First, I am pretty passionate about STEM education. As a parent of three kids, I recognize that careers in STEM fields are a great path to success for them, knowing that some of the students are destined for other career paths. Since Fusion 360 is 3D modeling, I see that this experience is a good place for the students to get their first connection with 3D modeling. Whether they want to go into mechanical design and engineering, or 3D animation, the skills they learn in this class is going to lay the groundwork for the skills they will develop for those careers.
For me one of the greatest moments is to see my 12 year old son help his classmates. I started teaching him Inventor a couple years ago. Grand total he has about 10 to 20 hours of instruction, and about another 10 to 20 hours of just letting him play in the software. The first week of class was a tough class because nearly half the class needed additional one-on-one help to complete the exercise. After a few minutes of helping each student out, I looked at my son and told him to see if he could help the other students that still needed help. He was able to help a lot of students. He got a great confidence boost to be able to help his classmates. So beyond the CAD experience he gained, he gained experience as an instructor. I was very proud to see that he still possessed the skills that he and I worked on previously. He has told me on countless occasions that he wants to do what I do, and having this experience definitely reinforces that feeling.
This opportunity has also allowed me to share my knowledge, which is something I love to do. I have built up a wide variety knowledge over the years, and I enjoy sharing it with the people I come in contact with. The students I have in class have been very eager to learn Fusion 360. It was great to seek the spark during one specific class. I was showing them how to create 2D drawings from their 3D models. I realized that this is not something they need to know a lot about, so I took some time and showed them reality capture and virtual reality. That really seemed to grab their attention.
Most of the class was really excited to hear how ReCap 360 could be used to take pictures and turn it into a 3D model. My desktop is a screenshot I took from a point cloud I made in ReCap 360 of a Lego Star War ship my son put together. People always recognize the model and ask about it. The students were amazed at what I was showing them. Then, progressed to show them that some models can be rendered into a stereo panorama. That stereo panorama could then be viewed in an app that would immerse the viewer in the model. That really got them excited to what we were talking about.
I don't know if any of them will go on to careers in science, technology, or computer animation, but I feel great about being able to help them take the first step down that path.
Here is a slideshow highlighting work that they did on their own, without direction, following their own inspiration.
