We are excited to welcome Miss Gearhart and her fourth graders to Kent State’s AT&T Classroom. Over the next three weeks, the class will be utilizing various digital tools to support their learning, particularly in the areas of math and social studies. Additionally, the students will explore several programs and apps to support their development of important skills related to STEM (science, technology, engineering, & mathematics) and the integration of STEM with other subject areas. On their first day in the AT&T Classroom the fourth graders were introduced to 3D Slash modeling software that they will use for designing 3D printable social studies projects. The 3D Slash interface offers a set of tools that students can use to build and modify 3D models by adding or subtracting a variety of cube shapes. The students are finding the interface to be very intuitive and highly engaging. In addition to its ease of use, the tool is also very open-ended and adaptable for a range of ages and varying levels of technology expertise. It is a wonderful tool for encouraging children’s creativity and design thinking as well as building skills for scale modeling, prototyping, and problem-solving. The class also explored 3D project model examples at Thingiverse, an online platform with resources for designing 3D projects and a gallery of project models. Thingiverse offers templates that students can use for customizing and printing figurines, creatures, medallions, and jewelry.
