How exactly does a 3-D printer work? You can ask the students at Glen Grove Elementary School, who are using one to solve potential urban problems. The students are taking part in the City X Project, an international educational program that challenges kids to come up with ideas for new devices that could help the imaginary residents of City X. The students use tablets to design their objects, then make models out of clay. Then they can use the 3-D printer to create real plastic prototypes. The kids at Glen Grove, outside of Chicago, are working on a device that would clean up a river after an oil spill, for example, and a pair of headphones that a city dweller might use to dampen urban din. The overall goal of the City X program is to use technology to teach students valuable problem-solving skills. It’s not only a great way to get students thinking and learning about design, but also to prepare them to work with the cities and technology of the future. Watching the kids build their models layer by layer with the 3-D printer, one teacher described it as the “coolest thing in the world.”
Tag: Tech Education
The ‘High-Tech Ride’ That’s Getting Kids Excited about Coding
Rather than trying to motivate students with statistics on juicy job prospects, Project Lead the Way teaches them to create mobile apps—a “high-tech ride” they can test drive on a tablet as they code or show off on their phones once it’s completed. The nationwide program—now in 60 high schools—aims to get students excited about the complex subject of computer language by making technology not just something that students can use, but something they can create.