Into the third dimension

Modernist poet Ezra Pound’s call to “Make it new!” is gospel to many techno-fetishists. An eagerness to flaunt the latest fashionable gizmo is a notable high street trend, and, in education, technology is also deemed a credible (if not cool) investment. Of course, equating an initial novelty factor with lasting benefits may be a costly fallacy, as some analysts have found.

UK schools spent over £1 billion on digital assets over the past decade, according to a 2012 report issued by Nesta, the charitable UK foundation. Yet, it concludes, “there is little evidence of success in improving educational outcomes”. A recent summary of digital education released by the Education Endowment Foundation concurs. “There is no doubt that technology engages and motivates young people,” it acknowledges. “However, this benefit is only an advantage for learning if the activity is effectively aligned with what is to be learned. It is therefore the pedagogy of the application of technology in the classroom which is important: the how rather than the what.”

To help achieve this, Nesta advises educators to “link home, schools and the community”. Softlink, an international developer of integrated library management solutions, adopted this principle during the development of its new platform aimed at primary schools. Named Scout, the cloud-based system consolidates diverse assets, rendering them available not only to students, but also parents and teachers, via handheld devices alongside conventional PCs. “Scout is designed to assist and enhance primary schools’ literacy programs and initiatives, while delivering process efficiencies and savings,” explains Chris McPhee, general manager of Softlink Europe. The goal is to make accessing these resources functional – and, of course, fun.

Many schools store these resources in disparate locations, in varied formats. “Consequently, in many cases, assets are underused or forgotten,” argues McPhee. “To prevent this, Scout allows all assets to be maintained and sourced within a simple, easy-to-use ePlatform.”

“Scout’s design helps to engage young learners, offering them ownership and independence,” continues Softlink UK’s general manager. Moreover, these tools can be made accessible to parents to encourage involvement, as can simplified reports on children’s progress. Administrators too may benefit from the system, which can integrate existing databases and virtual learning environments to enable holistic monitoring of school activities and inventory. Equipped with data from Scout, “staff can target the delivery and promotion of resources to particular students or groups, presenting new or relevant resources when they initially log on,” adds McPhee.

As the sophistication of devices increases, a simultaneous challenge for manufacturers is to maintain or simplify ease of use to ensure that their capabilities are fully exploited.

Prestigio, a multinational electronics brand, has recently made an initial foray into this environment, launching a new digital whiteboard, based on its Multiboard product. Available in 42” and 84” sizes, the interactive units are pre-equipped with a suite of software, offering several practical features. Handwriting recognition is supported, and the products are able to communicate with portable devices. Pre-existing content can also be dynamically adapted in real time, adding a kinetic flourish to classroom presentations and tuition.

“Using tablets, students can share information such as pictures and videos in real time,” says Martin MacNamara, Prestigio’s UK sales director. Combining hardware and software, the devices can also support pre-recorded lessons, online learning and live, participatory sessions. Anticipating that voice for text, kinetic gesture technology and eye recognition may be the next standard set of features to be added to digital whiteboards, the company’s investment in the marketplace is an acknowledgement that digital whiteboard technology has become a norm. “It’s ubiquitous,” says MacNamara. “Critically, the experience for operators is becoming more refined and user friendly. Initially regarded as a novelty, touch screens are now widely accepted, and can be intuitively accessed by adults and students.”

Successfully naturalising new interfaces so that they’re as comfortably familiar as a mouse and keyboard is key to sustaining any new technology, and a formidable challenge faced by developers of 3D printers, which are currently being introduced to UK schools. Offering children a means to directly manufacture their own creations, the medium is of particular relevance to STEM disciplines. By printing small objects, which can be combined, students can also generate parts with which to assemble larger, more complex units or devices. If optimally exploited, 3D printers could thus help fulfil one of Nesta’s key recommendations – that learning should be enhanced through making, particularly in groups. Michael Gove has recently propelled the technology into the spotlight, proclaiming that “3D printers are revolutionising manufacturing and it is vital that we start teaching the theory and practice in our schools”. But just how realistic is it to suppose that these complicated devices will be fully exploited?

“Presently, there’s a lot of hype about 3D printers,” cautions Martin Stevens, co-founder of It is 3D Ltd , a new company established to bring low-cost 3D printing and design to the mass market. “Ultimately, they enable designs to be turned into physical models. That’s where the satisfaction is, giving children something to take home and say ‘I made this’.” Although approving of a forthcoming trial of 3D printers in 60 schools, Stevens counsels that schools must also consider how these units should enter the curriculum: “Products emerge at the end of the process, rather than the beginning.”

Self-assembly 3D printers are now available for under £1,000 and, Stevens advises, schools should opt for models which can precisely replicate outputs, are reliable and offer a degree of flexibility. To embed the technology from the outset, he suggests, students could assemble printers themselves: “If the units later malfunction, children would have the means to independently fix them. They will also have a personal investment in the printers, since they’ve participated in their construction.”

Principally endorsed as aids for design and technology studies, software and hardware support for the next generation of 3D printers is helping to make them accessible to novices. Designs can be prepared using sophisticated CAD packages, but there are alternatives suitable for the less initiated. If you have an object and no digital file exists for it, explains Stevens, “you can use a 3D scanner to make a copy – which will allow you to produce a duplicate”. Creative design packages also exist, which use a ‘haptic’ interface. These allow users to change organic shapes on a PC, adjusting their contours and dimensions to reimagine existing designs. As they ‘touch’ a shape with their cursor, the designer receives feedback through the mouse, creating a tangible impression of the physical object being manipulated. “This allows children of any age to engage in the designing process,” enthuses Stevens.

Plastics are the primary medium used in 3D printing, but diversification is imminent. “Essentially, anything which can be extruded, is viscous and solidifies can be printed,” says Stevens. It is 3D will shortly release a new printer with interchangeable heads, which can print food, creating new possibilities for usage in schools. “Chocolate shapes and icing – anything which can be pureed – could be used in food technology classes,” he proposes. “Understandably, the idea of printing chocolate appeals to kids!”

Faced with these developments, educators must now conceive of an equally bold syllabus – one which helps children to master the tools with which they can mould, sculpt or even print their futures.

Softlink W: www.softlink.co.uk

Prestigio W: www.prestigio.com

It is 3D W: www.itis3d.com