Being able to introduce a 3D printer to your school and allow your classes to see their visions and designs come to life is an exciting prospect, and one that many teachers would love to provide. Yet, for many, the addition of such an expensive piece of kit is seen as being out of reach, limited to the DT departments of secondary schools. However, with fundraising platforms, grants and loan schemes available, there is no reason why a 3D printer can’t become a part of your primary classroom, too.
How to trial 3D printing
Before diving into buying your own 3D printer, you may want to test one out yourself. The increase in the popularity of “makerspaces” means that you may be fortunate enough to live near a FabLab, a museum or a library offering workshops for either yourself or your pupils to produce your own 3D-printed items. This could be a good option when starting out, particularly if you lack experience in computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software. By attending a workshop, your pupils will be able to design their items using CAD software and, crucially, get them printed afterwards, without the onus being on you to have the knowledge to facilitate this.
Another option to get a taste of 3D printing in the classroom is to take advantage of a loan scheme. For a refundable deposit of £100, CREATE Education will provide you with an Ultimaker branded 3D printer for a month to use with your pupils. It also gives you plenty of filament so that you can print out their creations. In return for the loan, the company asks that you share anything you do with its online community. By writing a report of how you used the 3D printer during the loan period, you get to show off your pupils’ creations while helping the wider education community see how 3D printing may work for them.
You could also use the loan scheme in combination with CREATE’s Business Enterprise Scheme and fundraise at the same time. With your school partaking in the loan scheme and having access to a 3D printer for up to a month, pupils can each design and print small items that can then be sold to raise the money to buy a printer. As a bonus, you would also be encouraging entrepreneurialism among your students.
Another alternative to buying a 3D printer is to create the designs on software such as TinkerCad and then click the link to use their recommended companies (Shapeways, iMaterialise and Sculpteo), which will print out the designs and send them to you. While this will mean that your pupils won’t have the added excitement of seeing their designs printed in 3D in the classroom, it may be a good option for a one-off project or a first step in deciding whether the purchase of your own equipment is necessary.
Finding the funds for 3D printing
Once you have decided that you would like to integrate 3D printing into your teaching as more than just a one-off topic, you may want to look at options to buy your own. CREATE Education has a dedicated page and guide on its site to help you source funding. One option is to apply for a partnership grant from The Royal Society. The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) also provides support for UK-based educational projects.
The Royal Society’s partnership grants require you to work alongside a Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) ambassador and create a research project together. Projects need to be framed around a question with a hypothesis. If successful, funding of up to £3,000 is provided for projects aimed at supporting pupils between the ages of 5 and 18. Similarly, the IET’s Engineering Education Grant Scheme is targeted at projects that increase engineering knowledge in five- to 19-year-olds.
With the printers starting at £495 for an entry-level EinStart-C (perfect for primary schools) and increasing to £1,790 for an Ultimaker 2+, applying for funding through these schemes could be an ideal way of purchasing a 3D printer for your school.
As well as the many grants available, you may want to consider Rocket Fund, a simple-to-use crowdfunding platform whose mission is to reduce educational inequality and empower teachers to innovate in their classroom. The recommendation is that you set an initial target of only £1,500, to help you maximise your chances of success (although if you hit that figure the platform will allow you to set a stretch target). Previous successful fundraising campaigns on Rocket Fund have included 3D printers, so it is definitely worth considering.
Another possibility is to fundraise with other schools in your area. Perhaps you are within a multi-academy trust or a group of federated schools. A joint purchase could be a great solution that will enable a larger number of pupils to engage with innovative technology that possibly would not be accessible without collaboration.
Putting your 3D printer to work
Once you have access to a 3D printer, you will need to know how to use it and what you are going to use it for. There are all kinds of software, ranging from the very basic to the advanced. Some software includes block coding, so this could be a great way to link coding to design.
CREATE Education’s Getting Started Guide runs through a number of different software options, pointing you towards free downloadable software with helpful age guidance. It also offers a free guide to 3D printing in the classroom, explaining unfamiliar terminology as well as providing ideas for lesson plans. An informative guide to 3D printing by PrintLab, a developer of 3D printing curricula, can also be downloaded for free.
Looking at other examples of where 3D printing has been used successfully in primary schools is a good place to start. One primary teacher from Bradford has written a guide to getting started with 3D printing in primary schools, and regularly shares his creations on Twitter. Other great websites for inspiration include Thingiverse and Youmagine, where you can download and print designs uploaded by others.
None of us can accurately predict exactly what future careers our primary pupils will eventually pursue and the precise skills they will require. Not so long ago, 3D printers were confined to design studios; now they are increasingly mainstream, used by artists, manufacturers, architects, designers and even medical technicians, to create hearing aids or prosthetics.
According to PrintLab, the growth in the 3D printing industry is expected to grow from $7.3 billion (£5.6 billion) in 2016 to $21 billion by 2020. As an exciting and emerging technology, this is the perfect time to get your school involved in 3D printing.
With so many options available to fund your own school’s 3D printer, this could be a golden opportunity to familiarise pupils with the technology - and to allow them to exercise their creativity as they learn.
Siobhán Morgan leads computer science at Exeter Junior School and is a CAS Master Teacher. She tweets at @koduclassroom
