For the past 10+ years, we have been a part of the continuously growing open source e-NABLE community made up of makers, educators, physicians, volunteers, students, creatives, problem solvers and fellow humans who are excited about using 3D printing technology to make a difference in the lives of others. They have helped thousands of individuals with limb differences by 3D printing free 3D printed hands and arms for free to those in need in over 140 countries around the globe.

The e-NABLE Community started back in 2012 when an puppet maker in the USA and a South African carpenter who had lost his fingers on his dominant hand, had worked together online and across the world to design the first functional prototype for what would be the first 3D printed prosthetic for a young boy who was born missing fingers and then shared it open-source for the world to take and improve the design.

Since the release of that first original design, there have been thousands of educators, students and schools who have adopted this project and used it in their classrooms to teach empathy, human centered design and how using their ideas and imaginations can help others.

One of these educators and e-NABLE volunteers, Lyndsey Wells, currently teaching AIS Math in the Hyde Park Central School District in grades K-5, has been working with this community since 2019. Lyndsey has donated countless hours to create e-NABLE based curriculum for K-12 students and has offered this all as open-source, free curriculum for anyone who would like to use it.

In this blog post we will share how you can access this project, give you some inside looks at the curriculum and share a bit more about how this project came to be.

Lyndsey shared, "My main focus (for introducing e-NABLE curriculums to her students) was using emotional investment as a way to engage students to participate in rigorous math, science and engineering practices. I met with teachers from different grade levels and customized the implementation process to meet their personalized goals for students. I then created timelines and resources to enhance the focus for each grade level."

The students, teachers, administrators and larger community was completely mind blown to realize that they have access to a 3D printing technology that can develop assistive devices to actually help others. They were inspired and they developed a deeper understanding of the different fields of engineering.

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

e-NABLE lends students the opportunity to expand their understanding in areas such as:

• Individual Differences
• Geographical Features
• Global Customs/Culture
• Design Thinking
• Economic Resources
• Advanced Technology
• Environmental Factors
• Emotional Intelligence

Design Thinking is a mindset and approach to learning, collaboration, and problem solving. In practice, the design process is a structured framework for identifying challenges, gathering information, generating potential solutions, refining ideas, and testing solutions.

Design Thinking can be flexibly implemented; serving equally well as a framework for a course design or a roadmap for an activity or group project.

Student Learning Objective: With an English language arts focus, students will use self-generated questions to conduct research on past (history), present (district wide involvement), and future (robotics using soundwaves) aspects of the e-NABLE organization and ongoing initiatives to write news articles that they will broadcast to the larger community.

Students will gather information using direct sources, such as NewsELA articles written about 3D printed prosthetic hands, the e-NABLE website, and conduct interviews with professionals affiliated with the organization. In addition, students will 3D print and construct a prosthetic hand to write about and speak from direct experience.