Advances in 3D printing, scanning, and design are being made every day. 3D technology is being developed through artists, inventors, doctors, scientists, engineers, astronauts and entrepreneurs, but who will continue to expand 3D technology into the future? Phil Lathroum, a teacher at St. Philip Neri School in Baltimore believes that today’s children are tomorrow’s technological innovators. He has championed bringing new technology into his classroom, and has succeeded in getting others to jump on board. Recently, the Archbishop of Baltimore, William E. Lori, announced that all 48 schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore will receive 3D printers and lesson plans to help sharpen their technological skills to compete in an increasingly technological world.
This week thirteen schools in the Baltimore area will get their 3D printers. The project will be funded by over $150 million recently raised by the Baltimore Diocese. The estimated $250,000 that will go into getting the printers and lesson plans to schools is all part of the Catholic schools’ mission to prepare kids to be workforce innovators, leading the way to a better world. While exploring the 3D printers on a recent visit to the St. Philip Neri school, Archbishop Lori exclaimed, “For a young person who grew up typing on a Smith-Corona typewriter, this is all pretty amazing.”
3D printing technology is amazing, yes. But, even more amazing is what a deceptively fun learning tool it can be in schools, especially when students have an enthusiastic teacher at the helm. Phil Lathroum, serves as St. Philip Neri’s technology and music teacher. Not only has he fought to bring new technology to his classrooms, but he seems to have a creative and fun perspective on the advantages of 3D printing in the classroom. When 3rd graders learn about communities at St. Philip Neri, they don’t make shoebox dioramas anymore. They design 3D models of trucks, buildings, and delivery vans on computers in Lathroum’s classroom. Once the finished models are 3D printed, they are painted in art class. How’s that for a comprehensive inter-disciplinary lesson plan?
Before they know it, kids are using and developing math, spatial analysis, and problem solving skills as aptly as they once used glue sticks and paper mache. Lathroum says that the technology “sucks them in” and gets students interested in engineering and technology at a young age.
Eighth-grader Carla Vega-Diaz, of Severn Maryland, is currently intrigued by the biomedical uses of 3D technology. She is excited that the same technology she is using in her school is similar to what NASA astronauts use in space. “It’s been a good experience to have this here,” she said.
Catholic schools are not alone in integrating 3D printing technology into their curriculum. The Anne Arundel County public schools are already using 3D printers in many of their schools and are looking to expand. Reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmatic, and 3D technology–Twenty-first century skills for a twenty-first century world.
