Why teachers should bring 3D printers into the classroom | Stephen Elford | TEDxRosalindParkED

What can 3D printing offer schools and students? The simple answer is opportunities. The ability to take something from abstract thought, through a computer and into a real-life object is something that has not been easily and cost effectively available to schools. Schools need to be utilising the opportunities this can provide. Be it extra-curricular activities, or allowing students to display their knowledge and understanding by creating a concrete model to help teach others, or even just exploring this new way of manufacturing. Stephen is a passionate secondary Maths/Science teacher of over 10 years. He has been working on integrating 3D printing into the curriculum at his school for the last 3 years. He is the designer of a Braille Periodic Table that has been shipped around the world to assist vision impaired students to learn the chemistry of the elements in the same way as sighted students. He has also designed braille dice and an educational DNA model. Stephen Spoke at SPEVI in 2015 about how 3D printing can enable schools to better meet the needs of vision impaired students. Stephen has presented at sxswEDU, Microsoft’s inaugural Minecraft in Education Symposium and Minecon as a guest educator for Microsoft. He has also presented recently for the Queensland Department of Education on how to integrate Minecraft into classrooms and link it to curriculum. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx