2021 has certainly been a challenging year for teachers. With the juggle of lockdowns, students schooling from home and everything else COVID it’s going to be a year to remember.
With most kids now returned to school, you might be looking for a little classroom inspiration to finish the year with. Can we suggest to you the make:able challenge.
Now in its second year, competition sponsors PrintLab and Autodesk (makers of classroom favourites TinkerCad and Fusion 360) challenge students to:
Design and make a product or prototype that improves the day-to-day life of someone with a disability or the elderly.
make:able 2021/22
The competition provides a wonderful avenue for students to engage with elderly or disabled families or local community members to:
empathise
with humans and their day-to-day challenges
learn
how to use design-thinking to solve problems
design
solutions driven by digital technologies
make
products that are enhanced by modern manufacturing
Signing up for the challenge gives teachers access to a toolkit, which takes you through a step-by-step process to design and make an assistive device. From explainer and case study videos to 3D design tutorials, design-thinking templates and full lesson plans, it’s a great resource to keep students focused in the lead up to Christmas.
You can find out more about make:able at the challenge website. To find more about how PrintLab resources can help teachers in the classroom check out our PrintLab page.
