Tinkercad
By Ed Charlwood
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Do you think CAD requires a lengthy custom install, a powerful computer suite, an onerous sign-up process and specialist teacher expertise? Think again.
CAD has come a long way since the days of 2D Design and SketchUp and recent updates to Tinkercad mean it should now be considered a tool for creation, design and expression alongside Lego, Minecraft and Scratch. It just celebrated passing 70 million active users.
If you are not familiar with these tools, they all have a few things in common; they are fun, they are friendly and they are surprisingly powerful. If you have ever watched a child engrossed in creating complex 3D worlds in Minecraft or shrieking in delight as their Lego tower collapses, you’ll know that these are systems created to facilitate iterative design.
When you dig into the National Curriculum for D&T CAD and CAM are one of a few tools and technologies specifically mentioned and the use of CAD in GCSE D&T as a necessity has recently been clarified by Pearson Edexcel.
In a time of falling GCSE uptake for D&T and an ongoing struggle to recruit and retain D&T teachers, I believe it is high-time we start to consider the role that CAD can play to provide a better equity of provision for all students studying D&T, regardless of their school's access to equipment or specialist teachers.
When thinking about how to use tools like CAD and CAM purposefully and effectively I am always drawn to the skillset, toolset, mindset construct.
This defines mindset as ‘the way you think’, skillset as ‘the actions you take’, and toolset as ‘the systems and tools you use.’ If we can master the toolset and the skillset with relative ease, then the challenge is how can teachers develop and foster the mindset to help students apply all three to help solve interesting and useful problems, like an NEA contextual challenge..
Let's start with the basics: Tinkercad is free and browser-based, so there is no need to install it. It has built-in classroom management, so classes can be pre-populated and accessed with a simple code and nickname. It will work on connected desktops, Chromebooks or via an iPad app.
It has a bright, colourful interface, but don't let that fool you into thinking it is not capable. Search the Tinkercad gallery if in doubt. Primary-aged children can intuitively drag and drop “primitive shapes' (boxes, cylinders, cones etc) and pull, push, rotate and combine them into new shapes, or use a huge library of parts. They can view them three dimensionally or quickly change to flat views. It is KS3 geometry brought to life.
It also has a built-in Learning Centre with follow along tutorials to learn the basics:
The gallery also has a huge range of non-D&T designs; cross sections of cells that can be viewed in Augmented Reality, relations of historical artifacts, topographical maps and much more.
Tinkercad has, in the last 18 months, had a swathe of updates that should make it irresistible to all D&T teachers, these include:
Improved one-click exporting files as .svgs for laser cutting or as .stls for 3D printing
New capabilities in the “Circuits: area to create and simulate circuits using discrete components, MicroBits or even Auduinos, including the ability to export schematics or to “send to Fusion” for full PCB design
Augmented Reality in the iPad app
And the most recent addition is the Sim Lab
Sim Lab is an area of Tinkercad where you can take your 3D design and add connectors between parts, apply material properties and simulate gravity and forces.
If the built-in tutorials are not enough, I recently published two books to support teachers and students to teach and learn Tinkercad in more detail, with more checks for understanding and contextual design challenges:
(1) Mastering Tinkercad Student - https://amzn.to/3QfRNYz
(2) Mastering Tinkercad Instructor - https://amzn.to/3y3aqbG
And because it's part of my personal mission to empower students with powerful CAD skills, I am also providing free student copies: https://lnkd.in/eN6Rnx8e
If you need the Instructor copy, please email me at ed@cadclass.org and I will arrange a free digital copy.
Happy Tinkering!
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