Recently, at a 3Dhubs meeting, I met Manon van der Sar. She is the 3DHubs mayor of ‘s-Hertogenbosch and she likes to share her designs on YouMagine. Manon is a teacher and educational designer, just like I am.  She has good ideas about how 3D print and 3D design can change our educational system!  This is very exciting to me and therefore I would like to share some of her work and ideas with the YouMagine community.

Manon Mostert – van der Sar (25) is an entrepreneur (through Studio van der Sar) in the field of co-creation and digital fabrications. In 2011, Manon co-founded Fablab Rotterdam (linking Stadslab Rotterdam with Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences), together with other enthusiasts and experts. The establishment of this Fablab, a place where you can make almost anything, has formed the basis for most of Manon’s current activities.

Manon is still actively involved in Stadslab Rotterdam and is now investigating the (desired) impact of these new creative environments on education. Based on her belief that the education world is still lagging behind, she is engaged in the development of new educational approaches through active research (research by doing). She has already developed new courses and is currently a teacher for two minors in Rotterdam, the minor+ (honours education) ‘Making for Professionals’ and the minor+ ‘Experience Design for the Internet of Things’. On January 29, 2015 the students of this minor exhibited their work in the Smart Pop-Up Store in Rotterdam.

Besides working on innovative education at college level, Manon has set up a Teacher Development Team composed of secondary school teachers, together with Peter Troxler, to devise and discuss new ways of educating students and developing new teaching materials. This group of teachers has visited several labs in Rotterdam and the surrounding area, with support from Betasteunpunt Zuid-Holland, to gather inspiration for the development of new learning environments and teaching materials. The group’s initial findings have been described (in Dutch) in a small publication.

“The 3D printer is an outstanding device that allows us to easily make new things and that creates a different learning curve than we were used to in our own education. Many current educational organizations are not yet able to integrate this new type of learning (‘just in time learning’) into their existing structures. Together with teachers and policy makers we will need to find ways to offer current and future generations a suitable learning environment,” according to Manon Mostert. Manon is an advocate for new education who provides a great number of lectures and workshops for a variety of educational institutions in order to explore this challenge and to offer practical examples to boost innovation in education.

Call for teachers and educational designers

Are you in some way involved in education, e.g. as a teacher or an educational designer? Do have ideas about 3D print and Design can change (or even revolutionize) education? I am interested in what you are working on and how your students are involved in your project. Please don’t hesitate to contact me. Just send an email to: ronald (at) YouMagine.com.