Online learning has been around for many years but the demand has now grown to unprecedented levels. And with the explosion of online learning it is now more important than ever to ensure safety for the young learners. This short guide will show you to make online learning with YOUTUBEmore safe for your students whether at home or in a classroom.
Youtube is the second most used search engine behind GOOGLE and is the most used search engine for videos. It is great to watch DIY(do it yourself) instructional videos, entertainment videos, and especially educational videos. But for those who want to protect young viewers this is how you can restrict some content on youtube.
Let’s discuss how 3d printers work in the education industry.
If you don’t know anything about 3d printing or 3d printers, I encourage you to go watch our introduction to 3d printing video first so that you can have a better understanding exactly of what 3d printers are, how they work, and how they’re used. Remember from that video that a 3d printer is just a tool, but any tool that is used properly can be very powerful especially in education.
3d printers encompass stem subjects: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. We call it stream: Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, Art and Math. This is because we can now break those subjects down into more focus points. The great thing about 3d printers is they create hands-on, project-based, cross-curricular learning. They’re powerful tools when you can take and put them in front of a classroom full of kids, or you use them to create objects that can make learning a lot more engaging, practical, and interactive.
The first thing we’re going to talk about are the subjects. We have lesson plans that we created to make 3d printing and education very practical together. On our learning website each lesson plan is broken down into specific subjects. Now a lot of these are cross-curricular based lessons so that way they can use blended style learning.
Technology is the next subject and is quite a big subject. But this is where we cover our 3d modeling lesson so that you can learn without 3d printing. You can also learn things like gaming design and animations with 3d modeling skills.
Robotics is self-explanatory. We have lessons on robotics that cover the basics of what robots are, how kids can design and make their own, or how you can make your own.
The next subject is Engineering. You can do learn things about architecture and different engineering concepts. You can also learn the history of some things like the Louisiana State Capitol building and catapults. You can learn how catapult works and how they are used in math.
Art is one of the biggest subjects that can be covered in 3d printing, because just about everything in 3d printing is 3d modeled and that digital skill can be used in careers like graphic design and illustrations.
Math of course is a big topic. Just about everything in 3d printing is math. Creating models on a computer uses geometric shapes and geometry. Our catapult lesson can be used in math by teaching angles.
Those are some of the specifics on how 3d printing and education work together. We have a website, www.3dxstream-university.com, that we created which is an online learning system that was created to take the pressure off anyone trying to use 3d printers in education.
Whether you’re at home, at a library, at a school, or at a museum you can use this website to learn. You can do this yourself or use it as a teaching tool. All the lessons that are associated on the website
are also broken down by different subjects so filter through them.
I hope you learned how 3d printing and education actually work well together and are very powerful together. The greatest thing is that 3d printers give you the ability to create objects that can be used over and over again therefore saving you money on the back end So using this tool the correct way can be very powerful.
One of the most common questions asked regarding 3d printing is, “Can you smooth out the parts after they are 3D printed?”
Of course, the answer is “yes”, but the details are what matter here. To answer the question properly let’s discuss a few key terms first. (Note: these terms are broken down to the simplest form so that people not familiar with the industry can understand.)
Filament – The term used to identify the material used in FFF 3D printing.
FFF- Fused Filament Fabrication– The process of using filament that is extruded from a print head (extruder) and laid down upon itself in layers form an object.
PLA – Polylactic Acid – A plastic used in 3d printing process. This is the type we will focus on in this article.
Why smooth out the parts?
In FFF3d printing, parts can sometimes appear coarse, have blemishes, or have other slight issues depending on settings or other factors. If you are just prototyping a part and expect changes or you don’t need a clean looking object, then finishing a 3D printed part may be unnecessary. If you are someone who is trying to make a mold from a 3d printed object, putting objects out to display, or creating finished products for clients, then this article is for you. Personally, I do not spend a lot of time finishing parts. The reason is that as a 3D printer manufacturer I want people to see the finished objects as what they are. But from time to time I will spend the extra time for clients or if a museum asks for objects to display.
The process to smooth out the parts
Depending on your project’s need, first decide on what the end product should look like . Will the object look better shiny or dull? Will the object be somewhat hidden among other parts or be stand alone? Will the object only have one part or side of it visible? These questions make a difference in how much work and time it takes for the process from start to finish. For this particular project I provided both finished and unfinished parts. The bottom and back of the objects are not going to be seen so I didn’t spend a lot of time on those areas.
Step 1: Print out the objects.
These objects in particular took about 6 hours each and were printed with HatchboxPLA. They were created in AutoCAD and were fabricated on our large format 3D printer.
Step 2: We sanded the rough lines that you see on some of the objects. The dots that you see are from overheated material. They can be sanded as well.
Step 3: We cleaned up the sanded object with just soap and water then fully dried.
Step 4: The finish. We used a two part coating XTC-3D. This is a two part epoxy that you mix. Directions are on the box. Take extreme caution as this stuff is highly toxic. Use proper ventilation and safety gear.
