rapman-education's posterous http://rapman-education.posterous.com Most recent posts at rapman-education's posterous posterous.com Fri, 19 Oct 2012 13:47:00 -0700 The DfE and 3D printing in STEM http://rapman-education.posterous.com/the-dfe-and-3d-printing-in-stem http://rapman-education.posterous.com/the-dfe-and-3d-printing-in-stem

Department for Education: 3D printing in Physics, Maths and D&T.

 Up before 5am and boarding a train to London at the sort of time I would normally be stirring myself to get out of bed... All a bit keen really!... And the sort of thing that I normally have to have a good reason to do. And the good reason was that I was asked to do a presentation about 3D printing in schools for the Department for Education (the DfE is our government body in charge of education here in England). I must say that it was a real honour and privilege to be asked to do this.

 One of the reasons I was asked to do this was because the DfE is setting up a pilot project to look at how 3D printing can be used in STEM subjects... With special emphasis on the mathematics and physics areas.

 If you are a return visitor to my blog then you might realise that I am a D&T teacher at Clevedon School, but I have some experience of developing teaching and learning projects and resources in other subject areas... In fact I'm currently working on some new projects to try out with my own science department very soon (more of this in a later post perhaps)... And that's why I was asked along to share my previous experiences.

 Anyway I think my presentation kicked off the day ok... Some of the delegates even laughed (or raised a smile) at my feeble jokes (yes I do have a very strange sense of humour) ... Quite proud really as presenting in the first slot of the day can be difficult, people need to warm to the atmosphere and are often wondering what they have let themselves in for!

 But I expect you are wondering where the physics and maths fits in with all this and what the pilot project is all about. I suppose in a nutshell it really boils down to the fact that 3D printing has so far really only been in the domain of designers, technologists and engineers. This project is looking to break out of this and involve mathematics and science. And why not? I have exported some cross curricular links before but this project has really got my mind buzzing with the potential uses for this technology in these areas other areas of the curriculum and there should be more to follow in a later blog post about this.

 So, what else happened at the meeting? The other presentation was led by Stuart Douglas from Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy. Stuart's school is lucky enough to have some very high end 3D printing equipment and he brought a very different perspective to the project. The delegates were given an opportunity to explore what their first steps will be in introducing this technology to these other STEM subjects and Makerbot gave a demonstration of the equipment that is being made available.

 I have just got home and its now 9:30pm... Feeling pretty exhausted, but it has been a fantastic day. I would just like to say thank you to the DfE for inviting me along to the day, and my school for letting me attend (and also the teachers who covered my lessons during my absence) and of course 3DS/Bits from Bytes for the support they give me (and my school) which has enabled me to have a bit of a head start in "3D printing in schools".

Oh, and finally, I hope to publish my presentation a bit later... It's a bit big to upload at the moment so ill have to do a bit of pruning and editing!

EDIT.... here is the powerpoint... it gives an idea of what my presentation was about, but without the verbal content it may not give the whole story.

 

DfE_presentation.pdf Download this file

 

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1324605/me.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emrVdsQknst Dave White rapman-education Dave White
Wed, 04 Jul 2012 09:23:33 -0700 West of England ICT Conference 2012 http://rapman-education.posterous.com/west-of-england-ict-conference-2012 http://rapman-education.posterous.com/west-of-england-ict-conference-2012


Our D&T department got a special mention in the keynote speech by Tim Rylands at the WEICT12 conference?... All about the way we are using our Bits from Bytes 3D printing with students.

Rather than repeating about Tim's fact finding visit or what we actually do with our 3D printers why not scroll down through my department blog and see for yourself.... It really is cutting edge stuff!

http://www.clevedonschool.org.uk/blogs/products/

And of course here on my RapMan Education Posterous blog there is a load of information to browse.

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1324605/me.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emrVdsQknst Dave White rapman-education Dave White
Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:52:00 -0800 An introduction to RapMan in Germany http://rapman-education.posterous.com/an-introduction-to-rapman-in-germany http://rapman-education.posterous.com/an-introduction-to-rapman-in-germany

Not many Advanced Skills Teachers in the UK can claim that their work is international. But in a way I suppose that’s what has been happening....

Over the last few months I have been sharing ideas with Andreas Seidl in Germany. Andreas, who I “met” via the BfB forum where he is known as "Normdom", had seen much of the work I have been doing in an attempt to make RapMan and BfB3000 printers “accessible” to students… so he thought he would give it a go too. He approached one of the teachers from his old school to demonstrate his own RapMan and to talk about how it could be used in schools… and to cut a long story short, Andreas is now going to demonstrate  3D printing in action at the kreismedienzentrum (KMZ)  in Helibronn (KMZ = circular media centre).  Here is the main part of a recent e-mail Andreas sent me announcing his presentation.

It only remains to say…. Good Luck Andreas, hope it goes well and that all your hard work results in students in your part of Germany being able to use 3D printers in their schools.

Hi Dave,
Finally it is done! The official announcement of my presentation "3D-Druck in Aktion" at the KMZ Heilbronn is now online at the KMZ homepage and interested people can register themself to take part!
I'm sorry that i can't provide you a English version, but i hope Google's translator produces acceptable results (The layout seems to get a bit out of control)
Link:
http://www.kreismedienzentrum-hn.de/index.php/fortbildungen/55-fortbildungen-mit-festem-termin/1035-3d-druck-in-aktion.html
Google Translator:
http://translate.google.de/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kreismedienzentrum-hn.de%2Findex.php%2Ffortbildungen%2F55-fortbildungen-mit-festem-termin%2F1035-3d-druck-in-aktion.html
Also you will find attached the short to be released PDF invitation, that will be send to the schools soon, after the last review. Please apologize, that i can only provide a German version.
Most of the text is written by my teacher, i only provided some information and text fragments. Mr. Leuschner from the KMZ created from our source the PDF and online announcement.
Regards
Andreas

2011-03-16_3D-Druck-Einladung.pdf Download this file

 

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1324605/me.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emrVdsQknst Dave White rapman-education Dave White
Thu, 13 Jan 2011 10:40:00 -0800 Education Ambassadors at Euromold - Part 2 http://rapman-education.posterous.com/education-ambassadors-at-euromold-2010-part-2 http://rapman-education.posterous.com/education-ambassadors-at-euromold-2010-part-2

Hi,

In an earlier post I blogged about students from Clevedon School (UK) visiting the Euromold 2010 exhibition in Frankfurt (Germany). This has now been reported in our local newspaper and I thought you might like to see.

I would just like to say again a huge "thank-you" to the guys from Bits from Bytes and 3D Systems for giving us this opportunity.

Dave

Ns_times_13_1_2011

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1324605/me.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emrVdsQknst Dave White rapman-education Dave White
Sun, 05 Dec 2010 04:21:48 -0800 Education Ambassadors at Euromold http://rapman-education.posterous.com/education-ambassadors-at-euromold http://rapman-education.posterous.com/education-ambassadors-at-euromold

We have just arrived back from the Euromold show in Frankfurt. Bits from Bytes and 3D Systems invited me and a couple of students as Education Ambassadors to highlight the use of RapMan and BfB3000 3D printers in a schools context.

Throughout the show I was able to give presentations at the 3D Systems theatre showing examples of students work in 3D printing and the work I have done in developing teaching and learning resources and projects to give educators a hand in getting started and developing their use of 3D printers in D&T, STEM and cross curricular lessons.

The students and I also supported some German universities in the “RapMan Challenge”… the students competing to build a RapMan and print their first object. As the challenge was so successful this was also followed by a challenge to print the most interesting, high quality, innovative object. The winning universities were presented with a prize of a RapMan printer, materials, and a double head upgrade.

The student ambassadors were able to talk to the university students, potential customers and other educators about how 3D printing has enhanced their education and how they are using our schools printers to make objects for their A’Level exams. The students were also able to visit the stands and see how Rapid Prototyping is done with the large machines that are used commercially.

Unfortunately we did have some technical difficulties with Wi-Fi at the show and were unable to do any live blogging at the event, however in a few days’ time I will hopefully publish a more comprehensive report of our visit and some more photos.

Frankfurt was very cold and snow had recently fallen but this didn’t stop us from visiting a Christmas market in Darmstadt and also eating typical German food in a restaurant.

We had a fantastic time and wish to thank BfB and 3D Systems inviting us to attend Euromold for their friendliness and generosity.

Dave

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1324605/me.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emrVdsQknst Dave White rapman-education Dave White
Sat, 20 Nov 2010 04:07:00 -0800 Euromold 2010 http://rapman-education.posterous.com/euromold-2010 http://rapman-education.posterous.com/euromold-2010

Logo1

Euromold 2010 is a World Fair for Moldmaking and Tooling, Design and Application Development taking place in Frankfurt, Germany on 1 - 4 December 2010. more details here http://www.euromold.com/index.php?id=51&l=1

Bits from Bytes Ltd and 3D Systems corporation have very kindly asked for me and a small group of students to attend the event where I will be giving presentations about how RapMan and BfB3000 printers can be used in schools. The students will be actind as "education ambassadors" talking to visitors about their work and building a RapMan 3.1 machine. We are hoping to be able to blog our activities (depending on internet access / wifi and the 1001 other technical difficulties we have yet to overcome)... so hopefully you will be able to track our progress here http://bfbeducation.posterous.com/ 

So, even if we can't manage to get the blog running and you happen to be in the Frankfurt area please drop in to see us and have a chat. Bits from Bytes will be in Hall 11.0 stand E26

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1324605/me.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emrVdsQknst Dave White rapman-education Dave White
Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:44:38 -0700 TCT Live http://rapman-education.posterous.com/tct-live http://rapman-education.posterous.com/tct-live
Imag0064

Apologies for the slow posting…. End of term and lots to do!

Anyway, some of you may be aware that BfB and 3D Systems asked me to attend the TCT Live 2010 show in Coventry, UK. I was lucky enough to do a presentation at the show about “The Democratisation of Additive Technologies” …. Obviously RapMan and BfB featured heavily in this! I was really proud that my presentation had a large audience – nearly full to capacity and even people crowding around the edges. So I’m really pleased that we were able to capture so much attention. Even if only a few of those present will now start thinking about ways of using this sort of technology to help students to become better designers and engineers in the future then it was a really worthwhile “event”.

Talking to some of the visitors to BfB’s stand has also generated some interesting ideas for further projects and possible links to develop more educational projects and learning resources…. So keep an eye open for some more developments!

Iain at BfB has posted a Blog entry with more details of the event. http://rapmanv3.blogspot.com/2010/10/tct-live-great-success.html

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1324605/me.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emrVdsQknst Dave White rapman-education Dave White
Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:19:00 -0700 Data Conference Presentation http://rapman-education.posterous.com/data-conference-presentation http://rapman-education.posterous.com/data-conference-presentation

Almost forgot.... when I got back from the DATA "Digital D&T" conference I did say that I would post a copy of my presentation.... here it is

Dave

DATA Conference Rapman.pdf Download this file

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1324605/me.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emrVdsQknst Dave White rapman-education Dave White
Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:08:00 -0700 Just got back from the DATA Conference at Keele University http://rapman-education.posterous.com/just-got-back-from-the-data-conference-at-kee http://rapman-education.posterous.com/just-got-back-from-the-data-conference-at-kee

Just got back home 8.45pm UK time... 150 mile trip
As promised I'm reporting back on how the conference went 
J

BRILLIANT... I really enjoyed it J I ran 2 seminar/workshop sessions of about one hour in the morning and afternoon to a good sized audience each time (sorry didn't count them) They were teachers, lecturers, advisors etc all specialising in D&T so a fairly knowledgeable lot.

The presentations went down really well (even though the university's IT system refused to produce sound for my video clips ) ... I will post a copy of the presentation later (after I've annotated it)

Interestingly there were a few "Dimension" owners in the audience.... Their expressions were very interesting* when I mentioned about initial cost, running costs and showed them the quality of output... Ok you can see a difference but it's not 20-40X better on a Dimension... I would rather spend the cash on having 20-40 RapMan machines than buy one Dimension. I would be happy to have one in each of my workshops!.... ok, so I can dream a little
* for interesting read "green with envy"

If BfB don't get a few sales from my presentation and seeing a BfB3000 "in the flesh" I would be very surprised

Dave

PS the BfB3000 and the BfB Axon software were a dream.. fantastic combination and excellent results... and the machine survived bouncing around in the back of my car perfectly well... (the BfB 3000 road test ...and I'm fairly certain I can hide the evidence of my little printing mistake  from the BfB guys...oops... you would have thought by now that I would know the difference between the z+ and z- buttons)

 

 

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1324605/me.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emrVdsQknst Dave White rapman-education Dave White
Sat, 19 Jun 2010 03:38:00 -0700 The Design and Technology Association Education and International Research Conference 2010 http://rapman-education.posterous.com/the-design-and-technology-association-educati http://rapman-education.posterous.com/the-design-and-technology-association-educati

Keele University,UK.  Wednesday 7 – Friday 9 July 2010

Link to the conference page of the DATA website

I have been invited to contribute to the DATA Conference on the 7th July 2010 by running two lectures/workshops, These will be one hour sessions with potentially 50 international teachers, lecturers, advisors, consultants and government representatives etc at each of the sessions.... and the general theme is Digital Design & Technology, I will of course be focussing on 3D printing and RapMan.

This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase what RapMan can do in schools, colleges and universities to enhance student's learning.

I will be showing the work done by my students and the Teaching/Learning resources that have been produced and the support systems that are in place via the wiki and forum (i.e. you guys !)

And now I start asking for some help!!!! I would really like to show the international nature of RapMan... I can already show how you guys helped me to develop the wind turbine project for schools, but i would like to show more than just the objects printed at my school, so.... I woud be really grateful if you guys out there in schools, colleges, or universities could send me some quality photos of the work your students have been doing.
The best way to do this would be to attach some photos to this post on the BfB forum- DATA Conference , or the thread ...Printing Examples... show your best printing projects here!    or by PM. I will of course fully credit anything that I use. .... the only thing I would not be able to use a photos of students (I would have to get written permission from parents etc to publish these).

Anyway, I'm really excited about this conference (and a little aprehensive  Wink ) and really looking forwards to recieving any help you guys might be able to give by sending examples etc.

Many thanks, in anticipation.

Dave

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1324605/me.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emrVdsQknst Dave White rapman-education Dave White
Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:37:00 -0700 BfB and RapMan visit Techlink. http://rapman-education.posterous.com/bfb-and-rapman-visit-techlink http://rapman-education.posterous.com/bfb-and-rapman-visit-techlink

On the 10th June 2010 Iain Major (a director from Bits From Bytes ltd) went to the annual Techlink conference to demonstrate RapMan. Techlink is a project supported by a local engineering company's charitable trust. Through this support secondary schools throughout the South West of the UK have been able to purchase CAD/CAM equipment that they would otherwise have not been able to afford . Over the last couple of years the charity has been purchasing CraftROBO machines (cutter/plotters) for every junior school (7 to 11 year olds) in the area.... But the good news is that
they are now looking at the possibility of providing a RapMan machine to secondary schools (11 to 18 year olds).

At the Techlink Conference Iain was able to not only demonstrate the RapMan but also to showcase some of the Teaching and Learning resources that are available on the BfB Wiki. Techlink are particularly keen to develop the project about wind turbines and Iain printed a steady supply of turbine fans throughout the event. The BfB demos were visited by dozens of young students who were amazed by the whole process... budding designers and engineers of the future J. A number of teachers and parents also visited the stand and were again bowled over by what they saw. One parent was so impressed with RapMan that he placed an order then and there!

Anyway, I'm really excited at the possibilities of this link with Techlink.... I'll post some more details as this develops.

Dave

Bits_From_Byte.pdf Download this file
PS The PowerPoint (shown here as a pdf) is available on the BfB Wiki
http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/wiki/index.php?title=Promotion_Resources

 

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1324605/me.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emrVdsQknst Dave White rapman-education Dave White