Accelerating the growth of 3D printing in education is at the heart of what we do, which is why we have a range of features designed specifically for educators

Pick and choose from our growing library of 3D printing resources to spark curiosity, develop in-demand technical skills and foster 21st century skills such as empathy, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. Our mission is to provide educators with all the resources they need to guide students in using this transformative technology to make assistive technology, homeware, architectural models, sculptures and much more.

PrintLab's '3D Printing Industry' mini course.

Mini Courses

Mini courses are based on informative video content or step-by-step tutorials. They help students to build foundational knowledge in 3D printing and technical skills in 3D design software using Tinkercad or Fusion 360 software (both free for Education).

PrintLab's 'Tactile Games' project learning platform.

Projects

Projects guide students through each stage of the design process to make specific types of products in the fields of assistive technology, customised product design and STEM. They include a brief, background information, 3D design tutorials, portfolio templates and instructions on implementing various design methods such as user interviews, brainstorms, idea sketches, product evaluations and more.

The Make:able Challenge homepage.

Challenges

Challenges are live briefs where students have the opportunity to design creative solutions for real organisations and people. They are broad and open-ended, giving students complete freedom in both the product created and the design process undertaken. Our first 2 challenges are based on assistive devices and homeware, with many more to be launched in due course.

Features that save teachers time and stress

Share Links

Select a resource, generate a share link and send it to your students to give them one-click access to the learning platform. No logins required!

Teacher Resources

Each resource comes with a teacher instructions tab, which provides you with step-by-step lesson plan instructions. As you go through the resource sections, the teacher instructions update accordingly.

Our curriculum is aligned to the following standards: NGSS, ISTE, UK National Curriculum, New Zealand Curriculum and Australian Curriculum for Design and Technologies (v9). Resources come with both curriculum alignment documents and editable assessment rubrics.

Portfolio Templates

As students move through each stage of a project, the learning platform guides them in filling in a Google Slides template to document their design process – resulting in a beautiful and professional portfolio of work that can be assessed using the included rubric. The portfolio is optional and you are free to advise students to document their work in alternative ways.

Method Toolkit

The Design Method Toolkit is designed to be used whilst working on projects or challenges. It provides students with a range of step-by-step problem-solving and design activities that can be used at each stage of the design process – whether it’s to research topics, generate ideas, design prototypes, evaluate solutions or present work.

Although PrintLab projects guide you in using a pre-defined set of design methods, more advanced students can adapt projects by selecting their own methods and design process. The toolkit can also be used to tackle PrintLab’s Make:able and Homeware Design Challenges, or challenges set by yourself.

So, I just love what these guys are doing! They definitely have a grasp of what is needed in the classroom for sure. I feel like everything is laid out perfectly here. This would be something that I feel like I wouldn't really have to tweak at all. Honestly, with the future unknown, this content would be priceless for teachers like me. From what I have seen from this company, they are doing a phenomenal job! I highly recommend it!

Bill White, Teacher at Avonworth School

I was just selected as District Teacher of the Year and will be competing at the regional level in the coming months. Your curriculum has played a big role in my success, so I appreciate you so much. The assistive device lesson has led me to a partnership with the high school nursing program and their connection to local nursing homes. I’m so excited to see where that relationship leads. So many career connections!

Becky Wynne, Maryville Middle School

Frequently asked questions about PrintLab

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Is there training for teachers?

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PrintLab resources aren't just for students, they are a great way for educators to learn new skills. And by delivering PrintLab projects in the classroom and submitting example student portfolios, you can become a PrintLab Certified Educator through our certification programme.

What age group and subjects is PrintLab for?

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PrintLab resources are suitable for users of ages 10+. In the teacher instructions (where relevant), we suggest various ways in which you can adapt projects and challenges for both younger/beginner students and older/advanced students.

Many of our users teach Design, Technology or Engineering classes but several projects have cross-curricular links to other subjects, such as Science, History and Geography. We have seen great success with our site license users, where Design teachers provide support and guidance for teachers in other subjects.

What order do I teach the resources in?

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PrintLab was built as a flexible library of resources that you can pick and choose from depending on your curriculum requirements, student skill level and personal preference. We do however have a pathway of resources that we recommend for those who are new to 3D design and 3D printing. We call this the 'Fundamentals Pathway' and information on delivering this pathway is provided in the user guide, which can be accessed upon signing up to PrintLab.

Do students create accounts on PrintLab?

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After many discussions with teachers, we opted to keep PrintLab as a quick-access training toolkit with no student accounts/logins. They simply click the share link provided to them to access the chosen resource learning platform. There are 2 main reasons for this:

Firstly, the 3D design software packages we use in our curriculum (Tinkercad and Fusion 360) have a range of classroom management tools available, where you can monitor student work. We designed our platform to work cohesively with these rather than to replicate their features or have additional login processes.

Secondly, when documenting their design process in a portfolio format, we didn’t want to limit what applications are used. Some schools might use the Google suite, others might use Canva or Adobe software. So again, we want to keep our focus on creating training material and tools, which work cohesively with applications that are actually dedicated to classroom management and that teachers are already familiar with.

How many students can use PrintLab?

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With our standard teacher license, you can generate a share link for up to 3 resources at once. This means you can teach multiple classes and they can even access PrintLab at home. You can unshare resources at any time and select a different resource to share. A share link allows up to 35 students on the learning platform at any one time.

With our site license, your school can have UNLIMITED teacher accounts and each teacher can generate UNLIMITED share links. *Please note that all teachers must be part of the same individual school and all licenses expire exactly 1 year after the first license is activated. For multiple schools or district pricing, please email hello@weareprintlab.com.

Can I try PrintLab?

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Of course! We offer educators a full 7 day free trial. Click the link below to get started.

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