During October and November teachers from 8 secondary schools carried out training on 3D printers for their students, using online platform created in the scope of the project of Belgrade Open School. In total 174 students participated in training courses in several cities in Serbia and thus had an opportunity to gain and enhance their knowledge in this area.

Photos of 3D printers used in schools

Following the training course held in premises of Belgrade Open School, teachers used the online course in schools within regular classes, additional classes or sections. Teachers in secondary schools who had a 3D printer in their possession used it for practical exercises for their students.

The online course consists of presentations, video materials and tests for assessment of gained knowledge. The course contains five learning units: 1) Unit 1: Introduction to 3D modelling and 3D printing; Unit 2: 3D Software; Unit 3: 3D Designing; Unit 4: 3D Prototyping and Unit 5: Optimization.

The evaluation of the course carried out in schools showed that all teachers who participated in the training believe that it was useful for their work and that their students can apply the knowledge and skills they gained.

The online platform was assessed as immensely useful, as indicated by the following comments of teachers:

• "As I do not have experience in working with 3D printers, everything is useful to me, from the introduction and choosing software and of course the optimization…I believe that everything needs to be in a package" :) 
• "The most useful part of the training is 3D prototyping. The reason is that our students already have knowledge of modelling and now they found out how to prepare those models for print and how to print them using a 3D printer".
• "The introductory part is very well written. It can be used if someone is using this technology for the first time".

The students who participated in the training course were also very satisfied with the training which they believe was useful for them in that they developed relevant knowledge and skills. When they were asked what they liked the most about the training, they talked about different aspects of the training course:

• "I like literary everything. How everything was presented, what can be made using 3D printers (and almost everything can be created in this way), and I liked a lot that they can be used in medicine to provide the help to people who need it".
• "I like that I can apply everything in further schooling and in life".

In order to improve the training, students believe that it is necessary to dedicate enough time to work on learning materials on the online platform but also to provide 3D printers in schools for practical application of knowledge.

The online course was developed within the project "3D Modelling Curriculum and Applications for 3D Printers and Tabs for VET Schools", supported by the Program Erasmus+ (Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices, Strategic Partnerships for VET education).

You can register on the online course HERE.

The project is realized by the Tuzla Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi (Turkey) in cooperation with the following partners: Belgrade Open School (Serbia), Marmara University Faculty of Technology (Turkey), Timarge Mechatronics Ltd. Co. (Turkey), Interprojects (Bulgaria), Nottingham Trent University School of Science & Technology (UK) Prosena SA  (Portugal).