MakerBot announces My MakerBot cloud-based platform and the MakerBot Educators Guidebook to improve student access to 3D printing. 

Back in February, the 3D printer manufacturer MakerBot announced it would be laying off 30 percent of its staff. While the news caused many to speculate about the future of the company, CEO Nadav Goshen stated that these additional changes were necessary to support the company’s narrowing focus on the professional and educational markets.

This week, the company showed commitment to this newfound identity by announcing the new cloud-based platform My Makerbot and the MakerBot Educators Guidebook. These two educational products will improve student access to 3D printing and will also help teachers integrate this technology into their classroom curriculum.

My MakerBot: Connecting Chromebooks With Cloud-Based 3D Printers

My MakerBot is a Chromebook-compatible cloud-based platform that connects networked 3D printers, Thingiverse accounts, orders, and support all into one place. With it, students will be able to seamlessly upload files, print them, and remotely monitor the process.

Students will have increased access to printing, while teachers will be better able to manage the printing process and lesson plan. Additionally, Autodesk Tinkercad is connecting its K-12 design software directly into My MakerBot. Students will be able to design and also export their own 3D models to the platform. These designs can be printed without ever needing to leave the Chromebook web browser.

By connecting Tinkercad into My MakerBot, educators can teach students critical problem solving skills through 3D printing technology. The platform condenses the expansive capabilities of 3D printing into an educationally-driven resource.

MakerBot Educators Guidebook: The Ultimate Classroom Resource for 3D Printing

In addition to My MakerBot, the 3D printer manufacturer also released the MakerBot Educators Guidebook. This classroom companion provides educators with teacher-tested lesson plans and other helpful tips to implement 3D printing into their curriculum.

The guidebook will complement the Thingiverse Education library and My MakerBot platform. It features an introduction 3D design and printing, as well as nine 3D printing lesson plans for the classroom.
These projects were created in collaboration with over eighty MakerBot Educators.

Each individual project comes with step-by-step instructions, the core standards that are satisfied, as well as notes from the authors to help teachers navigate through the lesson plan. Additionally, MakerBot continues to beef up the content available on Thingiverse Education, which currently includes nearly 300 lesson plans.

My MakerBot and the MakerBot Educators Guidebook aim to make 3D printing easier to use and more reliable for students. Both will be available at the start of the 2017 school year.

Source: MakerBot