Beginning 3D Printing Part I

Back in June, I filled out a DonorsChoose grant for a Makerbot Replicator 2 3D Printer. It was my first DonorsChoose project and I wasn't really sure about what I was getting into. I'd read a lot about 3D printing, but hadn't actually seen a 3D printer in action. I wasn't even sure if it was a tool that would have much application in my classroom.

At ISTE 2014, I had the opportunity to meet with the folks from Makerbot to got a better idea of how this technology actually worked. I also spent some time visiting with the folks from Autodesk. I was excited to learn that they had created several free 3D design tools for the iOS. I had my "Ah-ha" moment and decided I needed a 3D printer for my classroom.

By the end of the summer I struggled to bring any attention to our grant. It did not seem likely that our project was going to be funded. A couple weeks into the school year, we had our open house and I promoted the project with parents. Within 24 hours, we received a few donations. However, we were still very far from our goal. Coincidently, for the following weekend, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was offering to fund 50% of projects on DonorsChoose. We had 72 hours to try and meet our goal. By Monday morning, our project was fully funded.

About a week later, our Makerbot arrived. I was ecstatic. It still didn't seem real. I quickly got to work unloading it from the packaging and setting it up. I was surprised by the lack of documentation with which it was shipped. The instructions were clear and simple. I began by leveling the print plate shortly after assembling a few components. The small display walked me through the process. I then attempted to load some filament but encountered my first problem.

I followed the procedure carefully for loading the filament, but our Makerbot was not extruding as it should. I repeated the procedure multiple times with no success. After a little Googling, it appeared that the thermal barrier tube was clogged. I had to disassemble the fan and heat sink from the extruder to locate the clog. It seemed a little weird to be taking apart our brand new out-of-the-box 3D printer, but a friend of mine had warned me that 3D printing requires a fair bit of tinkering and problem solving to achieve a quality print.

I located the clog and removed the hardened filament as described by the Makerbot help video. I reassembled the extruder and attempted my first print. Our Makerbot shipped with an SD card preloaded with a few simple projects from Thingiverse. I decided to print the chain links directly from the SD card.

To watch the Makerbot print was magical, almost hypnotic. The speed and precision of the extruder's movements were fascinating. Within 12 minutes I had I first print. The color seemed a little off and there were a couple flaws, but our first print was a success!

Over weekend, I researched methods for improving my print and started designing my first project on my iPad. I planned to print it on the following Monday. For all that's been written about 3D printing, I found the barrier for entry to be surprisingly low. While I did have to overcome that clog of thermal barrier tube, my experience with Makerbot was quite positive.

Reflecting on ISTE 2014

Saturday
As a veteran of a large multi-day music festival like Bonnaroo, I can honestly say that the ISTE conference is comparable in size and scope to Bonnaroo. It is overwhelming on every level for anyone that has not attended. With over 1500 speakers, exhibits and events, it was difficult to figure out where to start. Strategy and pace are essential to getting the most out of the experience.

I arrived late in the afternoon on Saturday hoping to get a feel for the Georgia World Congress Center. I  also wanted to hear the opening keynote address from Ashley Judd. There was a lot of confusion and congestion around the escalators, but after entering the keynote hall it became clear just how big this convention was. There were 14,000 people gathered for the opening address. A live jazz band from New Orleans created a uptempo vibe that made the whole thing feel more like a party than a convention. Enormous projection screens flanked either side of the stage to give everyone a clear view of the evening's speakers. Ashley Judd's keynote, while heartfelt, seemed slightly off topic at several points. Following the keynote, I wandered Building B to get familiar with the meeting rooms and got a sneak peak of the Expo Hall. I decided to make it an early night, so that I could be prepared for the next day.

Sunday
I spent over two hours wandering the rows of the Expo Hall on Sunday morning. I narrowed my focus to vendors that offered robots, gameification, 3D printing, programming, iPad resources and anything associated with the Maker Movement. Highlights included GameStar Mechanic, LightCube, Hummingbird, Autodesk, Makerbot, Next Engine, Griffin, 2Simple, and Filament Learning. Of course, companies like Google, Samsung, Scholastic, Edmodo, Pearson, Panasonic were also present. I was more interested in finding smaller companies and products that I hadn't heard of before.

I don't know if wandering the Expo Hall for two hours was the best strategy to start my day because my head was spinning from sensory overload by 11:30 AM. However, I'm not sure if I can imagine trying to see everything after spending a morning in sessions either. I tweeted "EdTech vendors as far as the eye can see".

In the gigantic glass and concrete "hallway" of Building B, there were two Playgrounds set up with mini-sessions and hands-on demos for different themes. Little Learners, technologies, and big learning was set up on level 3. I had the opportunity to play with two different robots Play-i and KinderLab Robotics. The Play-i robots (Bo and Yana) featured iOS and Android based programming tools to control the robot. While I was familiar with Play-i, it was great to see a prototype in action. Bo and Yana will begin shipping in the fall. I was more encouraged by their development of a tablet based simulator. Play-I's apps will be free. Even if classrooms or students don't own a Bo or Yana, they can practice programming in the simulator on their tablet device. There may also be the ability to store code in a cloud.

KinderLab Robotic's Kibo, takes a different approach. Kibo is programmed by linking wooden blocks together that have scannable barcodes. Users then take Kibo's barcode reader and scan each block in sequence to execute a specific command. Kibo seems very Pre-K and kindergarten friendly.

Next I attended Full STEAM Ahead, Cultivating connections with the Arts with Kyle Pace and Michelle Baldwin. This well attended session focussed on integrating STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) with traditional and arts classrooms. The session emphasized that all students are creative but in different ways. STEAM education, when done correctly, gives every student voice and choice. A highlight of the session was the creation of a selfie that integrated math, pattern, shadow, and reflection. My collaborative project is below.

Coding for the Future: Engaging student interest in Programming was the first and only session of which I shut out. Many sessions at ISTE are ticketed by preregistration. Otherwise, you have to wait in the stand-by line. I lined up 20 minutes early and still got shut out. Needless to say, CODING IS HOT!

I wandered back the Murphy Ballroom to see the father of the flipped classroom, John Bergmann present Flip your Classroom: The Intersection of Content, Curiosity, and Relationships. While I've been quite familiar with flipped classroom, I haven't entirely implemented it into my own class. I tweeted my key takeaway, "If you can be replaced by a YouTube video, you should be".

My last stop of the day was in the Murphy Ballroom Galleria to visit the American School of Bombay's poster session on Designing your Makerspace. I shared my teaching situation with Karishma Galani who then spent the next ten minutes talking to me about strategies for moving forward with my own classroom. Their session also gave away copies of Future Forwards: Exploring Frontiers in Education.

By 6 PM, it was time to call it a day. I had an even busier day scheduled for Monday.

Monday
The Monday morning Playground featured Build Your World: Makerspace at the Mobile Learning Playground. I listened and met with Trish Cloud who was doing amazing things with Minecraft Pocket Edition and her elementary school students. I watched a MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer in action, played with Bee-Bot and spent some more time learning about the application of Augmented Reality to the classroom.

My first session of the day was called Thousands of Tiny Robots which featured ModRobotic's cube shaped robots called Cubelets. These simple building blocks give young students the opportunity to explore robotics without coding. What I appreciated about this session was their focus on educational benefit of teaching robotics. Specifically, they addressed issues like scientific method, computational thinking, design thinking and life science.

Josh Caldwell immediately followed with an incredible presentation on the application of Arduino to his middle school technology classroom. I've been reluctant to get involved with Arduino because it seemed too advanced for my K-4 students. However, Caldwell's expert knowledge of this technology showed me otherwise. Arduino is an essential physical computing tool.

Back in the Murphy Ballroom Galleria, I met Christopher Michaud who was presenting the Georgia Tech developed Earsketch. This web-based audio production tool gives users the ability to produce a song by using Python to code each instrument and track. It seemed like a very musically engaging way to learn Python. Michaud explained that he had taught Earsketch to students as young as 3rd grade.

In the Murphy Ballroom, I had my first experience with Google Glass. This technology is not something that seemed to have much application to my professional or personal life. However, after watching Christine DePaulo and Christian Penny's presentation, I started to think differently. I even had the opportunity to try a set on. I took a picture and a 10 second video. Unfortunately, the $1500 price tag will probably keep Google Glass out of my reach for a while.

I headed over to the Sidney Marcus Auditorium next and was disappointed to find out that I missed Make Magazine founder Dale Dougherty. However, I did catch Guy Hoffman's EdTekTalk about the humanity of robots. Hoffman explores robotic body language to promote creativity in humans. His work has even been featured comedically on the Colbert Report. He shared a great article from The Economist and has created robots that can improvise jazz music.

I ended my day with Gamification, Makerspaces and Minecraft with Douglas Kiang. With only a small bit of experience in Minecraft, I was very interested learning more about how to use it as a teaching tool. Douglas Kiang did a brilliant job of addressing the issues of curriculum, classroom, and community in the 21st century classroom. He then related those issues to the virtual worlds created in Minecraft. His students created stunning recreations and redesigns of their school campus in Minecraft.. The student's work was beautiful and Douglas Kiang's delivery was uplifting. My most significant takeaway was the relation of Minecraft to the book Andrew Henry's  Meadow by Doris Burn.

Monday evening brought the opportunity to mix and mingle with other educators. After attending Tennessee Education Technology Association's mixer, I made my way to the Tabernacle Music Hall for EdTech Karaoke. While I've never been a fan of karaoke, it was great to network with other passionate educators.

Tuesday
By Tuesday morning, I felt that I was running on empty. I had only planned to stay half a day before returning home. I attended Learn How to Use a 3D Printer-Right Now! with Shawn and Stephanie Grimes from the Digital Harbor Foundation. It was exciting to see a Printrbot 3D printer in action. They showed the process of design and printing using mostly free tools. Shawn and Stephanie's presentation made this technology even more accessible to anyone just getting their feet wet with 3D printing.

All the technologies that I had read about on Twitter and blogs became more accessible through the conference. It was inspiring to hear so many well-informed professionals talk about 21st century tools for learning. The ISTE conference is world-class professional development that will motivate and inspire any teacher. It was also a great way to expand your professional learning network. It is a truly exciting time to be an educator.

Invent to Learn

This book is what I've been looking for, for a long time. Go buy it now!

I just got to the part about 3D printers, physical computing, and programming. I've been actively teaching coding via iPads since December. We use Kodable in K-2 and Lightbot and Hopscotch in 3-4.  I tweeted last week that the energy in my room has been absolutely electric while working with these tools. It's been so easy to see the benefit of teaching coding to young children.

Prior to reading the above, 3D printing didn't seem like something that would have a place in K-4. However, to be honest, I wasn't really clear on the practical applications of 3D printing either. Invent to Learn opened my eyes. A local high school recently acquired a 3D printer with the help of my friend Tony Youngblood. He also hipped me to iOS based CAD programs soon to be released by Makerbot. After a little more research, I've decided my classroom needs one. The 3D printer is the kiln of the 21st Century art room.

But physical computing is the technology that has me the most excited. Littlebits caught my eye a while back, but somehow I completely forgot about it. I've been describing them as electric Legos to my co-workers. These should be in every 3-4th grade science kit. I'm really interested in the Korg set for my own personal amusement. 

Although it is capable of so much more, I've also been familiar Arduino as tool for interactive art projects. I'm not sure how accessible it would be for my students, but it's definitely worth more research.

But Raspberry Pi. Oh my. So yummy. A $25 no-frills credit card sized computer that runs various useful computing tools. It also runs Scratch. Incredible. I have this idea about having my fourth graders building multiple Raspberry Pi stations for creating a Scratch lab in my classroom. I'm not sure how do-able this project is, so I'm gonna pilot the idea on my own in my garage this summer. After tweeting my ideas, I was also introduced to Kano. Wow.

3 more days of TCAP. Yeehaw.