3. 3d-Print¶
This week I designed and printed a keyring.
idea and implementation¶
I designed a giveaway for our open day at school. Our visitors should receive a key ring. My challenge was to print out the locking mechanism in one piece if possible and to do without support structures.
The key ring requires a hinge joint and should be secured with a screw connection. I implemented this with Fusion-360.
In order for the key ring to be printed without a support, it cannot be constructed completely symmetrically. This means the joint protrudes slightly upwards. In addition, the locking nut is printed together with the key ring, but must be screwed on afterwards.
To prepare for printing I use the Orca slicer. It is printed with the Creality K1C and with PLA filament.
This results in quite good keyrings in a short time.
Reflection questions¶
Are you planning to use the fabricated object in your classroom? If so, how?
In any case, the key ring is a useful tool for teachers and students at school. You can attach it to your waistband to protect yourself from losing your keys. The students can label the key ring with their own name and thus personalize it.
The key ring serves the function of making our students curious about the Fablab. You see that more and more people are using the key rings and then you wonder how the key rings are made. For this reason, we would like to give the key rings as a promotional gift.
The Key Rig has many interesting features related to 3D printing. It is printed in one pass even though it contains moving parts. It can also be printed without support structures. These properties impose certain restrictions on the Dsig. By examining the finished key ring, students can identify which design aspects relate to the previously established requirements. For example, an angular construction should be provided over a round design so that the key ring is positioned well on the print bed.
The construction of the key ring is challenging and I don’t expect students to be able to do it alone. But you can use the design files to find out how the design challenges were solved and use this knowledge for your own ideas.
Think on a learning activity involving 3D printing. How could it be aligned with your curriculum / standard? What are the challenges?
In my technology class, 3D printing is actually implemented in the curriculum. In this respect, it is a lesson in line with the curriculum when I teach the students something about 3D printing and when they produce objects with the 3D printer.
3D printing is not mandatory in other subjects, but in my state there is a media curriculum for all subjects in which 3D printing is not explicitly mentioned, but it can be easily integrated into this curriculum. The media curriculum refers to three areas of competence:
- Understand digital technology
- Use digital technology
- Critically question the use of digital technology
Integrating digital skills into teaching obviously takes time. And 3D printing in particular requires a lot of time because the students have to learn a lot in advance. If you want to incorporate 3D printing in a subject in which 3D printing is not compulsory, for example to implement projects in art classes, then you have to plan for the fact that a lot of time will be required that is not directly related to that The subject has to do with art. On the other hand, you only have to introduce the technology once per class and can then use it again and again in all contexts. In this respect, it is more a question of careful coordination between the individual teaching subjects.
The introduction of 3D printing involves a lot of effort for teachers because the technology has to work 100%. As a private user of 3D printing, I know that you have to try a lot to find the optimal settings for the 3D printer. The more teachers use 3D printers in class, the more likely problems can arise because certain settings in the slicer or 3D printer have been changed. And ultimately it is also a question of how many printers are available, which program licenses are available and which and how many computer workstations are available in the school. This can also limit the use of 3D printers.
Have you started an educational portfolio? Why or why not? In your opinoin which are the advantages of having these education portfolios?
Unfortunately, I have to say that I have already started various approaches to working with portfolios. Unfortunately, I don’t particularly enjoy this type of reflection because I don’t take the time to write everything down. Instead, I implement new ideas or findings directly.
In my state, portfolios have been mandatory in teacher training, but only for a few years. Since I work in teacher training at the university as well as in my traineeship, I know that some prospective teachers feel the same way as I do. They keep the portfolio because it is mandatory, but they do not continue to do so in their further professionalization.
Others, on the other hand, discover the portfolio as a very effective method that helps them to continuously improve, and they continue to work with the portfolios later on.
In fact, I learned to appreciate the portfolio method at FabLearningAcademy. Some connections and insights have become clearer to me through the reflection questions, so I definitely find the portfolio work helpful in my situation as a learner. It remains to be seen whether the portfolio work only helps me currently in connection with my studies or whether I will use the method more often in the future.
How do evaluate success a learning activity and how do you keep track of possible modification/improvements ideas?
Most of the time, I try to implement ideas for change immediately after testing them in a lesson. For example, I change assignments immediately after class or make notes in my script. Since I only work with digital media, I can immediately make comments in Goodnotes or Moodle, for example, about whether and where something can be changed. As a result, the quality of my teaching continuously improves, and at some point I will have a lesson plan that only requires very few changes.