At the Tuesday, December 10, 2013 Board of Education meeting, the Board unanimously approved the donation Fulton received from the MakerBot 3D Printer company. Mr. Dan McLaughlin, Art Teacher at Fulton School, was excited to explain how he secured the newest model of the 3D MakerBot Printer for the elementary building.
He said, “On November 12th I was reading a technology article about the company MakerBot. It explained a bit about the technology they were using, and how it is going to be important to students in the future. It’s essentially a 3D printer that takes a digital 3D image and ‘prints’ it out in plastic, giving you a tangible object to hold. Because this company was looking to put their 3D printer in as many public schools as possible, I jumped on the opportunity for our students. The article made reference to DonorsChoose.org, stating that teachers could sign up and that they could accept donations from anyone for specific projects as described, on behalf of the teacher. I signed up for the online profile and wrote a description of how this technology could benefit our student’s education. I actually forgot about it over the weekend, but when I got back on Monday, I had a few random people donate about $150 towards my goal of $2400 for the printer. I then sent out the link for my Donors Choose project to my friends and family, who helped bring my total to about $750. MakerBot Industries donated the remainder of my goal, over $1700! Within two weeks the printer arrived. It’s so awesome! I am still learning how to use it.”
Mr. McLaughlin will be launching a Technology Club at Fulton for 5th graders in January. He will use the new MakerBot Replicator 2 with his students so that they will be able to learn about this newest technology, as well as how to use the 3D printer, and understand basic maintenance and repairs of it.
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He added, “Online I found some free 3D design software so the students and I can learn how to create something digitally either on an iPad or laptop and then (3D) print it out. We will use basic design ideas to create small sculptures, math manipulatives, or spare parts for something. I want to give students a unique opportunity to learn about a field they may encounter in the future, or foster an interest in something they have not seen yet. The possibilities for this technology are vast, and I want to encourage our students to think the same about themselves.”
To learn more about the MakerBot Replicator 2 use this link to watch a small city be constructed in less than a minute (lapsed time, of course, it actually took about 14 hours). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkppg84hxZg
