Educational Resources for Digital Fabrication in the Classroom and Home

Educational Resources for Digital Fabrication in the Classroom and Home

We are really excited to see students heading back to the classroom this coming fall after a long and very difficult remote learning year. To make things a little easier for you, we have gathered some great educational resources for educators who are teaching digital fabrication in the classroom. 

Whether you and your students are 3D printing, laser cutting, or vacuum forming, we have a variety of great options for STEM learning from our friends at MakerBot, Full Spectrum Lasers, Ultimaker, and Mayku as well as the e-NABLE Community

There are a lot of wonderful free curriculums, lesson plans, and project ideas from each of these partners and you can find more information about each below!


MakerBot's Free Guide Book | 3D Printing Curriculum Planning Guide

MakerBot's 3D printing curriculum with a teacher and student in the classroom.

Success with any project in the classroom begins with proper project planning—especially so when incorporating STEM technologies into your curriculum. The MakerBot Education Team partnered with Technology and Engineering Educator Liz Gallo to create this definitive guide for successful project planning.

Whether you've integrated 3D printing in the classroom, or are looking to start, download this free 27-page guide and use it as an aid for planning your curriculum for the year ahead!

What you'll learn from this guide:

  • Learn the three major ideas to focus on when creating 3D printing curriculum for your classroom
  • Setting a benchmark for measuring student success
  • How to better integrate 3D printing with your current curriculum(s)
  • Where to find additional classroom 3D printing resources
  • …and more!

Mayku FormBox | STEM Resources for Educators

A young girl learning how to use the Mayku FormBox vacuum former at school

Our friends at Mayku have created a wonderful collection of project ideas for students and educators, as well as crafters to get you started using the FormBox and get your wheels turning with ideas for projects of your own!

They have a great set of educational resources for you where you can learn how to set up and use the Mayku FormBox and create fun projects using everyday items like potatoes and clay to make your molds or pair the vacuum former with your 3D printer or laser cutter to make some interesting soaps, chocolates, terrariums, concrete planters, phone stands and much more!

You can download their Mayku STEM Pack which includes 13 lesson plans for your students!

Make sure to check out their Youtube channel as well for even more fun project ideas!


Full Spectrum Laser | Free Laser Cutting Lessons and Projects

Laser cut and etched designs

Full Spectrum Laser has created a great collection of educational resources for those who are just starting out with laser cutting as well as those who have been using them for a while who are just searching for fun projects to do!

You can start by learning the basics: Rasterize images and engrave them, cut using vector lines, mark using vector graphics and you complete this course by finishing lesson #3 by combining these steps to create a Jigsaw Puzzle.

Intermediate lessons will help you learn new techniques: Experiment with rastering techniques to create photo-realistic engravings using JPEG images, understand 3D stacking and kerf bending and use alignment to add personalized images.

Once you have completed the lessons, you get to learn by making! Your students will now have the freedom to pick any project and can understand the terminology and techniques required to complete them.

They also offer many free projects you can make, including signs, acrylic fish tanks, shelves, lampshades, light fixtures, floating tables, clock faces, and much more!


Ultimaker 3D Printing Academy | Educational Resources

A man learning from the Ultimaker Academy lesson resources.

If your school uses Ultimaker 3D printers, there's no better place to start than the Ultimaker Academy. This online learning platform is now included free with all Ultimaker printer purchases, and it includes a variety of courses to help students learn 3D printing terminology, how to use Ultimaker 3D printers, the Ultimaker Cura software, and more.


e-NABLE Education Space | 3D Printed Prosthetics

Children learning about the 3D Printed hands of the e-NABLE Project

The e-NABLE Education Space is a growing, open-source space developed by educators for educators interested in collaborating, utilizing, and designing technology integrated curriculum, with an e-NABLE focus, aligned to the Next Generation Learning Standards.

Over the past 8 years, thousands of students and teachers around the world have incorporated the e-NABLE designs into their classrooms to teach students about 3D printing and using the technology for the greater good by creating devices that can be used by real people.

e-NABLE is a wonderful service-learning project for all grades, from kindergarten up through university levels. This resource offers lessons in empathy, collaboration, design thinking, 3D design, and much more. This is a great STEM and STEAM project to introduce to students to get them excited about finding ways to use 3D printing technology to make a difference.


Project Ideas For Laser Cutting and 3D Printing in a Remote Learning Environment | Video and Blog

For those of you who are choosing to continue remote learning, we have some great educational resources for project ideas that can be done from home as well.


Check out our video above for a panel discussion to learn more about your options for teaching and learning 3D printing and laser cutting remotely or check out the blog for links to fun projects and ideas that were discussed in the video in the link below!


We hope that these resources help you as you head back to the classroom this fall! If you have any resources of your own to share, or have been using digital fabrication in your classrooms and would like to be a guest on Season 3 of our podcast and web series 3D Universe Untethered, please email us at info@3duniverse.org!

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