Grade School Fabrication Printer Project Gets MacArthur Funding


Credit: Fab@School

A project out of the University of Virginia to get young children comfortable with engineering has been selected as one of 10 winners in a MacArthur Digital Media and Learning Competition. The project, called Fab@School, is intended to teach K-12 students about mathematical analysis and modeling, digital fabrication, and engineering by allowing them to fabricate 3D copies of objects that they've designed themselves. The win comes with a $185,000 fund, which will be used to bring three-dimensional printers to public elementary school classrooms.

Glen Bull, a professor of instructional technology for U Virginia's Curry School of Education, spearheads the project, which also involves several collaborators: the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education; the Hofstra University Center for Technological Literacy in Hempstead, NY: the Software MacKiev Co.; FableVision Learning; and Cornell University.

Cornell developed a program titled Fab@Home through its Computational Synthesis Lab, which is building the printers. The printers, which allow students to make 3D objects from their desktop, work with a number of kid-friendly materials, including Play-Doh, cookie dough, and chocolate, as well as polymers and metals. These printers read an electronic blueprint, designed by the children, and then a nozzle, filled with appropriate materials, builds a replica. Cornell publishes instructions for building the printers, which have an open source design, on its Fab@Home wiki.

Using a 3D printer, the students at the Cayuga Heights Elementary School in Ithaca, NY made a small space shuttle from two colors of Play-Doh.

"The power of the fab lab for me is seeing what the kids can do to deconstruct a figure, co-construct a figure--because I'm really encouraging them to talk to one another as they're working with the model-maker software--and then to reconstruct the figure or whatever it is they're doing," said Paula White, another teacher using the special equipment. White teaches Crozet Elementary School in Virginia.

"Ultimately what we really want is to have a personal fabricator in every classroom, just like there is a personal computer in every classroom," said Hod Lipson, an associate professor of engineering at Cornell.

The Macarthur grant will allow the Fab@Home project team to design and build five more printers appropriate for use in elementary school classrooms. The project also includes development by Fab@School of an open source library for sharing and disseminating digital designs, lessons, and activities that support digital fabrication in schools.

The Competition is funded by a MacArthur grant to the University of California, Irvine and to Duke University and is administered by the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboratory.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • students using digital devices, surrounded by abstract AI motifs and soft geometric design

    Ed Tech Startup Kira Launches AI-Native Learning Platform

    A new K-12 learning platform aims to bring personalized education to every student. Kira, one of the latest ed tech ventures from Andrew Ng, former director of Stanford's AI Lab and co-founder of Coursera and DeepLearning.AI, "integrates artificial intelligence directly into every educational workflow — from lesson planning and instruction to grading, intervention, and reporting," according to a news announcement.

  • toolbox featuring a circuit-like AI symbol and containing a screwdriver, wrench, and hammer

    Microsoft Launches AI Tools for Educators

    Microsoft has introduced a variety of AI tools aimed at helping educators develop personalized learning experiences for their students, create content more efficiently, and increase student engagement.

  • laptop displaying a red padlock icon sits on a wooden desk with a digital network interface background

    Reports Point to Domain Controllers as Prime Ransomware Targets

    A recent report from Microsoft reinforces warns of the critical role Active Directory (AD) domain controllers play in large-scale ransomware attacks, aligning with U.S. government advisories on the persistent threat of AD compromise.

  • Two hands shaking in the center with subtle technology icons, graphs, binary code, and a padlock in the dark blue background

    Two Areas for K-12 Schools to Assess for When to Work with a Managed Services Provider

    The complexity of today’s IT network infrastructure and increased cybersecurity risk are quickly moving beyond many school districts’ ability to manage on their own. But a new technology model, a partnership with a managed services provider, offers a way forward for schools to overcome these challenges.