One of the trends in instructional technology that I found very
interesting is the topic of 3D printing.
This was a new topic for me, and I found its current developments and its
applications fascinating. The
regenerative medical groups internationally have been achieving advancements in
printing skin tissue, heart tissue, blood vessels, artificial bones, organs,
and soft tissues. As a special educator,
I am particularly interested in the medical and habilitative aspects of the
applications of this trend.
I think that 3D printing will impact learning and education
through its habilitative applications for very young children in terms of
prosthetics. This is true through its
potential to assist children with physical disabilities to avoid missing
critical periods of development due to a missing limb or damaged functional
motor ability. When children can be
fully and actively involved in their environment, they can experience a normal
trajectory of mobility and interaction.
In addition, with the advent of bio-printing, the medical aspect of
engineering tissue and organs is being built using 3D printing technologies. This holds the possibility of repairing
organs in fetuses and preterm infants and avoiding the medical consequences of
damages and disorders. Less need for
early intervention will have a significant impact on the quality of life early
on, avoiding secondary and tertiary disabilities.
As an
instructional technologist, what do you need to do to keep up with this trend? In the field of disabilities, I could see the
need to stay abreast of the research in the area of 3D printing in order to be
an advocate for families who have children who might benefit from these
interventions. I would maintain contacts
with neonatologists as well as early interventioninsts who might be
participating on teams that were involved in medical applications of
habilitative 3D printing for infants. I
would also want to maintain my awareness of journal articles and conference
strands that address this topic as it becomes more mainstreamed in early
childhood special education.
Provide
three resources (an article, web url and a video) that provide more information
on this trend and explain why these resources stood out to you.
Cooper-White,
H. (March, 2016). “How 3D Printing Could End the Deadly Shortage of Donor
Organs.” Huffpost Science.
This
website author responded to questions about challenges of 3D printing relative
to customized organs and discussed the latest development of a “Body on A
Chip.” One of the major challenges is
how to oxygenate the new organs until they can become vascularized and
integrated into the body.
This
TED talk from 2011 provides an overview of the fabrication of organs through
additive manufacturing which has become an affordable possibility. The speaker, Ms Harouni, provided examples
and photos of products of 3D printing endeavors. She sees 3D printing as significant as the
next industrial revolution.
https://3dprint.com/27743/3d-printing-benefits-schools/
In this online article, "Why 3D Printing Needs To Take Off in Schools Around the 'World," the authors indicate that 3D printing has not been utilized much in schools because school administrators do not yet have the awareness of its potential. Some of the examples that are provided as possible uses include mathematics education (helping students grasp models), earth sciences (helping students understand formations in a scaled sense), history (helping students make replicas of artifacts), and art (helping students bring their designs to life). I would agree with the authors as the general applications of 3D printing were not imaginable to me before I was introduced to them, and the specific applications in various disciplines are really driven by individuals in those fields who have some background in the application of this sort of printing.
Design one activity using this trend that can be applied for
teaching and learning.
The activity that I could apply to this trend would be in
the context of including this information about 3D printing in my special
education lectures to preservice and inservice teachers so that they can be
aware of ways to support the children and families. They will probably be the individuals on the
front line of working with infants who may have benefited from medical and habilitative
3D prinmting.
Re-use information that you shared for your main post in the
discussion forum (educreation, voki etc)
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