Printlab is a tool for educators that lets you teach STEM subjects without needing to be an expert or to develop lesson plans, marking guides or even presentation material.
Printlab is mapped to the New Zealand curriculum and makes it fantastically engaging for students to develop their projects, fill out the included student workbooks and get guidance on marking projects via the Printlab team.
Covering project design skills, problem solving and creative processes, Printlab has material for students aged 8 through to 18.
Projects
Fantastically engaging projects - each aimed to teach a design skill or solve a problem.
Pick from assistive technologies, physics or even surrealism design language - there are dozens of fully realised projects to make it easy to convey the skills and learning you desire in your classroom. All packaged up and easy to deliver with confidence.
Methods
Learn the methods needed to gather data, present it and use it to solve problems.
From the rule of thirds for taking photos to statistics when doing product research, the Printlab courseware covers the skills needed and the material needed in the classroom to convey it successfully and keep students engaged.
PrintLab Teacher
PrintLab is an online platform of 3D printing resources for schools. Pick and choose from a wide selection of mini courses, projects and challenges that teach students how to design their own unique 3D printed products. Resources are split into 3 categories:
Mini Courses - Mini courses are based on informative video content or step-by-step tutorials. They help students to build foundational knowledge in 3D printing and technical skills in 3D design software using Tinkercad or Fusion 360 software (both free for Education).
Projects - Projects guide students through each stage of the design process to make specific types of products in the fields of assistive technology, customised product design and STEM. They include a brief, background information, 3D design tutorials, portfolio templates and instructions on implementing various design methods such as user interviews, brainstorms, idea sketches, product evaluations and more.
Challenges - Challenges are global design competitions (with prizes!) where students solve a real-world problem with 3D printing. Challenge briefs are broad and open-ended, giving students complete freedom in both the product created and the design process undertaken. PrintLab’s first challenge is Make:able - a yearly assistive technology design competition. Additional challenges will be launched in due course.
Simply select a resource, generate a share link and send it to your students to give them one-click access to the learning platform. No logins required! Additional features that save teachers time and stress include:
- Standards-aligned lesson plans and teacher instructions with each resource
- Portfolio templates that students can fill in to document their design process
- Assessment rubrics to grade portfolios
- New resources each month
License Options
1 Year Teacher License (For individual teachers and STEM instructors)
Gain access to all PrintLab resources and generate up to 3 share links at any one time. Share links only give access to the specific resource shared and up to 35 people can use an individual share link at any one time.
Watch Tim from MindKits take you through what makes Printlab so engaging for students and gives teachers confidence to deliver highly technical information without having to be the expert in the room.