Our school is just now developing a new curriculum for CNC and 3D printing. The hardware solutions and support within this community has made this task much easier. Active support from from companies like the Inventables and Zach in particular have been most welcome. We have chosen to use both Easel and VCarve within our program due to the ease of use and compatibility with our equipment.Our biggest concern as of right now is that companies like Vectric, that produce such a fantastic software, are not keeping up with the infrastructure needs of schools.In Australia, as most of the world, schools are moving away from dedicated computer labs to individual student laptop programs. Most software companies that have a desire to be inclusive within the educational structure have incorporated licensing agreements that allow multiple computers, whether they be stand alone PCās or student laptops to be purchased at greatly reduced rates as compared to buying separate licenses for each computer. Unfortunately Vectric does not and still caters only for computer lab type structures. What other schools out there are confronted with the same accessibility issues to software? Are schools using programs other than VCarve because of this?
Any other schools want to chime in? @CaseyShea @JeffSolin ?
@MikeKaplan how is you curriculum going?
We have a grade 3 -12 school. The idea is to get ALL the students excited about the capabilities of the machine. Thus far I started off with simple initial keychains for the 3-6 kids. I find itās the easiest way to allow them to lose their fear (sometimes not too sure I want them to lose all of itā¦) of software and hardware combination. Those kids are doing their initial work on Easel. My Grade 7ās are designing boxes with sliding CNCād lids. Onwards from there I have created teaching teams of students within each group to learn about and teach a specific area of software and machine implementation such as importing images into Easel and Vcarve, and doing inlays. We are also seeing tutorials that Inventables have created (Thanks Sam!) and Vectric produce. Early days yet. We havenāt even damaged the waste board at this point.
Mr. Kaplan, do you think it would be a fun project for the younger ones to have an attachment that could hold colored Sharpies or paint pens and plot out designs? They could learn the machine without the spindle running.
Two good resources are the Easel Live Classes
https://www.inventables.com/collections/29
And our new challenges
www.inventables.com/challenges
Both are free and open for students to participate. We had another teacher ask if the can combine the gift cards won by students and the answer is yes. You could essentially have the students earn another Carvey by having them participate in the fidget spinner contest.
@MikeKaplan I would love to talk about curriculum for 3-12 students. I have been playing around with simple pcb projects and have a flashlight that involves some circuitry.
Here are a file that uses a single 1/32" bit: Easel - PCB ROCKET (V1)
itās a little cleaner to use an engraving bit for the traces so that you can do more intricate designs.
I saw someone suggest the fidget spiners, which I have just started playing with thanks to Zach. I found some bearings on ebay for $.40 each and am using 1/4 nuts and bolts for weights, making the project pretty cheap.
Hereās a sample Easel file: Easel
We have done a version of the mosaic tiles in which students made tiles for their history class that represented various time periods and another where the students did propaganda signs.
The next thing I want to work out is a small edge lit acrylic sign project like this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Edge-Lit-Acrylic-Sign/
Iād be happy to talk about these or a number of other projects we do on other machines like laser cutters and vinyl cutters.
Using sharpies sounds like a good and safe alternative to using the router and laser for younger kids. Back in the early 70ās, that was my first exposure to cnc using a paper tape Singer computer while training to be an Industrial Arts teacherā¦(gone but not forgottenā¦). I have been careful to take a full inventory of fingers and functioning eyes before and after class and thus far have a perfect recordā¦
Curriculum for my classes has and will for the most part continue to be part of a full woodwork curriculum, allowing students to use the machine to help with their joinery as well as adding an aesthetic element to their projects. We are planning a fund raising project very shortly with some of the middle school students utilizing the machine. At this point ideas are still being bandied about.
@CaseyShea1 I am working with a group of students on edge lit acrylic signs. Have you done this project with students before? If so, any suggestions or guidance?
@Zach_Kaplan I am refining and working out some curriculum as I go when it comes to using Carvey in my classroom. As the school year winds down, the resources I have will be much more refined but here is a link to the outline of my class Mosaic Tile Project from earlier this year. The students had a great time working with Easel and Carvey, and it was a great project to get my feet wet with. Here is the video we made to go along with the end product.
Blaine,
In the past I have had students make a laser cut box for the base, but I am prototyping a carved version.
Here are the files, if it goes well I intend to make some awards for an upcoming film festival, then will see if the teacher who took over my old class wants to try it as a class project. Note: I havenāt cut them yet, hope to try the first one this week. Iāll probably use the laser for cutting and engraving the acrylic mainly to spread out the lines on machines, if you donāt have a laser, it could be carved as well.
bottom Easel - Edge lit base (bottom)
top Easel - Edge lit base (top)
I am using a piece of kiln dried 2x3 (actual size 1.5" x 2.5") soft whitewood from Home Depot for the base (because itās dirt cheap). The components are a 9V battery, a simple toggle switch, one ea red, green and blue 5mm LED and a resistor, I donāt have the BOM at hand for the exact value, but I can get it to you.
Itās nice to have separate RGB lights because you can take the acrylic out of the base and play with color mixing in a dark room by shining it through your fingers - a little physics bonus!
Just started 3rd gradeās intro to Easel. The students are designing a sign for their mini society social studies unit. It is a lot for the students. But they can do it. I have been creating tutorials for the students and just finished the ācreating an account and setting up your workspaceā .
We share the tutorial as a Google slideshow and post it in the Google Classroom so that students always have access to the instructions. One of their homework assignments is to get one of their parents set up and creating designs.
This is a big shift for our younger students. They are given a lot of choice in this project and we explain to them that the constraints of time, space, and resources are part of the challenge.
Here is the tutorial, which hopefully will become part of a more student produced resource for flipping our classrooms.
Any and all input greatly appreciated!!
Greg
Iād love to take a look at your document. I get an error when I try to open it.
sorry about that here is the link
and an alternative link
What browser are you using? Shouldnāt matter butā¦
FF and Chrome. It is working now.
Iām a fine arts teacher doing post digital processes with my kidsā¦Iād like to raise a vote for a curriculum that steps out of manufacturing design and into the new arts integrated STEAM curriculum. My kiddos use CNC for printmaking, molds, pyrography, jewelry etc. Iād be more than happy to work on it with someone. The pin swap is by far the hit of the year second to our holiday card lesson and might make good design challenges on their own.
(Iād need some lead time since we currently have to get our things milled at a local makerspace until we get enough credits for our own machine)
Have you done any letter press or stamps with Easel and Carvey?
Is it supposed to have no sound?
No sound. Although that is a great idea. We have gone through the slideshow together as a class. It is more to allow the students and classroom teachers to access or refresh their memory later on if the get stuck. BUT I have been messing with Screencastify and was thinking that would be a great way for students to showcase/walk through their designs.
Thanks for the input!!
Greg
Iād be interested in collaborating if you are still wanting to do some curriculum development. I teach at the middle school level and try to incorporate both aspects of the integrated arts as well as the digital manufacturing side. Next year I am teaching a 3d design class based solely on 3d Carving (though we may āprintā some too!) so as the year winds down and summer starts, Iāll be developing/refining curriculum for the fall.
I also made the slideshow into a video