3D Printer Project Gets MacArthur Funding - By Dian Schaffhauser
A project out of the University of Virginia to get young
children comfortable with engineering has been selected as one
of 10 winners in a MacArthur Digital Media and Learning
Competition. The project, called Fab@School, is intended to
teach K-12 students about mathematical analysis and modeling,
digital fabrication, and engineering by allowing them to
fabricate 3D copies of objects that they've designed themselves.
The win comes with a $185,000 fund, which will be used to bring
three-dimensional printers to public elementary school
classrooms. Glen Bull, a professor of instructional technology
for U Virginia's Curry School of Education, spearheads the
project, which also involves several collaborators: the Society
for Information Technology and Teacher Education; the Hofstra
University Center for Technological Literacy in Hempstead, NY:
the Software MacKiev Co.; FableVision Learning; and Cornell
University. Cornell developed a program titled Fa