This post was contributed by Andrea Kopp, NCEA Educational Resource Manager.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore is providing a series of 3D Printing training cohorts to their teachers and principals to assist in the diocesan-wide implementation of 3D printers in their K-12 schools. Technology Coordinator, Joe Oleszczuk, has partnered with Principal Lois Gorman at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Elementary School to provide an opportunity for hands-on practice with 3D printing. Gorman was passionate about the implementation of new technology and creative thinking in her school. “Our Lady of Victory is working to implement a rotating curriculum schedule that includes 3D printing, robotics, and drones. I didn’t want to just offer these programs as a club. I want to see them incorporated into the curriculum.”
The three part training started with teachers learning the TinkerCad software to make some basic creations online. Today, the same teachers and principals returned to take their printers out of the box and start using them with support from STEAMtrax trainers. Dee Kerr, COO of STEAMtrax K-12 Engineering was part of the training team. She stated, “If we don’t let teachers unpack these and start playing, they will be intimated when implementing the 3D printing curriculum.” The teachers will watch their creations from the last training session come to life today as they learn to connect, set up and trouble shoot their 3D printers.
The schools involved in today’s training will be implementing 3D printing into their schools during the 2016-2017 school year. Teachers took on the role of students as they faced challenges and victory in their first attempts at printing their creations. The STEAMtrax curriculum trainers will provide ongoing support in the schools for full implementation. Part 3 of the training will be a deeper dive into the curriculum and standards. If you are interested in learning more about the 3D printing initiative in the Archdiocese of Baltimore contact Joe Oleszczuk at [email protected].
The 2016 NCEA STREAM 2.0 Symposium will offer sessions on 3D printing and numerous topics related to implementing a STREAM curriculum. Registration information can be found at https://www.ncea.org/events/stream-20-symposium.
