Traditional Meets Modern
Although Running Deer is based in woodland, and a lot of what we do is based around outdoor life and skills, that doesn’t mean we aren’t keeping up with modern technology.
Many of our students come to Running Deer and really make the most of the outdoor space we have, and what activities that allows. The weather isn’t always great though and some students have a great interest in computing and technology, so having something else to offer is very important. Technology always seems to be progressing at an impressive rate, and the skills that we provide to young people need to progress too, to really provide them with the skills they need for life after school.
A big part of what we do at Running Deer is meeting the needs of our students. One of our students is incredibly proficient with 3D design, using programs such as Blender (design software primarily used for game design) and CAD (Computer Assisted Drawing, used for designing objects in engineering and architecture).
We have then provided access to a laptop with the required software for in school use. Being able to access this kind of software in school has been very beneficial, and it has allowed us to see some incredible progress in terms of what these tools can be used to make! They have gone from making simple cars, to making very realistic 3D models of navy ships! Seeing these kinds of things on a screen is impressive enough (especially when they are animated), but what if we can go one better?
As mentioned, technology has been progressing at an impressive rate over the past few decades. Things from my past, such as dial-up internet (who appreciates being able to make a call AND use the internet at the same time?), floppy disks (who knows what the save icon is on your computer?) and my first mobile phone (Nokia 3310, R.I.P.) are met with confusion, calls of, “Surely that wasn’t a thing!?” and “What even is that!?”. Today though, there are some impressive pieces of technology out there, and 3D printers are one of them. So thinking then of going that bit further than seeing these models designed on a laptop, the next step was making physical copies of these models. So, we got a 3D printer.
There are many difference types of 3D printers, the one we have is a filament printer. Instead of using paper like a traditional printer, these use a spool of plastic line, like a fishing rod spool. This plastic line is heated up and a small nozzle which moves around above a flat surface and pushes out a line of melted plastic (the printing bit) bit by bit. Working from the bottom up, the printer can make some very impressive objects! As mentioned earlier, one of our students have been designed objects on a laptop, and we have printed out a very impressive model of a warship designed by one of our students!
Not quite content with just having the 3D printer, I thought it would be a very good idea to have an enclosure for it. The student responsible for the impressive 3D designs, suggested one of our other students who might want to get involved, and this is when my classroom then turned into a part time construction zone… After a short brief by myself of what I need from the enclosure, the design phase began.
With some incredibly generous support from a parent, we got all the supplies together that we need, and construction began. It has been so great to our students working together to achieve something, especially with the design bumps along the road. I had the idea of having an exhaust fan to remove any smell from the printer out the window, and this was very quickly improved upon by the students, to involve filters, PC fans and tumble dryer hose. We noticed that it was a bit dark in the enclosure, so one of the students suggested getting some strip lights to put on the inside.
The fact that is has been a very free-flow process, with a general direction given, has allowed our students to come up with some very impressive and helpful ideas. Being able to reflect on things, adapt and adjust are great skills to have, along with communication and working with others that you might not normally work with.
The perfect example of this collaboration between the two students was on working out how to get the square fan and round tumble-dryer hose to connect properly to each other. In what seemed like a few minutes after the two students talking to each other, we had an adapter on a laptop screen that had just been designed.
This is where the 3D printer really began to shine. We have an idea for an adapter, but will it work? Well, lets just use the 3D printer to print it off and see how it fits. It’s not quite right? This bit needs to be 1cm longer, this bit 1cm shorter, lets change the design and print off a 2nd prototype.
Following this process of collaboration involving 3D design, evaluation and feedback we had 3 prototypes for this part and a final version taking in everything that had been learnt from the previous versions.
This really feels like being on the cutting edge of design where the students can come up with an idea, design a product, get a physical copy of it then copy that process until there is the final design. It has been truly amazing to see how things have been coming together.
This process is still ongoing though, and you can expect more news and pictures when it has all come together!
