MakerBot
MakerBot Educators Program
MakerBot want to bring 3D printing-pioneers together with 3D printing novices and collectively inspire the next generation of designers and engineers.
MakerBot is hoping to promote the use of 3D printing in classrooms across the United States with its brand new MakerBot Educators Program.
Building on its prior work in the education sector, MakerBot is targeting the people at the front of class with this latest programme. Since it is believed 87% of schools with 3D printers restrict their students from accessing them, MakerBot is looking to inspire educators to better integrate the technology with pupils. The company believes the new programme will allow teachers to exchange knowledge with each other, participate in challenges and receive guidance from MakerBot’s own educators.
“After recently establishing Thingiverse Education, now the largest collection of 3D printing lesson plans online, we saw an immediate response from hundreds of teachers who were excited to contribute content and share best practices with peers,” said Drew Lentz MakerBot Learning Manager. “The new MakerBot Educators Program is taking it a step further by forging a closer relationship between MakerBot and the most engaged teachers of our community.”
The programme’s launch was announced at the Future of Education Technology Conference in Orlando, Florida, but educators will need to have contributed to Thingiverse Education and have access to a MakerBot device to be considered eligible. After becoming a member, educators will be invited to join the MakerBot Education team in monthly missions. These missions are designed to increase student access to the technology, expand the content available for classroom use and promote the benefits of design thinking and STEM learning.
One of MakerBot’s goals through the launch of this programme is to find and recognise the achievements of students, teachers and institutions who have incorporated 3D printing into a subject at any grade level. Specifically, the programme will identify innovative uses of 3D printers in education communities in order to communicate the vast capabilities of the technology to the public.
A bigger goal of the Educators Program, however, is to bring 3D printing-pioneers together with 3D printing novices and collectively inspire the next generation of designers and engineers.
“By starting early in middle school and high school, we can now send students to college already possessing 3D design skills,” said Dr Paul Gerton, a Thingiverse Education contributor who will be involved with the programme as a MakerBot Educator. “They are then better prepared for classes, co-ops and internships right from the start. I am a MakerBot Educator because I want to equip my students with the knowledge and skills that they will need in the future.”
