Policka is a small town in the Czech Republic on the border of the Moravian and Bohemian regions. Most people know Policka as the birthplace of the world-famous music composer Bohuslav Martinu. Others know Policka for its preserved medieval fortification or renowned local brewery.
However, Polička is also known for its grammar school in the Czech ed-tech community. Tomas Feltl, a chemistry and biology teacher, and several of his enthusiastic colleagues publish e-Mole, a journal that explores the use of various modern technologies in teaching.
At the grammar school, these technologies are introduced into the STEM curriculum (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). In addition to a variety of interactive tools, school measuring systems, kits, and robots, 3D printing also belongs among these technologies.
“I became acquainted with 3D printing by chance. We needed to renew some of our really good teaching aids, and my colleagues and I were thinking of either repairing them or buying new ones. Unfortunately, new teaching aids are often costly. This was the moment I thought we could solve our problem using 3D printing technology. I built a RepRap 3D printer, and that is how it all started,” said Tomáš Feltl.
The first 3D printer, an open-source RepRap delta Kossel Mini 3D printer, was soon brought to the grammar school. Some students participated in its construction, and the 3D prints immediately began to attract students and teachers. Students started to use 3D printing for both school and personal interest projects. Teachers began to realize the potential that 3D printing brought to the school environment by being able to create unique teaching aids and stimulating student interest in different educational topics in a new, non-traditional way.
In September 2017, the school installed two YSoft BE3D eDee printers available to the entire student population. Because eDee printers are connected to the school’s network, the 3D printers can be accessed by all students from any school computer.
“Frankly, there was no formal plan to implement 3D printing into our school curriculum. Together with two students familiar with 3D printing, we supported other students and teachers. Students also could get familiar with 3D modeling and 3D printing in our MAKERS club throughout the year. Students do not have to pay to use 3D printers; therefore, they are interested,” adds Tomas Feltl.
Students used 3D printers not only for school-related projects but also for entertainment. For example, some girls have begun experimenting with modeling and printing jewelry. In school subjects, 3D printing was mainly used for projects in chemistry, physics, biology, geography, and mathematics.
Teachers used 3D printing primarily to create learning aids. For example, one teacher made a simple 3D-printed vacuum cannon for a lesson in physics to understand better Bernoulli’s equation (a principle that states an increase in the speed of a fluid co-occurs with a decrease in pressure or a decrease in the fluid’s potential energy). When teaching geography, students used a relief map of the Czech Republic that had much detail and attracted students.
“I teach chemistry and see great potential in 3D printing technology. We often have students who have difficulty with the subject’s concepts in chemistry. Pictures, schematics, animations, and 3D models on computers and tablets are pretty, but it is different when you hold the model right in your hand. The ‘touching’ and ‘assembling’ often open their eyes and get them through the class with ‘Yeah, I get it now!’ Good examples might be atoms and their structure, properties, and relations in the periodic table of elements, bonds between atoms, chemical nomenclature, isomerism, the relationship between structure and properties of substances, the cycle of substances in nature, reaction kinetics, energetics, and so on, and so on,” explains Tomáš Feltl.
YSoft BE3D eDee printers offer several unique features that are exciting to the
school and help to make the introduction of 3D printing into school life smooth. These features include individual users logging in with their usernames and passwords. They also appreciated the ability to reprint favorite models and that the system sent email notifications to users informing them when the print job was completed. Easy printer management was also essential. As a result, the school could keep an eye on individual print jobs, users, and material consumption and, therefore, the total costs of running 3D printers.
“A distinctive additional value of 3D printing is the inexpensive creation of learning aids. I can easily design the aids exactly to my expectations, and thanks to the low cost of 3D printing, they can be produced in larger quantities. I am not just a demonstrator when teaching; the entire class can work with the models. Thus, discovering the laws of nature is more interesting for students. In addition, many of the aids/tools I use now are not commercially available. Without 3D printing, I would not have these learning aids,” explains Tomas Feltl.
The introduction of 3D printing was very intuitive—nevertheless, some problems needed to be solved, which gave us advice for the future. “3D printing would certainly not have been so popular without the enthusiasm of several students and teachers. Even so, success cannot be built upon a few people. All new technologies with potential in education need long-term support from the top levels. Schools need funding and enlightened and educated people at MSMT (Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport), at school offices, and as school founders. We also need farsighted directors and well-motivated teachers who can educate themselves without difficulties and have high-quality teaching materials and aids, such as 3D models. I firmly believe that with this, the implementation of new technologies and approaches to learning across schools would be easier,” says Tomas
Feltl.
“Technology is moving forward with major milestones. If we are to prepare our students for the world where they will live, we cannot ignore modern technologies. PC-related skills are matters of course for teachers today, and I think that in the next five years, it will be the same with 3D printing, augmented reality, and many other technologies that have great educational potential,” concludes Tomas Feltl.