Staff and pupils at Thomas More College have been blown away by a project that crosses the curriculum, teaching valuable skills while they all have fun. “It started as a branding exercise for the senior primary,” explains computer teacher Kim Nicholas. “The children had to choose an object that represents them, present their reasons and find a suitable design online for us to print in 3D.”
“3D printer technology is advancing rapidly and has reached the point where we could buy an affordable kit from local company DIY Electronics and put the printer together ourselves,” says systems analyst Shelley Dawe.
Not only was this an unusual challenge for the teachers, but it enabled them to get the pupils involved from the start. “It hasn’t always gone smoothly, so they have learnt that, in life, you need to find creative solutions,” Kim continues.
The project has encouraged the children to reflect on their own characters, imagine new possibilities and work with abstract concepts.
It has been such a success that Kim and Shelley were invited to present at the Google Summit for Education in Cape Town. “There is so much talk about technology isolating us, but this is really bringing people together. This has been the highlight of my career,” Kim says.
