Everything about 3D Printing
We are an educational project born from a unique fablab in the South of Portugal (www.buinho.pt). As a fablab, our main motivation for offering this course was to contribute to the dissemination of the 3D printing revolution through all the schools. Buinho currently coordinates an Erasmus consortium (PT01-KA121-SCH-000010598) dedicated to this mission.
By taking this course you will learn everything about 3D printing. Its a very practical course where we will be using 3D printers during all the days. By the end of the week you will be able to use 3D printers in an autonomous way, troubleshoot printing problems, teach 3D modelling to your students, and develop some activities with 3D printing in your classroom.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In the “Everything about 3D Printing” course, you will be given an individual Creality Ender 3 Pro 3D printer to work with during the entire course. We will have one 3D printer per participant to make sure you have the best learning experience.
All the tools will be provided, we just ask the participants to bring a laptop as it will be needed for the software installation.
The training will take you through all that involves the use of a normal 3D printer – the initial testing, calibration, troubleshooting, improving printing results, slicing 3D models, and also 3D modelling.
The courses are made in a fablab/makerspace environment, which means that the participants will be granted free access to other digital prototyping equipment like laser cutters or vinyl cutters, which can be helpful for the customization of the machines – Inside a fablab, the only limit is your imagination!
During the time dedicated in learning how to 3D model for the classroom, we will focus on the use of free software Tinkercad. Learning not only the basic operations but also some useful tips and examples that can be later used with your students. Participants will also be trained on how to use a free software called Cura, learning how to optimize the printing quality and time spent by a proficient use of a CAM software. With Cura, we will learn how to set the best parameters for your machine according to the requirements of your project.
The last day of training will focus on providing assistance in individual projects and doubts, as well as share some special resources Buinho developed only for our course participants.
In Portugal, Buinho has been successfully teaching 3D printing to children from elementary to secondary school years, and we want to share some of our experiences with you. We have vast experience in teaching and capacitating teachers from different school years and with zero experience in these subjects. We want to empower teachers and schools, capacitating teachers to effectively use 3D printing and 3D modeling inside the classroom. We will also show you how to save money by making smart investments and improving the workflow, and how to fix 3D printers that may be lacking maintenance in your school
By taking this course within a fablab, participants will also have free access to one hour of online courses and tutorials prepared by Buinho and available in our e-learning platform. Finally, the course also includes a cultural program free for the participant, providing the opportunity to visit Portuguese landmarks and experience a bit of our Culture.
Target Groups – Elementary, Middle and Secondary School teachers
Duration of the course – Five days
Total Cost of the Course – 400€
Note: Each class will have a maximum of 10 participants to provide higher quality standards and more individualized support.
Timetable
Day 1
10:00 – 12:00
Welcome session and introduction
We will receive the participants in the working space, making a short introduction to Buinho’s experience in the educational field. We will dedicate some time to getting to know the participants but also their sending schools. You can bring a presentation.
We will then present a brief history of the evolution of 3D printing, and presentation of the technical specificities of the Creality Ender 3D Pro 3D printer. And afterwards we will start practical work with a 3D printer. All participants will be designated to a specific printer to which we will first introduce basic things as calibration, extrusion settings, printing a file, etc.
13:00 – 15:00
Introduction to CAM – Cura and Thingiverse
We will start the afternoon workshop by visiting the most complete 3D model repository. Thingiverse allow us to download 3D models for free that can be either used for final printing, modified for user original designs, or simple inspiration.
Afterwards we will prepare our machine to print the selected 3D model by use of CAM software. CAM designates the use of software to control the use of fabrication equipment. 3D printers are digitally control and will follow a set of instructions (GCode) created by a CAM software. We will introduce you to Cura, an opensource and very intuitive CAM free software for 3D printing. You will learn how to set up your 3D printer, what are the most common printing parameters, and how to change settings in order to get the best printing results.
A good use of a CAM software will make participants save a lot of hours in printing with the best settings. A very common and painful mistake identified in schools, and due to insuficient preparation in this subject.
Day 2
9:00 – 11:00
Introduction to 3D Modelling and Tinkercad Classroom
We introduce the free software Tinkercad for 3D modeling design. We will set up a teacher account and explain the advantages of using Tinkercad Classroom when working with classes of students.
After creating our class account we start learning how how to use Tinkercad as CAD software to prepare and design 3D files from zero. Tinkercad is the best selection for schools since it provides a very easy and fun learning experience to all age groups (elementary and secundary students). In this first workshop we will cover the Workplan, Shapes, Workplan tools, group/ungroup, align tools, among other features. Participants will develop a first assignment where they will have to use the technics learnt, but also creative and logic thinking.
11:00 – 13:00
Introduction to troubleshooting
This morning session will also include a very practical and useful demonstration on how to troubleshoot common 3D printing problems. In this session the trainer will open apart a 3D printer and better exemplify how its inner mechanics work and how the most common problems can be solved (either mechanic or parametric). It is an important resource to help schools with limited technical support and that are investing in 3D printers.
14:00 – 16:00
From start to finish – design, slice, 3D printing, repeat
For the next two hours, participants will engage in hands-on activities that encompass the entire process, starting with designing in Tinkercad, configuring printing parameters in Cura, and ultimately overseeing the 3D printer in action to bring their designs to life. This approach aims to equip teachers with comprehensive skills right from the start, ensuring that everyone can fully explore the potential of 3D printing throughout the remainder of the course.
Day 3
10:00 – 18:00
Cultural Day
We are presenting the opportunity for a group visit to Cascais and Cabo da Roca as part of our cultural offering. This will include a visit to the Paula Rego Museum, a visit to an historic Lighthouse, having lunch by the sea, shopping in the beautiful town center of Cascais, and to finish the day, a visit to Cabo da Roca – the most Western point of Europe.
Cascais is world famous for its bay, for being the town of the exiled Kings, or for being known as the Portuguese Côte D’Azur. Many centuries of History has contributed to making this fisherman village, into one of the most desirable tourist destinations in Portugal. We will also have a walk through the Estoril – Cascais seaside promenade, so bring comfortable shoes!
Day 4
9:00 – 11:00
Tinkercad advanced features and optimization of workflow
In this session, we will continue with the teaching of Tinkercad, now learning how to use more complex forms. These include special shortcuts, import of SVG and STL files for editing, among other advanced practices.
We will also focus on strategies to optimize the 3D printing time so that you can take most out of your machines. This includes basic tips and advises in CAM, changing nozzles, or simply ideas for planning activities that optimize the workflow with your students.
11:00 – 12:00
3D Print and Coding – Generative 3D Modelling
In this session we will show how 3D modelling and 3D printing can become a very useful tool to introduce other digital skills like programming in the classroom. Tinkercad has brought coding to its 3D modeling platform with the introduction of the Codeblocks. Rather than drawing the design, you will learn object-oriented programming, producing amazing results while introducing computational thinking
13:00 – 15:00
Designing STEAM activities for 3D Printing
In the afternoon we will have the opportunity to systematize in a comprehensive framework how to develop a STEAM activity using 3D modelling and 3D printing. Using that simple framework participants will team in small groups and create activity to present to the remaining class.
Day 5
10:00 – 12:00
Final discussions, e-learning platform, and amazing brunch in the Makerspace!
For the last day Buinho organized a final morning brunch to commemorate the end of the training.
We will start by discussing strategies to optimize the 3D printing workflow so that you can take most out of your machines. This includes basic tips and advises in CAM, changing nozzles, or simply ideas for planning activities that optimize the workflow with your students. We will also present some useful resources with more activities and learning opportunities to enrich your learning experience beyond this course.
We will also have an opportunity to further discuss the next steps when returning to the school. It will also give us the opportunity to share some best practices and advices according to each participant specific reality and fear. This will include presenting the contents of our e-learning platform where you will find free online content that our team prepared specially for each course we provide. These online contents include video tutorials, explanations, activities, and useful work documents that aim to provide additional support for the continuation of the activities after the training in Portugal.
12:00
Delivery of the final certificates
To finalize this five days training course we will take a final group photo and deliver the final certificates of attendance.