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BlocksCAD - Educational 3D CAD Software for Kids! - Home. Smithtodd. Maker Websites Perfect For A Makerspace. These Downloadable Kits Let Teachers 3-D-Print Educational Models For Kids. If you’re old enough, you’ll remember how your schoolteacher used to deal out those weird-smelling, purple-inked Ditto machine prints.

These Downloadable Kits Let Teachers 3-D-Print Educational Models For Kids

Failing that, you’re sure to recall photocopies. Now that same duplication can be brought to plastic objects. Any school that owns or has access to a 3-D printer can now make three-dimensional models, or "manipulatives)," of the 2-D illustrations in books. Not only that, but they can download and print all manner of neat educational objects, from catapults to distance-measuring wheels to mathematical models. The 3-D printer needs to be supplied, but the models come from MyStemKits, a new company that specializes in models for schools. The premise is simple. Also available are classroom kits with complementary materials. "We’ve sourced content area experts and teachers to build lesson plans and created a standardized curriculum," says Hannah Olson, cofounder of MyStemKits. Get the latest Fast Company stories in your inbox daily.

The Launch of a Makerspace. This past week our learning space transformation was revealed and The Launch Pad is open for business.

The Launch of a Makerspace

My fingers are still stinging from the glue gun burns and fingernails stained with enamel spray paint, but the ribbon was cut and the door was open for our teachers and students. As kids were coming in, seeing the room for the first time after months of anticipation, I got to watch their eyes light up, again and again. How to Turn Your School Into a Maker Haven.

One of the best ways for frustrated parents, students and teachers to convince school leaders that it’s time for a reboot is with amazing student work.

How to Turn Your School Into a Maker Haven

An unconventional learning community of “makers” — people who like to figure out and fix problems with their hands — stands ready to demonstrate a hands-on learning style in which students engage problems that matter to them, taking agency and displaying creativity along the way. The Maker Movement is slowly infiltrating schools across the country with the help of dedicated educators and inspirational students proving with their creations that they can do incredible things when given a chance. “People are seeing through the eyes and the hands and the screens of children what’s possible, and it’s re-energizing progressive views of education,” said Gary Stager, co-author with Sylvia Libow Martinez of “Invent to Learn,” a book about the Maker Movement. What is a Makerspace? A Librarian's Guide to Makerspaces: 16 Resources.

"There were more than 135 million adult makers, more than half of the total adult population in America, in 2015.

A Librarian's Guide to Makerspaces: 16 Resources

" What is a makerspace? You’ve no doubt been hearing that word more than a few times over the past several years. Makerspaces, also called hackerspaces, hackspaces, and fablabs, are collaborative spaces where people gather to get creative with DIY projects, invent new ones, and share ideas. Since the first official makerspace convened six years ago in a library in upstate New York, libraries have remained an ideal setting for makerspace events across the country. Many offer community resources like 3D printers, software, electronics, craft and hardware supplies, and more.

There were more than 135 million adult makers, more than half of the total adult population in America, in 2015. Articles & Blog Posts on Makerspaces 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) 6.) Think. Make. learn. - Home. Filling the Gap: MakerBot Launches Free 3D Printing & Design Learning Guide for Schools. Reading, writing and arithmetic….. and 3D printing?

Filling the Gap: MakerBot Launches Free 3D Printing & Design Learning Guide for Schools

Without a doubt, 3D printing is coming to the classroom sometime in the near future. Autodesk Debuts Free Maker Platform for Classrooms. 21st Century Classroom.

Autodesk Debuts Free Maker Platform for Classrooms

10 Terrific Apps and Websites for Making and DIY. Even with so much technology at our fingertips, the instinct to build stuff with our hands hasn't disappeared.

10 Terrific Apps and Websites for Making and DIY

Instead, it's taken on a new form. Enter the "Maker" movement. Blending old-school physical building with modern digital creation, making and DIY have made a splash in the 21st-century classroom. How to Build Your Makerspace. 5th Graders Utilize 3D Printing to Create Their Own Custom Cities. One of the most inspirational aspects of covering the 3D printing space is the fact that we constantly have the opportunity to promote the use of the technology in schools around the world.

5th Graders Utilize 3D Printing to Create Their Own Custom Cities

There is nothing more pleasing to me than reporting on a successful case study in which 3D printing proved to be of great benefit to students at various schools and other educational institutions. Without a doubt, 3D printing is a technology of the future, yet very few teachers, school administrators, or parents are pushing for the introduction of this technology into the classroom environment. There is a reason for this, and that can be summed up with one word: unfamiliarity. It won’t be until more people become aware of the benefits that 3D printing can provide that the technology will infiltrate these places of education. One school in Washington, DC has recently proved that 3D printing within the classroom environment can have many benefits to children.

Paper Toys and Video Creation. Turn Your Drawings Into 3D-Printable Models With MakerBot's iPad App. “It’s vital your Makerspace reflects the culture of your school.” “It’s vital your Makerspace reflects the culture of your school.” by Britten Follett “What is the most unique item your students have created in their Makerspaces?”

“It’s vital your Makerspace reflects the culture of your school.”

I asked our SXSWedu panel charged with sharing details about their Schools’ Vortex: Innovative Library Makerspaces. Learning Through Tinkering. SAN FRANCISCO — My 9-year-old daughter is in the midst of a “pioneer” unit in her third grade class.

Learning Through Tinkering

It’s a great example of a project-based curriculum: The kids are developing math skills by determining what and how much they can pack without overloading wagons for a cross-country trek. They roll a “twist of fate” die that presents (virtual) obstacles they might have faced in the late 19th century — bad weather, loss of livestock, etc. — and then have to problem-solve to get their trek back on track. Coding, Making, 3D Printing, and Learning. Why 3D Printing Needs to Take Off in Schools Around the World. When it comes to 3D printing, there are limitless ways in which the technology can be utilized. Businesses, hobbyists, and educational institutions are beginning to fully understand some of the potential benefits that the technology can provide. 3D printing has, and will continue to, provide a means for inventors, innovators, and visionaries to easily fabricate prototypes for designs which they could only depict via 2-dimensional drawings and diagrams in the past. 3D printing will certainly spur on new inventions, simply because inventors now have a way to test out their ideas with tangible models and prototypes.

Where 3D printing has yet to really make a huge impact, but provides an ample amount of opportunity, is within educational institutions. These range from elementary schools to high schools, universities, and maker spaces around the globe. Just about every subject within a school curriculum could benefit from 3D printing technology. We will outline a few of these below: