Features editor
Hard-pressed teachers might baulk at the idea of introducing a 3D printer to every school, but this kind of initiative has brought huge benefits in the past.
Canadian science fiction author William Gibson may be one of the most influential figures in technology in the last two decades. In his 1984 novel Neuromancer, he came up with the concept of cyberspace — a shared, consensual hallucinatory space where all human data could be visualised and manipulated for fair means or foul (generally foul, in his stories). Since then, he’s been regarded as the godfather of everything from the internet itself to artificial intelligence to any illicit use of technology. But in recent years, Gibson has abandoned imagined futures as the setting for his fiction: he now works in the present, borrowing from the worlds of surveillance, high fashion and old friends of The Engineer, Festo. ‘The Future is already here,’ he explains. ‘It’s just not evenly distributed yet.’
One place where it’s becoming more evenly distributed is in schools, where plans are afoot for every school to be equipped with a 3D printer, as the BBC reports today. It’s probably safe to say that 3D printing (or additive manufacturing) is at the very cutting edge of industrial technology: most of industry still doesn’t really understand what it’s capable of and how — or when, indeed, whether — it should be used. So if the mind of industry isn’t made up yet, is the school really the best place for this technology?
Hard-pressed teachers might well argue not. Pulled in a variety of directions by controversial education reforms, the need to maintain their schools’ place in league tables and inspections, the demands of parents and employers and the needs of students, a piece of high-tech equipment they need to understand, along with the systems used to design items and operate the printer itself, is yet another big ask for a profession always under pressure. They might well be justified in asking why schools need this gadgetry, when most of industry doesn’t use it? After all, nobody’s ever demanded that all schools must have a five-axis machine tool (even though you can get them sized for a desktop these days).
There have been predictable explanations that ‘these are skills people are going to need in the workplace,’ but we can probably discount those. Nobody knows what skills with 3D printing in what sort of workplace, for the simple reason that nobody knows what sort of workplaces are going to use them, or what they’re going to use them for. In any case, school is probably not the right place to teach these sort of highly applied skills: it’s more a matter of IT confidence. This seems to be the stuff of dedicated post-school courses or even specific on-the-job training.
Where it could be of value, though, is in actually developing the technology itself. Children are natural engineers and tinkerers, and also inveterate muckers-about with software. If anyone could figure out how to make something odd and outlandish with a piece of new technology, it’s an inquisitive kid. Take a look at ingenious Amy Mather, the 14-year-old European Digital Girl of the Year title holder mentioned in that BBC article, who’s used CNC and laser cutters, 3D printers and other technology to design and build her own projects with the help of her local Fab Lab in Manchester.
What’s needed for this sort of initiative is robust, reliable equipment and tutorial materials for teachers and students alike, similar to those used which got millions of Acorn’s BBC Microcomputers into schools in the 80s. That initiative led directly to the dominance of young British programmers in the computer games and CGI imagery industries — both massive contributers to the national economy and attractive industries to work in — and, through patronage of Acorn, to the development of the RISC microprocessor which is behind the success of ARM Holdings, the UK’s premier computing company.
So, by all means get 3D printers into schools. It’s just the kind of inspiring technology, just on the edge of being a toy, that could find us on the rising edge of a technological revolution in a few decades’ time. To bring us back to the undistributed future of Mr Gibson, one of his most celebrated phrases is ‘The street finds its own uses for things.’ So does the schoolroom.
This is great stuff. This initiative will get kids doing things in the real world, and give them a ‘feeling for stuff’, all too often in short supply. I and my colleagues use 3D printing – alongside more traditional techniques of course – we now use it not just for one-offs but even for limited run parts. So let us give this initiative the biggest push we can and give the kids encouragement by going along to schools and giving them examples of where we are using 3D printing in industry and maybe getting involved with projects with schools which use the technology.
This article is good on highlighting the fact that ‘skills’ based education is not necessarily a good thing and that (in my opinion) is not what schools should be about. It is pretty sad if the drivers for educating pupils is just about getting the skills for a job. I’m sure that is not what goes on in Eton. Telling the bulk of school children that they need to only learn the relevant skills to get them a job in (admittedly more comfortable offices & modern factories- rather than dirty) factories – even though it may be ‘Hi tech’ 3D printers and CAD – is doing them a big disservice and lowering their aspirations.
School should be about taking them beyond the ‘relevant’ – educating them about humanity-history, literature the ‘arts’, languages and tough subjects such as maths and physics – things that for kids are actually ‘irrelevant’ both for their direct lives and for jobs prospects. What they learn at school may become relevant later but that should be a side effect not the reason for education. Brunel studied at the Lycée Henri-IV and learned the classics before embarking on his training in engineering. Schools are already suffering from having too many lessons that are (arguably indoctrination over the wrongs of climate change and the rights of recycling) about how bad humanity is and should not have the ‘real education’ of the often wondrous and inspiring things that humanity has done squeezed out.
Learning about technology as hobbies and play are good (but optional) and Fab/Make labs are good places to do this as may be model aircraft clubs which were where we went when I was young (that is if volunteers aren’t put off by all the CAB checks etc required). The point is they are voluntary (for both the pupil and the adults) and clearly distinct from formal education which should I believe avoid agendas (even good and apparently neutral ones such as promoting engineering) .
On the BBC micro – even there I believe most people who ended up in the computer industry actually did most of their actual learning outside of school or bought a ZX80/81Spectrum which came out earlier. Admittedly the BBC did help boost this – but nowadays we have non quasi-state technologies such as the Raspberry Pi and Arduino that fulfill this role.
It’s a pity we can only recognise a fad when it’s over and done with. I’m not entirely sure what children are going to learn from something that doesn’t require them to master any skill.
I did learn computing at school, however and it made my career so I do believe in having equipment but not in making things easy or trivial.
With the greatest respect – I dont think Paul Reeves understands children in school well enough and the roll of hands on activities.
On the learning scale we range from 100% Audio Visual learning from listening and reading about something to 100% Tactile learning from touch, feel and making things. Teaching is profession for 100% Audio Visual learners to do whilst welding is one of the most tactile crafts.
Modern schools fail tactile learners as woodwork and metalwork is deemed too dangerous for schools!!!!
Many children are sidelined in school because they are tactile learners.
Children also need to be inspired by what they are doing so they want to learn a subject or brought to see the relevance of a subject to make them what to do it. In part this is the role of the teacher to inspire interest in the subject they teach amongst their pupils and make their subject relevant to the lives of the pupils they teach.
I have been a Neighbourhood Engioneer and Science and Engineering ambassador since 1987 going into schools with activities to make STEM subjects fun, relevant and interesting to encourage the numbers taking STEM subjects as well as promoting interest in Engineering as a profession and making it relevant to girls as well as boys.
Activities included The Junior Engineer for Britain competition for year 4 and 5 primary school kids all the way to Crest awards for year 12’s. Some of my colleagues ran after school science clubs
in Primary schools.
My sons school had a very early 3D printer for rapid prototyping 15 years ago when he attended the local Margaret Thatcher Scholl for Science and Technology for a Science Masterclass on saturdays whilst a year 6 primary school child. That Science Mastercass inspired him to want to study Science and Technology at school and he went to that school. From year 7 to 11 he voluntary stayed after school for 2 hours each night of the week attending his year’s Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Technology clubs. Clubs in which they did lab work without the need to write up – Clubs that not only made his subjects fun but supported the lessons the attendees took during the days.
In activities I undertook in schools I encountered children with attendance and behaviour problems I had to write reports for attendance and behaviour on – In the main these were tactile learners that excelled in ‘hands on’ activities and did very well in the activities – better in fact than the audio visual ‘high fliers’ in the class.
Relevance is also important – one year 10 pupil I encountered was a rebel (behaviour and attendance) because school wasnt relevant to him. He had Special Education Needs (SEN) and maths and especially Alegbra (the subject i was taking at the time) had no relevance for him. He was deemed be in line for a G/H grade at GCSE and along with his class mates a ‘failure’!!!! I asked what he wanted to be when he left school and he said a jobbing carpenter with his cousin so school and especially algebra wasnt relevant.
I explained that as a jobbing carpenter he needed to create Bills of Materials needed for potential jobs to establish the cost of parts when creating a qutation for work, create invoices and for his tax returns. I pointed out that algebra was the key to these activities with the letters sdtanding for both item descriptions creating the Bill om Materials needed for each job and representing the prices when he had to solve the Bill of Materials for costings.
When he realised the importance of Algebra to his career plans as a jobbiong carpenter he put his head down and stidied getting dailyb maths merits and pen of the week awards for the 3 or 4 weeks i taught him. He was actually became very good at algebra as it became relevant to him. At the time Algebra accounbted for 40% of the marks on a mathematics GCSE and being good at algebra alone meant you were virtually guaranteed a maths GCSE at grade ‘C’.
‘Hands On’ experiences can make education fun and enjoyable for all – especially Tactile learners failed by schools catering to Audio Visual learners only. They may not help all Audio Visual learners but they help most students especially the Tactile learners.
On the ‘job training’ front industry recruits its graduate workforce from around the world but the rest of it’s workforce comes from the local secondary schools. Tactile learners will learn most from hands on experiences and they are the future workforce of their communities and will take those skills into industies. In the case of 3D printing they will make their employers aware of the options out there
Education is what remains when all that has been learned has been forgotten?
and as a rather crusty sergeant from the Rifle Brigade once told the squad of cadets in which I was a member:'”discipline is what yer do when there is someone to tell you what to do: -it gives yer self-discipline what is ‘what yar do when there ain’t no-one there to tell you what to do!
Manipulating words and their meanings is what far too much of the present education system does: and so-called Higher Education provides primarily what the 2% of students who will remain in such need? rather than fulfilling the needs of the 98% who will leave it! Small wonder it is so irrelevant, shallow and ineffective.
Every school having 3D printers is a great idea.
Sadly though its only half the story.
Who will pay for consumables and repairs ?
I sadly know of several cases where Hi-Tec equipment of one type or another has been funded or given to schools / colleges only 6 moths or so later end up being stuck in a store room or not used because it has either gone wrong and they can’t afford to fix it or it requires expensive consumables.
3D printers are a prime example of this, from only £500++ to buy but if used regularly will eat £500 of consumables in no time at all.