Applications of 3D printing

3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process in which very thin layers of material (types of plastics) are successively laid down to create a 3D object. The machine that prints the object uses the 3D design on the computer and converts it into "slices"  in which it can then print out in thin sheet that are layered. Believe it or not, the first 3D printer was created in 1984, but until recently, the technology was too expensive to become mainstream.

I have heard that 3D printed objects can do amazing things, like used in the construction of spaceships, or used even within the human body so I decided to do some research...

I found this website, called 3ders and it gives all the up to date uses of 3D printed objects.
Check out this great list of just a few things 3D printed objects can be used for

1. Functioning Kidneys
2. Spaceship parts
3. Securing nuclear power plants
4. Restoring 800 year old Buddhist art
5. Artificial bones

And of course you can create beautiful works of art with 3D printing as well

And fashion..

 

And furniture...

The possibility seem endless.

Social/cultural Mapping

Mapping is not just used to display geographical information, but can be an effective tool in a social/cultural context. Maps may be used to tell a story, reflect data, and promote certain industries/organizations. Our class mapped diversity on the SUNY New Paltz Campus and located certain events, organizations, and facilities to display sources of diversity relating to sexuality, race, sex, gender, and religion.

This village social map is a great example of how mapping can be used to explain the social layout of a community and individual households. The map can then be used to help the poor people and families in a community use their skills and existing resources to gain additional resources that will increase their standard of living.

Here are some types of mapping used in the village social mapping project.

Mapping can be a highly effective tool to help teach students about the society and community they live in. I think a great introduction project to social mapping would be to have students illustrate their family by creating a map about their family roles.

Circuits

I found this great website all about circuit projects. The projects generally are pretty intricate and are designed for practical uses, like a garage door opener or a battery powered USB charger. There are also extremely complicated projects, like building your own portable MP3 player or designing a xbox laptop. Some projects would be really cool to implement in a classroom, like making animated necklaces out of LEDs. 

But for those who need simpler designs..

For teaching young kids or people who know nothing about circuits, there are websites like this one that give basic instructions on how to make a circuit. There are also many website like Snap Circuits and Home DIY Electronics that use simple circuits to create fun projects for kids and teens. The projects on these websites (like and LED motion detector and a transistor touch switch) range from beginner to intermediate circuitry work and are a great way to get students excited about electricity. Then if they want to continue experimentation with circuitry, more advanced websites like Circuit Projects could be recommended.

Drawing Machines

 The idea of a drawing machine has been around since the early 16th century with Albrecht Dürer's "Dürer's door"which was a device for drawing proper perspective. It consisted of a grid viewer and grid paper so the artists could use the grid correlation to create a more accurate drawing. Check out more historic drawing machines drawn by a drawing machine!

But today, this is not what we normally consider a "machine". The first machine that actually produced drawings itself (and not just a device to aid drawing) was designed by in 1960 by philosopher, Desmond Paul Henry out of an old bomb sight analog computer used in WWII. He was perplexed by the motions within the old computers and one day decided to capture this movement on paper. His drawing machines (he made a total of three) relied on mechanics of chance, and therefore could not be programed to create an intended design. His work is absolutely beautiful. It is so clean, yet not boring. Henry incorporated color and movement (he stopped the machines and moved them around in the middle of the process) to form wispy, organic but structured forms.

And today, you can make your own drawing machines using batteries, cell phone vibrators, or anything that makes motion! You can even buy your own drawing machine set (Although I think this is a huge ripoff after creating my own and realizing how simple it was)

Interest Driven Arts Learning

In her report, "New Opportunities in Interest Driven Arts Learning in A Digital Age", Kylie Peppler argues that although art education in schools has decreased due to lack of funding and a greater scholastic focus on math and science, there is a huge source of creative learning happening outside traditional educational settings. Peppler describes how researching why and how children express themselves artistically is vital in promoting artistic growth and learning what peaks children's interest in the arts. She explains that because children and teens spend so much time using technology, like social media site, TV, video games, and music media they already have an knowledge of what certain technologies do. Because they are familiar with technology, they can expand their knowledge in ways that encourage personal growth and productivity. She mentions the website Scratch (which I blogged about earlier) and lists it as a valuable instrument for teaching kids about how to create their own games and graphics instead of just absorbing them.

I think that it would be interesting to create this knowledge and research of interest driven art with Nan E. Hathaway's idea of the learner directed classroom where students decide what, when, and how they produce art.

If we could extend our knowledge of what makes students excited about art and learning, perhaps then we could incorporate this knowledge into creating art classrooms that allow for serious artistic exploration. We could choose the resources that seem to appeal to students the most and set up stations for them to engage their interests.


We could then use students interests in the art room and apply these same interests into other aspects of school, like math and science. So for example, if students are interested in creating video games on scratch, we can use this technology in math classrooms to get students interested in math also!

Graphics Programming

During our Scratch project, I'd tell anyone who would listen that I had to design a video game for one of my classes. Everyone was shocked to learn of my computer programing abilities and graphic design skills. But then, I would felt guilty and admit that my "video game" was actually just a choice of actions that were already programmed by the site. I did, however, learn a lot from Scratch and it was a perfect segway into computer animation. It made me seriously consider the time and effort that goes into programming games and graphics.

I found this website by computer programer, Ryan Guiss that explains how to become a serious programer. First, you must be interested and highly dedicated to the programming field. You need to know math, and not just know it, you have to understand it, so that you can create new algorithms and equations. You should take computer science classes and PAY ATTENTION because you may eventually need that information your teacher mentioned last May about depth- sorting polygons. And, you need to practice often if you want to seriously pursue a career in programming. He used mathematical terms and computer language I have never heard before, and quite honestly, it was a bit of a turn off (not that I was seriously considering programming anyway). I think his purpose of scaring the reader was to make them consider the effort, interest level, and time commitment necessary for programming.

 

Photoshop Tips

After using Photoshop for the Digital Image Cluster, I realize that being unfamiliar with the program can make achieving fast, beautiful results extremity difficult and tedious. I am fortunate to have a mother who is a photographer. My mom and I share all the cool Photoshop tricks we learn (her from tutorial books and experience, and me from photography classes).

At the moment, my favorite basic tools are the transform tool and the quick selection tool because they allow me to quickly and drastically modify photos.

Transform tool






 



 Quick Select Tool











I enjoy teaching people how to use Photoshop, but I found this website that gives the basics that may prove more useful than my mediocre instructions.