The latest partner of ours to join us for a webinar was the MakerBot Education team. Creators of some of the most reliable, powerful, and popular educational 3D printing solutions around, the MakerBot name is one of the most respected when it comes to STEAM education and EdTech in general. This webinar was led by Crystal Hale and Patrick Mulchrone from MakerBot’s marketing team. They discussed what makes these machines so valuable in 21st century education whether in a classroom or makerspace. They also discussed some of the advancements in the 3D printing space, including its role in prototyping and modeling. Its become a part of many different industries, like medicine, architecture, entertainment, and education. And, this helps echo the sentiments that it’s taken on an even larger role since the onset of the pandemic.
Knowing how relevant 3D printing can be, the MakerBot team has made a true commitment to 3D printing in education. Besides designing the most user-friendly and capable machines, they also offer a comprehensive teacher training programs. Teachers can also become certified as a MakerBot educator—a title that’s been recognized by the ISTE. Their printers come fully assembled out of the box with instruction cards for simple set-up. They’re extremely simple to follow and, once educators power on their MakerBot 3D printer, on-screen instructions take over for the rest of the set-up process. You can learn more about the basics of 3D printing with MakerBot in the webinar recording below!
In addition to their teacher certification program, the MakerBot team also offers certification for students. This is something they’ve found truly empowers them and gets them thinking about and utilizing the design thinking process much more frequently and effectively. On top of that, both teachers and students can always access the online MakerBot resources, including hundreds of lesson ideas, downloadable files from Thingiverse, customize them using a compatible CAD platform, and share results with the MakerBot community—something everyone at MakerBot really encourages. To that end, the entire MakerBot line is viable for students in middle school, high school, and higher education. Plus, they have applications in tons of different STEM areas as well as career and technical education.
And, don’t think we forgot about using the MakerBot 3D printers in remote learning. Crystal and Patrick talked at length about this as well and how students can use the MakerBot CloudPrint platform to send designs to a remote 3D printer from anywhere. Teachers can also queue up student designs and send them to the next available 3D printer to help maximize efficiency. Having combined the industrial features of top-notch 3D printers with student-friendly simplicity, these top 3D printing solutions are an excellent investment in increasing innovative learning opportunities in both in-person and remote education. To learn more, visit the MakerBot section of our store and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Check out the other webinars we’ve sponsored over the last couple of months, including those highlighting virtual STEAM solutions from Wonder Workshop, Sphero, LulzBot, and Ozobot!
