2_ Pedagogies and Sustainable Practices in Digital Fabrication

Digital fabrication providing foundations for a mindset change in the educational environment.

For this first week... (WIP)

On the second week we explored making with sustainability in mind. We learned about biomaterials as an alternative to other kinds of materials and got to experiment with different formulas and methods of making our onw biomateials.

The activity - laser cutter, lab, white coat and everything!


Once the bioplastic is in the mold, one have to wait for several days for it to dry enough to be ready for removal.

We prepared 2 different formulations, varying the amout of glycerine introduced in the mix. We also usad two different "coatings" for the mold, one with the bottom covvered with fabric and the other without any cover at all.

After more then a week, the material seems to be ready for removal.

Now, how do I use this in class?

More to come!


For the third week's assignment we were asked to create a 3D object with a 3D printer. This 3D object should provide some support for our class or some of our teaching lessons.

I decided to create some things to help me organize the devices I use on my classes, specially electronics boards but also tools like screwdrivers. In my class I have 30 micro:bit boards, 30 Reka:bit boards and an assortment of sensors and actuators so I really needed a way to keep everything under control.

I started modeling a carrying box for the Reka:bit boards. I took some measurements of the board and created a dummy of it in Tinkercad. The idea was to use that dummy as a guide to model the box around it. I wanted a box to accomodate at least 5 boards at a time and have them standing on the box. The box should be designed in a way that the boards should be easy to retrieve and replace.

To make thing easier I modeled a slot for just one Reka:bit board. Once I have that working it should be easy to duplicate that model many times to build a larger case. I want through a few versions of the case. The first ones were ok, but didn't make the boards stand vertically. The final version has a small bump on the bottom side to help the boards stand on their own.


Everything went perfectly and now we have many of these cases printed for our different labs. It makes easier to carry the boards around, and store the in the cabinets. I also took the chance to design and print a small holder for the screwdrivers that come with the boards.

Reflection questions

  • Are you planning to use the fabricated object in your classroom? If so, how?

    Yes, totally! In fact, I'm already using it and it works just as intended.

  • Think on a learning activity involving 3D printing. How could it be aligned with your curriculum / standard? What are the challenges?

    Digital fabrication is part of the tools and techniques we try to have our students using as part of the projects we make in our classes or as part of the collaboration we have with our colleagues, so 3D printing, as part of those tools, is totally aligned with what we already do.

  • Have you started an educational portfolio? Why or why not? In your opinoin which are the advantages of having these education portfolios? How do evaluate success a learning activity and how do you keep track of possible modification/improvements ideas?

    Not really. Until now all my work, projects, lesson plans and everything reside on my school's cloud and I often revisit it to check the work I've made and see how I can improve on it. Much of these work is shared between collleagues of the same area and we use to build these experiences together, so I guess that is part of the evaluation we do on our work. Now that I've learnt about these kind of tools (educational portfolios) I might consider starting one - maybe ScopesDF is a good starting point?

For the Field Activity... (WIP)