One of the things we had learned at Lighthouse Charter School was that all faculty should and could learn to code, as well as 3-D print. Throughout the early spring months, we procured some small 3-D printers and also the necessary supplies to provide coding basics for students and teachers.
While many of our faculty are comfortable with 3-D printing and the related applications to make things for printing, several had not yet had a chance to experience the magic of 3-D printing. Similarly, while some faculty were familiar with coding language and using code as an outcome of student learning, other faculty had yet to learn about this. As a result, we held a couple of "Coding Play Dates" for faculty after work hours in late April and early May. These play dates were essentially an open house for design lab related tools. We provided computers, the apps related to 3-D printing, and 3-D printers, MakeyMakey kits, and coding applications.
The play dates were a huge success! We had over 20 faculty attend each session, which means that 40 folks learned the essentials about coding and 3-D printing, as well as walking away with some great ways to use and apply these technologies in the classroom. I highly recommend that schools who are moving to a design thinking paradigm (or who are moving towards a stronger technology presence with coding and 3-D printing) use this informal, drop in, novice-friendly approach to heighten interest and provide guidance in learning.
At one of our coding dates we even had students come in to teach our faculty. That was a great touch that really motivated and interested the faculty - they saw how much the kids loved doing this kind of activity, and they walked away with some wonderful ideas on integrating coding and 3-D printing in their classrooms. As we move into the new school year, we anticipate more coding and printing taking place in our classrooms. Stay tuned!
 |
| Faculty from all three divisions tackle Scratch coding. |
 |
| Colleagues help colleagues learn the essentials for 3-D printing via Tinkercad. |
 |
| We used low resolution 3-D printers to quickly produce prints created by faculty members. |
 |
| Here's a 3-D print ready to roll in Tinkercad. |
 |
| Eureka! Success in programming a MakeyMakey kit as a drum set. |
 |
| Colleagues had fun learning coding basics and using MakeyMakey. |
