Artifact 4- 3D Grant Project
This artifact was created as a group project. This project allowed my partners and I a chance to practice grant writing. For the project, we were required to pick out a few items that we thought would benefit our students or a specific student if 3-D printed. Then we picked one of those three items to actually 3-D print. We chose a book holder. Within the written grant there is a short introduction letter, an explanation of the benefits of having a 3-D printer in a classroom, a page including a table of expenses and an appendix with descriptions of the other two projects we were interested in. In my future classroom, the 3D printer would be placed in the back of the room on a mid height counter. That way, the equipment is out of the way of regular student traffic and possibly out of student reach. This would help to avoid damage to the equipment and distraction while it might be running.
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Click on the image to view our written grant.
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Below is citation for a source that describes the possible benefits of 3D printers in the special education classroom. (Buehler et al., 2016)
Buehler, E., Comrie, N., Hofmann, M., McDonald, S., & Hurst, A. (2016). Investigating the implications of 3D printing in special education. ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS), 8(3), 1-28.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2870640
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ISTE-S Innovative Designer 4.a
As a result of this project, my students would hopefully earn themselves a 3D printer for the classroom. Using the 3D printer, my students would be able to use the software that is attached to create designs. They could use these designs to test classroom or group theories. They could also use the 3D printer to solve real world problems for themselves, other students, or people they know in their everyday lives.
ISTE-E Facilitator 6.d
With this project, I was able to use creativity to think of an idea to make something that would benefit a student with disabilities. I also got to practice grant writing through this project which further demonstrated my knowledge of the subject at hand. In my future classroom, I can use these skills that I have attained to grant write for other technology I would like to have for my students. I can also use my newfound 3D printing skills to create other useful objects for students in my classroom.
INTASC Principle #3
I recognize that each student learns differently. I also understand that different students and especially students with disabilities have different needs in the classroom. This project allowed me to create something to fill the need of a specific student and make their learning process easier.