So, let me get this straight….
1.) I can buy Raspberry Pi computers for my classroom at about $35 each…
2.) I can buy Minecraft classroom version for about $40….
3.) I can buy a small 3D printer for a few hundred dollars…
4.) I can control that printer using the Raspberry Pi using free Octoprint software…
5.) I can print the things we create in Minecraft using Printcraft.
So lets pull this entire story together….
I can buy cheap computers for my classroom and create entire worlds with my students. We could build everything from historically correct versions of Egypt and Rome to entire fantasy worlds.
We could use those worlds to explore and create entire problem spaces.
Then, once we have done these things, the kids could print out the buildings, castles, temples, etc that they have created and take them home. All for less then the price of buying a desktop computer for my classroom?
Why do I still sometimes ask kids to draw murals or things like that in my classroom?
Because of Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences.