program to production and when we can do that with the kids with the 3D printer for this FABSLAM project, it really gives them an idea of how things in the real world are made, from an idea someone has or a problem that comes up to production of something that works,” said Holly Jackson, director of the Portneuf District Library.

“All of these ideas that they have, they’re going to be able to bring them to life in a classroom,” added Michael Harris, a high school science teacher from Oakley, Idaho. “It’s just a new way of learning. We’re in the age of technology and students don’t want to sit and look at a book, they want to get involved with all this technology.”

Harris said it’s a game changer with getting kids on board with learning and with helping them understand.

“I picture myself bringing this printer back to the classroom and we’re working on cells right now in Biology with my students, so we’re going to 3D print an animal cell and 3D print a plant cell and be able to look at all the different organelles inside it and maybe even make it so the organelles can come out so you can actually look at mitochondria and things like that. I mean, the possibilities are endless.”

Jackson added that the Portneuf District Library already has a couple of 3D printers for both student and public use and its been a valuable tool.

“Our area especially, we are in the middle of a neighborhood and we’re surrounded by low-income neighborhoods and so these kids don’t get to experience programs like this, or technology like this, and so when they can come to the library and they can, for free, learn how to use this program and learn how to 3D print, and see something printed, that’s something that will stay with them forever.”

Before the end of the workshop on Saturday, the educators will be given a challenge and a theme. Their goal is to go back and form a student team and have them come up with a real-world, 3D solution to the challenge. The student’s work will be shown, and judged, in a student showcase in February.