Abstract
Digital fabrication and the “maker movement” can play a major role in bringing computational technology into the 21st century classroom. Digital fabrication is defined as the process of translating a digital design developed on a computer into a physical object or any process for producing/printing a three-dimensional (3D) object. The maker movement is a platform for today's futuristic artisans, craftsmen, designers and developers to create, craft, and develop leading ideas and products. Digital fabrication and “making” could provide a new platform for bringing powerful ideas and meaningful tools to students. Digital fabrication has the potential to be “the ultimate construction kit.” Digital fabrication has strong ties to the maker movement. Maker spaces provide students with safe areas that allow students to safely use digital fabrication to make, build, and share their creations. This chapter will look at the role that digital fabrication can play in incorporating computational technology into the K-12 classroom.
TopBackground
Computational technology “involves solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior, by drawing on the concepts fundamental to computer science. This chapter will look at the role that digital fabrication can play in incorporating computational technology into the k-12 classroom. Although digital fabrication has been available for the last 15 years (Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Gershenfeld, & Gershenfeld, 2018) until the last few years the cost of the technology made classroom use probative. Currently, many schools have the technology, however, integrating digital fabrication into the k- 12 classroom has presented a challenge. Innovative opportunities for incorporating digital fabrication into the classroom have been explored by various educators (Bull & Garofalo, 2009; Stansell, 2016). Educators have trouble making the new technology “fit” into what they are required to teach. There appears to be a strong relationship between engineering curriculum and digital fabrication however few countries actually employ and implement engineering curriculum in the k-12 setting. Because of a lack on integrated curriculum, digital fabricators are often used for creative opportunities for exploration with little connection to required classroom curriculum. Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Gershenfeld, and Gershenfeld (2018) believe that digital fabrication has the potential to change our day-to-day environment and even redefine the concept of work. Digital fabrication builds on two earlier digital revolutions, digital computation and communication. These two factors are key components of computational technology and hold the basis for connecting computational technology into digital fabrication. Digital fabrication holds the potential to be an innovative technology, just as innovative as the Internet was a decade ago. To make the most of future workplace opportunities, clearly students need the opportunity to learn and work with digital fabrication in a purposeful way.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Computer-Aided Design: Is the use of computers to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design.
Digital Fabrication: Is a design and manufacturing workflow where digital data directly drives manufacturing equipment to form various part geometries.
Creativity: Is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. It is characterised by the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions.
Project-Based Learning (PBL): Is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.
Computational Tools: Are the implemented techniques in computers to solve problems by either stepwise, repeated, and iterative solution methods; also known as in-silico methods.