Doing 3D design for the first time felt a bit like playing a video game that I needed to learn all new controls for. This thought came up when I was trying to drag my work area around like I would when designing a house or landscaping in the Sims. Then, I started imagining students playing Minecraft since it’s such a popular game for youth these days. As someone who has not ever played Minecraft, I was wondering if there would be a thread of interest connecting these students to 3D design. From my understanding, you need to build basically everything yourself when playing Minecraft. I would be interested to look into this more and see if anyone has written a comparison of the two creation/build processes.
In “The Year in Video Gaming” from the book Making Love with the Land, Joshua Whitehead shares observations about our (particularly younger generations’) “reliance upon escapism while in the throes of fantasy” to cope with mental health concerns like anxiety and depression. While reliance and overconsumption can be quite dangerous, Whitehead also shares that there are benefits to gaming:
“In moderation, one can learn how to become socially and healthily adept in the worlds we inhabit beyond the realms of coding, to find solace to deal with and unpack mental health traumas.”
Josuha Whitehead, (2022), “The Year in Video Gaming” from Making Love with the Land
Joshua Whitehead goes on to express that his personal experiences with gaming gave his body the opportunity it needed to rest, “refocusing the energies of [his] whirling mind—one racked with anxiety, depression, mourning, and loss—and to channel its energies into something constructive and enriching: into narrative, plot, metaphor, and agency; and […] the game also asked [him] to self-reflect on [his] own desires.”
I share all of this because I know that it can be easy to get stuck in either criticizing or romanticizing tech. While the video game tie-in has the potential to be a big draw for many students, it is important to stay aware of the complexity of tech. The question of whether or not to use emerging technology in the classroom is always something educators will need to reflect on critically and teach with tact.
Now… back to 3D design.
Generally, the experience of 3D design was positive for me. I found it accessible because I have had experience working in digital design platforms like Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. I wonder about how natural students would find the process of 3D design. Since youth are being exposed to technology earlier in life, I imagine it might be a bit easier to pick up the skills to use technology like this. While this may be true, it is important to keep in mind the coordination and fine motor capabilities of the students you are teaching. 3D design has the potential to be quite frustrating for young students because it can take a while to get used to the program controls as they are not always intuitive.
Another consideration is that early exposure to screens can have a concerning ‘pacifying’ effect (as Jesse Miller refers to in this TEDxWestVancouverED video). Making sure to not over encourage use of tech like this in youth is important for their well-rounded development. Jesse Miller also shares that it is important to build awareness of healthy tech use. Healthy use will help encourage empathy in communication, confidence, and creativity in students, as well as supporting them in becoming solutions-based thinkers who can be functional people without any devices.
As an educator, the possibilities of using 3D design for educational purposes are vast. To me, one of the most exciting applications is the potential to create curriculum specific game pieces—like customized dice, tokens, or character pieces. If the game requires a game board, using Canva to design it, then fixing it to plywood using 3M spray adhesive could be an exciting and creative way to create a custom one. Being a student teacher, I am not sure the exact games I would want to play with my classes yet as I would like to get to know my first class before starting to design a custom game. Therefore, I am not yet sure which pieces I will need. For this reason, I decided to try to create a 12-sided die as a practice. The design I went with incorporates the 12 astrological signs (see below). I was curious to have this printed and find out whether the way I designed it allows for fair rolls of the die that do not favour specific sides. It was difficult to tell on the 3D design platform I was using (TinkerCAD) whether the token for each of the signs was outset an equal amount.
When I sent the design to the printer, they told me it would be more functional and easier to use if the astrological sign tokens were inset/embedded into the die itself. I am in the process of making those adjustments and will share a screenshot below when finished.
Overall, I think games are one of the most powerful educational tools. 3D design and printing offers many opportunities for gamification—from the design process feeling like a video game, to the seemingly endless possibilities for creating educational game pieces, I am inspired to bring more 3D design into my teaching.
