Why students need to use 3D printers right now

Students need to use 3D printers to ensure they’re set up for the future world of work.

These gizmos are just so handy for design and production, you’re about to see their use explode across a huge range of industries.

So, to give your students the best chance of competing for those top jobs of tomorrow, you’d better get them up to speed with 3D printers today!

Why students need to use 3D printers today

Here are our top 3 reasons why students need to use 3D printers now:

1) It’s a valuable skill

By the time your students make it out into the big bad world, there will be lots more jobs involving:

• Using 3D printers as part of a wider role (such as manufacturing, product design or architecture)
• Designing products and software for 3D printing
• Installing, maintaining and repairing 3D printers

Teaching them how to use 3D printers now will give them a head-start in the race of life.

Adding 3D printing to your lesson plans won’t just show them how these gadgets work, it will highlight the wonderful (and, sometimes wacky) things they can do to benefit society.

2) It teaches them other useful skills

But, the learning doesn’t stop there! Teaching kids how to use 3D printers also means giving them a stack of other handy skills.

Think about using these devices to teach:

• Iterative design: Ask your students to come up with a design, print a prototype, test it, refine it, then print a shiny new final product.
• Manufacturing: Explain how all sorts of manufacturing processes work, the logistics networks needed to support them and how 3D printing changes all this.
• Chemical compounds: Get them up to speed with the types of materials used as 3D printing additives, such as plastic polymers, food, steel – even stone!

3) It’s the best time to teach them

It’s a fact – kids just learn quicker than adults. So, by introducing them to 3D printing early, it’ll become like second nature to them.

This will help them feel comfortable and confident when faced with the prospect of using 3D printers in adult life.

Kids also love active learning, and 3D printers are practically made for this! You’ll be helping them get hands-on with new materials and techniques.

Creative play with 3D printers will give them all sorts of benefits at once. They’ll be developing their conceptual and planning skills, as well as their imagination and maybe even language skills (depending on the project you give them).

What 3D printing info should you be teaching?

You’ve got loads to get stuck into when it comes to 3D printing (way too much to cover here). But, these are the key topics we recommend you do your homework on:

• How to develop models for 3D printing (designing, prototyping etc.)
• How to set up a 3D printer and load filaments
• How to programme 3D printing software to bring your designs to life
• How to maintain a 3D printer to get more bang for your budget

So, now you know why students need to use 3D printers and where to start, what’s holding you back?

If your school could benefit from a 3D printer, talk to our friendly team about your leasing options today.